Hi Everyone! Today on my blog it’s my stop on the Shelter Blog tour. I’m very excited to share my thoughts on the book. Thank you TBR& Beyond for having me on the tour. Info about the book and where to purchase is below.
Genre: Middle-Grade Contemporary
Publishing date: October 12th, 2021
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Synopsis:
Perfect for fans of One for the Murphys and Paper Things, this heart-wrenching middle-grade debut considers homelessness from one girl’s perspective and explores deep truths about the resounding impact of empathy.
Fifth grade can be tough for anyone. There are cliques and mean kids and homework and surprise math tests. But after tragedy strikes her family, almost-eleven-year-old Maya has a painful secret that makes many days feel nearly impossible.
And today might be Maya’s toughest yet. Her family is on edge, she needs to travel alone across the city, a bully is out to get her, and Maya has to face this winter’s biggest rainstorm without a coat or an umbrella.
But even on the rainiest days, there’s hope that the sun will come out soon.
Emotional and compassionate, Shelter looks at homelessness through one girl’s eyes and explores the power of empathy, friendship, and love.
Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review
Characters
From the beginning of the book, I could tell that the characters were going to get a star in my review. The main character is Maya, and I loved everything about her character. Maya enjoys art, and if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that I enjoy reading about characters who have some sort of creative arts hobby. Maya is also had spunk and I loved how spunky she is in the novel. Maya’s best friend is Abby, and I enjoyed Abby as a character as well. Abby didn’t judge Maya, and that was what I enjoyed most about her character. The novel is filled with wonderful side characters, however, my favorite one was Maya’s art teacher. If you read the novel you will see why this art teacher helped Maya and supported Maya.
Plot
This was a story that I hadn’t read before, and I believe that anyone, if you read Middle-Grade often, or if you don’t pick up the genre as often will enjoy the story. Our story follows Maya as she goes about her day, and one of the most interesting elements of the story is that it takes place over one day. Maya is homeless, and you see the story start at the homeless shelter, I thought this was an interesting way to start the story. Once you get to the school, you see the way Maya interacts with her fellow students and teachers. I loved the fact that this novel included the bus ride to school, as some students reading the novel ay also ride one or more city buses to get to school. As the story progresses, we see the subplot of the story develop and I loved this as well because it reads like something that could happen at the school. The ending of the story is so sweet, and I just loved the way the story ended.
Writing
The format of this story is unique, and you know where you are in the day because of the time listed. This unique format needed writing that enhanced the story and didn’t distract the reader so we know where we are in the time of day. Christie Matheson does an excellent job of letting the reader know where Maya is in her day, and how she is feeling with the events going on in the novel. Shelter is a heavy story, and the heavy scenes are handled with care, and you are rooting for Maya as you read the book. There were also some fun scenes which are lighter in tone, and these scenes were executed perfectly as well. I added a star or the writing in my review because the story could get confusing if it wasn’t written in a way that was easy to follow.
Friendship
The friendship in this novel was so sweet and I just loved it, From reading their interactions, you can tell that Maya and Abby are best friends and that the two of them have a history, even if you don’t see it all in the book. Shelter is a story about friendship because even though Maya and Abby don’t live near each other anymore, they’re still best friends, and I loved that. There is also a friendship between Maya and her art teacher, and the librarian which I thought was so nice to read, Both of these characters cared about her and wanted to help her in any way they could. Friendship is a theme and the way the friendships were executed has me giving them a star in my review.
Personal Enjoyment
I always enjoy putting personal enjoyment as the final star in my book reviews for reads that I enjoy. This book was a lot of fun, but it also tackles some real issues facing youth today, such as homelessness, and bullying, in a way that they can understand, and relate to. These themes made me enjoy this story, and I wanted to keep reading to see where the story would go. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Middle-Grade Novels, or as a gift for someone that does.
Christie Matheson is the author and illustrator of many picture books, including Tap the Magic Tree, Touch the Brightest Star, and Bird Watch. Shelter is her first novel. She lives in San Francisco with her family. Find her on Instagram at @christiematheson.
Tour Schedule
https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2021/11/04/tour-schedule-shelter-by-christie-matheson/
I adore books that have unique formats! 🥰
ReplyDeleteThis is so much fun to read.
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