How To Become A Planet by Nicole Melleby

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!)

 

about book: (summary from Goodreads)

For Pluto, summer has always started with a trip to the planetarium. It’s the launch to her favorite season, which also includes visits to the boardwalk arcade, working in her mom’s pizzeria, and her best friend Meredith’s birthday party. But this summer, none of that feels possible.

A month before the end of the school year, Pluto’s frightened mom broke down Pluto’s bedroom door. What came next were doctor’s appointments, a diagnosis of depression, and a big black hole that still sits on Pluto’s chest, making it too hard to do anything.

Pluto can’t explain to her mom why she can’t do the things she used to love. And it isn’t until Pluto’s dad threatens to make her move with him to the city—where he believes his money, in particular, could help—that Pluto becomes desperate enough to do whatever it takes to be the old Pluto again.

She develops a plan and a checklist: If she takes her medication, if she goes to the planetarium with her mom for her birthday, if she successfully finishes her summer school work with her tutor, if she goes to Meredith’s birthday party . . . if she does all the things that “normal” Pluto would do, she can stay with her mom in Jersey. But it takes a new therapist, a new tutor, and a new (and cute) friend with a checklist and plan of her own for Pluto to learn that there is no old and new Pluto. There’s just her. 

my thoughts:

Wow! What a terrific story. I absolutely LOVED How To Become A Planet by Nicole Melleby - it was fantastic!

Pluto is turning thirteen and has just been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Her mom is trying really hard to help and her dad wants her to come live with him. Pluto just wants to go back to being her old self before her diagnosis. So, she makes a list of all the things that she's always loved to do. She figures that her medication and this list will help her achieve this goal of being the old Pluto.  Except, life doesn't work out that way.  Luckily for Pluto, she has some great people in her life - new and old - that do anything and everything they can to help her through this new chapter in her young life. And let me just say, it's such a treat to join Pluto on this journey - you definitely can't help but have all the feels reading her story. 

Melleby has created a smart, fun, and emotional story that tackles mental health, family drama, friendship, romance, and space. Talk about a clever book! I just loved Melleby's top notch writing, her cast of unforgettable characters, and her unputdownable story. She definitely knocked it out into space with How To Become A Planet. 

I would happily recommend this book to fans of Melleby and to anyone looking for their next great read - you will fall in deep with How To Become A Planet. 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!

In The Role Of Brie Hutchens by Nicole Melleby

(Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book: (from Goodreads)

Introducing Brie Hutchens: soap opera super fan, aspiring actor, and so-so student at her small Catholic school. Brie has big plans for eighth grade. She’s going to be the star of the school play and convince her parents to let her go to the performing arts high school. But when Brie’s mom walks in on her accidentally looking at some possibly inappropriate photos of her favorite actress, Brie panics and blurts out that she’s been chosen to crown the Mary statue during her school’s May Crowning ceremony. Brie’s mom is distracted with pride—but Brie’s in big trouble: she has not been chosen. No one has. Worse, Brie has almost no chance to get the job, which always goes to a top student.

Desperate to make her lie become truth, Brie turns to Kennedy, the girl everyone expects to crown Mary. But sometimes just looking at Kennedy gives Brie butterflies. Juggling her confusing feelings with the rapidly approaching May Crowning, not to mention her hilarious non-star turn in the school play, Brie navigates truth and lies, expectations and identity, and how to—finally—make her mother really see her as she is.

my thoughts:

Love, love, loved Brie Hutchens! What a fabulous story about being true to yourself.

Brie is an eighth grader at a Catholic School.  She dreams of becoming an actress. Her goal is attend drama school next year.  She's also struggling with her feelings - trying to figure out what they mean and what they say about her.  She's noticed that whenever she looks at photos of her favorite actress, her stomach gets filled with butterflies. Brie is feeling so many things she doesn't know what to do. She does know that a kid got in trouble for looking up "gay" things on his phone at their Catholic school. What does this mean for her? What will happen to her if people find out she's gay? Will her mom still love her?

Talk about a wonderfully delightful book! I just LOVED getting to know Brie Hutchens. She was such a fun character to spend time with - her love of drama was such a treat to see; her journey in figuring out how to be who she really is, along with her relationships with her loved ones was so honest, raw, and real. This was truly a gem of a book.

I would happily recommend In The Role Of Brie Hutchens to anyone and everyone looking for their next great read!!





Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!