Julie Tells Her Story 1974

3.5 stars. Julie's school assignment is to tell "The Story of Your Life", which in addition to interviewing parents/siblings to see what they were like at age 10, includes describing the best and worst things to happen in your life. For Julie, the worst is her parents' divorce- but can she talk about that to the entire class??

A minor anomaly: at one point, Julie eavesdrops on her sister's phone conversation where Tracy describes going to see Jaws in a theater. Later, Tracy tells her mom & Julie about the movie and Mom is surprised that it's still in theaters. I looked, and it debuted summer of 1975... but this book takes place in 1974? Either we're collapsing the '70s together, or somehow a year has passed but given the biggest show more basketball game of the year is happening, we've still got to be in fall '74.

Overall though, not a bad book for middle grade looking for relatable historical fiction dealing in divorce. show less

Julie is working on her school project, "The Story of My Life," and enjoying it, until she has to write about "The Worst Thing That Ever Happened." That would be her parents divorce, and she doesn t want to tell classmates about it. After her big basketball game ends badly, she decides that could be her "worst thing." But as her family rallies around her, Julie learns to be more hopeful for their future. The "Looking Back" section explores school life in the 1970s.

Basically this is a school story that's set in the 70s. Julie has to do a project about her family and is thrilled when her dad brings her an actual tape recorder with microphone so she can tape her interviews. Unfortunately the project includes talking about the worst thing that has ever happened in her life and Julie doesn't want to talk about her parents getting divorced. Nothing special here, but it is a solid school story that mid and upper grade school girls will be able to relate to easily.

In Julie's school story, Julie has to write an assignment about her life- which brings up the still painful issue of her parents' divorce. She tries to think how to tell the story, and how to deal with everything, and ends up interviewing her family on tape. When she breaks her finger while being fouled during a basketball game, Julie thinks she has a way out of telling about the worst thing that happened to her- her family's divorce. When she presents to the class, however, she realizes she wants to share her experience with the class.

Copied from my classroom library:
In Julie's school story, Julie has to write an assignment about her life- which brings up the still painful issue of her parents' divorce. She tries to think how to tell the story, and how to deal with everything, and ends up interviewing her family on tape. When she breaks her finger while being fouled during a basketball game, Julie thinks she has a way out of telling about the worst thing that happened to her- her family's divorce. When she presents to the class, however, she realizes she wants to share her experience with the class.