I kept seeing Holly Goldberg Sloan’s Short on the library shelf, and I finally decided to pick it up and read it. I’m so glad I did.
The book is about a girl who just lost her dog, whom she loved, and, to cheer her up for the summer, her mom signs her up for a local community production of The Wizard of Oz. It’s a story about a girl coming to terms with loss, growing up, and the expectations we hold for our lives.
Here are three of my favorite things about Short:
The personality. Julia, the main character, was such a strong, wonderful personality, and that came through clearly in the book. It was sweet and refreshing to hear a girl with such opinions and interests.
The sweet story. This was a true coming-of-age tale that children will identify with and learn from, as can be seen by the last lines of the book:
“I grew this summer.
Not on the outside, but on the inside.
And that’s the only place where growing really matters.”
The engaging nature of the voice. Julia, because of her quirky voice, was a very engaging character, and the opinions she would voice were so much like what I imagine is going through the mind of a child or adolescent (sort of random but also connected in a strange way). Sloan has a knack for highlighting an adolescent’s associative thinking, and it’s a brilliant way to engage young readers.
All in all, Short was an incredibly sweet story that I’ll be recommending to my boys with gushing praise.
The above is an affiliate link. I only recommend books that I personally enjoy. I actually don’t even talk about the books I don’t enjoy, because I’d rather forget I ever wasted time reading them. But if you’re ever curious whether I’ve read a book and whether I liked or disliked it, don’t hesitate to ask.
