05/30/2016
Believably exploring body issues, crushes, popularity, and friendship, Young (Doodlebug) captures the confused and charming voice of a 12-year-old girl who isn’t sure about much, including what she wants to be called. Sixth-grader Christine “Tink” Gouda’s school year is not going well. She feels too tall, too physically mature, and just too different from the cute, petite girls and crush-worthy boys who make up what Tink refers to as “the circle.” Tink’s best friend Jackie has decided that this year, Tink will be known as “Chris” because it sounds more grown up, but Tink isn’t sure that this new name fits her any better than her old one. Uncertainty fills each page as Tink begins a budding friendship with class clown Matthew “Bushwhack” Alva and watches Jackie try on different personas to fit in. Clever banter and some made-up words, including the “almost rude” “bushwah,” help Romano’s characters jump off the page in a thoughtful and realistic look at what it means to be on the precipice of adolescence. Ages 8–12. Agent: Faye Bender, the Book Group. (Aug.)
"A lovely, lovely tale full of warmth, humor, and intelligence."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Perfectly captures the emotions of middle schoolers and their evolving friendships and familial relationships."-School Library Journal, starred review
"This charming book sings for any girl who doubts herself as she leaves her childhood behind."—Houston Family
"Romano's characters jump off the page in a thoughtful and realistic look at what it means to be on the precipice of adolescence."-Publishers Weekly
"Readers will cheer for the sensitive, brave, fierce Tink as she tries to discover, and ultimately honor, herself."—Shelf Awareness for Readers, starred review
"A lovely, lovely tale full of warmth, humor, and intelligence."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Romano's characters jump off the page in a thoughtful and realistic look at what it means to be on the precipice of adolescence."-Publishers Weekly
"Honest about the timeless ins and outs (and in-jokes) of sixth-grade dynamics."-The Horn Book Magazine
"A wonderfully perceptive, humorous middle grade story about defining oneself when everything is suddenly awkward."—Kid Lit Reviews
"Readers will cheer for the sensitive, brave, fierce Tink as she tries to discover, and ultimately honor, herself."—Shelf Awareness for Readers, starred review
"Honest about the timeless ins and outs (and in-jokes) of sixth-grade dynamics."-The Horn Book Magazine
"A spot-on depiction of that middle school knife-edge where things can go from thrilling to mortifying in a nanosecond."-School Library Connection
"An unflinching look at a girl's first steps into self-consciousness, in every sense of that word. Readers will see themselves in Tink and find a measure of hope."—The New York Times
"A wonderfully perceptive, humorous middle grade story about defining oneself when everything is suddenly awkward."—Kid Lit Reviews
"A spot-on depiction of that middle school knife-edge where things can go from thrilling to mortifying in a nanosecond."-School Library Connection
"Hundred Percent is a brilliant and irresistible book about the sharp pains and joys of real life. Karen Romano Young is a writer like no other. She always finds the truest, most interesting paths to the heart."-Rebecca Stead, Newbery Award-winning author of When You Reach Me
"Karen Romano Young must be twelve. There's no other way she can possibly know what she knows about sixth grade in all its weirdness and glory. Seen and felt and conveyed with unbelievable freshness and acuity, Hundred Percent handily performs the almost-impossible feat of offering its readers a mirror to their lives without gloom or condescension."-Annie Barrows, New York Times bestselling author of the Ivy Bean series
"An unflinching look at a girl's first steps into self-consciousness, in every sense of that word. Readers will see themselves in Tink and find a measure of hope."—The New York Times
"Hundred Percent is a brilliant and irresistible book about the sharp pains and joys of real life. Karen Romano Young is a writer like no other. She always finds the truest, most interesting paths to the heart."-Rebecca Stead, Newbery Award-winning author of When You Reach Me
"Karen Romano Young has an unerring feel for the shifting alliances and uncomfortable intrigues of sixth graders. The voices are unique and the dialogue sparkles. Your heart will crack open as the cast of characters tries on one personality after the other, hoping to find the one that fits." -Ellen Wittlinger, Printz Honor-winning author of Hard Love
"Sensitively portrays the way so many tweens run, stumble, and drag their feet toward adulthood."—Common Sense Media
"Karen Romano Young must be twelve. There's no other way she can possibly know what she knows about sixth grade in all its weirdness and glory. Seen and felt and conveyed with unbelievable freshness and acuity, Hundred Percent handily performs the almost-impossible feat of offering its readers a mirror to their lives without gloom or condescension."-Annie Barrows, New York Times bestselling author of the Ivy Bean series
"Karen Romano Young has an unerring feel for the shifting alliances and uncomfortable intrigues of sixth graders. The voices are unique and the dialogue sparkles. Your heart will crack open as the cast of characters tries on one personality after the other, hoping to find the one that fits." -Ellen Wittlinger, Printz Honor-winning author of Hard Love
"Young evokes the joys and pains of being in sixth grade."-VOYA: Voice of Youth Advocates
"Perfectly captures the emotions of middle schoolers and their evolving friendships and familial relationships."-School Library Journal, starred review
"Sensitively portrays the way so many tweens run, stumble, and drag their feet toward adulthood."—Common Sense Media
"Young evokes the joys and pains of being in sixth grade."-VOYA: Voice of Youth Advocates
"This charming book sings for any girl who doubts herself as she leaves her childhood behind."—Houston Family
08/01/2016
Gr 5–7—Sixth grader Christine Gouda's last year of elementary school is full of transitions as she begins the early stages of puberty and her friendship with her best friend, Jackie, changes. Christine's mother has often called her Tink (short for Tinker Bell), and her classmates call her Hundred Percent, but Jackie suggests that she adopt a more grown-up nickname, Chris. As her school year begins, Tink contends with having protective parents and three younger siblings, skirting the edges of the popular crowd, and being friends with the weird kids. She finds herself having awkward experiences on Halloween, when she isn't invited to parties, and later in the year receives attention that is more sexual in nature than she wants. Meanwhile, Tink's parents judge Jackie's single but dating mother, and Jackie chooses to befriend the popular crowd because she thinks it will make school easier, not because she likes them. The novel ends with Tink feeling like 100 percent herself as she successfully directs a group lip-syncing performance, pursues the boy she likes, and decides that she wants to be called Christine. Written in third person and filled with the eccentric antics of sixth graders and astute observations about maturity and remaining true to oneself, this title is full of expertly developed characters and a plot that will have readers laughing on one page and empathizing with Tink on the next. Young perfectly captures the emotions of middle schoolers and their evolving friendships and familial relationships. VERDICT A humorous, heartfelt portrayal of a sixth grader learning to stay true to herself; a first purchase for all collections serving tweens.—Liz Anderson, DC Public Library
★ 2016-06-01
Two white, female best friends enter sixth grade, and their friendship becomes complicated. Tink, 11 going on 12, decides to change her childhood nickname to something more grown-up, and Jackie, her best friend since kindergarten, suggests "Chris"—the abbreviated version of Tink's given name, Christine. It is Tink's wrestling with what it means to be the more adult "Chris" that forms the basis of this extraordinarily perceptive story. Jackie and Tink come from different backgrounds: Jackie is the only child of Bess, a single parent who is currently dating a twice-divorced man with two children, while Tink lives with her parents and three siblings in a middle-class home. Jackie, unsurprisingly, has matured emotionally faster than Tink and is now preoccupied with being part of the in "circle" of the sixth grade, to Tink's confusion and dismay. Young's deliciously fresh, perspicacious narrative is told in third-person from Tink's point of view, punctuated with wry telephone conversations between the girls relayed in scriptlike format. She maintains a spot-on, getting-ready-to-leave-behind-childhood-but-not-yet-adult narrative tone as she relays the complex world of sixth grade—a world of cliques and betrayal and, in Tink's case, the courage to try to sort it all out. Patronization and pandering are completely absent in this original treatment of the theme of belonging. A lovely, lovely tale full of warmth, humor, and intelligence that validates its readership. (Fiction. 10-12)
