Book Review: The Good, the Bad and the Backstory by Melissa Minery

The Good, the Bad and the Backstory

by

Melissa Minery

Illustrated by Stephanie Hider

 A Unique Story that Presents a Timeline of Events in the Day of the Life of Five Middle-School Students

 

Publisher: Boys Town Press 

Publication date: 9th March 2021

Genre: Middle Grade

Pages: 172

Price: $10.12AUD for kindle

Format read: eBook

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Smith Publicity

 

About the book

  

This story presents a timeline of events from sunup to sundown, in a day in the life of five seventh graders - Ashley, Kenisha, Taara, Ryan and Andrew.

As they walk the hallways, attend class and navigate the dreaded lunchroom, they experience all the messiness of middle school - the fragile friendships, the peer pressure, the fickle social hierarchy and the relationship drama. Issues at home and interactions at school influence how they relate to one another, their classmates and their teachers throughout the day.

 My review

 

The Good the Bad and the Backstory follows five year 7 students through an entire day from waking in the morning, through the ups and downs of the school day, to back to bed that night. The story is told from all the characters’ perspectives giving the reader a rounded view of every situation.

Melissa Minery has written an entertaining story that includes messages of self-esteem, family relationships, courage, forgiveness, empathy and resilience.

The five pre-teens, Ashley, Kenisha, Ryan, Andrew and Taara, all have different backgrounds and family dynamics and through these characters Minery shows how upbringing and family circumstances can affect a child’s actions.

 

The children have their tiffs but come together to talk about their feelings and also reach out an arm of friendship putting aside the fear of rejection.

The school counsellor has an important role in this story and I liked the way the children stopped and thought about the lessons from the counsellor and how they could use these lessons in the situations they found themselves in.

 

The Good, the Bad and the Backstory brings up everyday events that children will encounter in the school environment, bullying, jealousies, rumours and feelings of anxiety and offers effective solutions by encouraging children to voice their feelings, own up to their mistakes, offer forgiveness to others and have compassion.

 

This book will be a valuable teaching tool perfect for classroom discussions about the different families, the situations that arose for the children and the coping skills and strategies they used to handle them.

 

Each chapter is headed by a full page cute greyscale pencil drawing depicting a scene from that chapter.

 

5/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

 

Recommended for ages 9 -13 years

 

About the author

 

 Melissa Minery is a Certified School Counselor in New Hampshire. She has worked at the elementary-to-high school levels and as a career Counselor with young adult's. She's always doing something to "grow her brain" and loves going on adventures with her family and hiking in the white mountains. This is her first published work.