Book Review: Shug by Jenny Han

Shug by Jenny Han
Aladdin (10/23/07)
256 pages

• ISBN-10: 1416909435
• ISBN-13: 978-1416909439
• Audience: Grades 5-8
• Buy Here for $3.98

My Rating: 5/5

Summary from GoodReads: Shug is clever and brave and true (on the inside, anyway). And she's about to become your new best friend. 

Annemarie Wilcox, or Shug as her family calls her, is beginning to think there's nothing worse than being twelve. She's too tall, too freckled, and way too flat-chested. Shug is sure that there's not one good or amazing thing about her. And now she has to start junior high, where the friends she counts most dear aren't acting so dear anymore -- especially Mark, the boy she's known her whole life through. Life is growing up all around her, and all Shug wants is for things to be like they used to be. How is a person supposed to prepare for what happens tomorrow when there's just no figuring out today?


The Verdict: I remember when middle reader books were some of my favorite. And then I hit that age where I felt too old that it would be creepy or embarrassing for me to still peruse the children's wing of the bookstore or library. Now I feel like I have missed out on some really great wholesome books.


The cover of Shug is what drew me in. It looked like the light fun kind of story that that I love, so I picked it up. At first when I read that it was about a 12 year old girl, I thought I would have nothing to relate to this character but after pausing at Shug on a later visit to the library, I decided to check it out.


I am very glad I did. Shug is a wonderful story that perfectly sums up what being 12 is all about. That first crush, your changing body and personality, mean girls, and noticing your parents' flaws for the first time ever. And 7th grade. Have you seriously ever met a person who actually liked 7th grade? It was the worst!


And I think that's what I liked best about Shug, that the characters aren't flat or single-sided. No, they are complex and have underlying emotions and reasons for the way the act. The mean girl at school isn't inherently mean, she has her own insecurities. That boys go through just as confusing emotional changes as girls and that we won't always understand why our parents do what they do. You cannot hate any character in Shug. They might do things that drive you insane, but deep down you know each one of them has a part of them that makes you want to reach out and hug them and tell them that everything will be ok.


And that's exactly how life is. As we grow older, we notice the flaws in people more and more, and yet if we try hard enough we can also see the good in them just like when we were little kids and their were no bad people in the world.


So kudos to Jenny Han for crafting such a great first novel that is perfect for readers of any age.