After eight years of humiliation in school, Pipi McGee is ready for something different in her eighth grade year. She is looking for revenge. She’s made a list of all the things that have happened, from her kindergarten self-portrait as bacon to second grade’s starting a chain reaction of vomiting during a bus ride to fourth grade’s peeing in her pants (in her defense on that one, her zipper stuck).
Each year, after each humiliation, her classmates kept the shame going with their name-calling, egged on by bully Vile Kara Stanton.
But this year, Pipi promises her friends and herself, this year will be different.
While her best friend Tasha encourages her to simply let it go and focus on what makes her happy, Pipi refuses to listen. She has a list, and she wants to make it right. Going down the list, year by year, she wants to find a way to redeem or avenge each and every thing that has gone wrong those previous years. And maybe if she can accomplish that, then she can go to high school as a phoenix, rising from the ashes a new person.
But do things ever really go as planned?
The Humiliations of Pipi McGee is a sweet middle grade book that looks at the nature of popularity and friendship and the sacrifices that school kids make for both. Written by Beth Vrabel, author of The Reckless Club, this novel moved me far more than I expected.
It starts out focusing on Pipi’s perspective and her former embarrassments at school, and the shame and anger she felt at that, and at that point the story felt like exactly what I was expecting from this story. As I kept reading, however, and saw more of Pipi’s relationships and interactions with her friends and family, I felt like I was settling deeper into her story. She grew more complex and interesting, and I wanted to spend so much more time with her. I went from liking this book to loving this book to finding it impossible to put down. I highly recommend this one for any middle schooler who is struggling with their identity, and honestly, isn’t that all of them (and many of us adults too)? A really lovely story, with so much more depth and complexity than you’ll expect.
Galleys for The Humiliations of Pipi McGee were provided by Running Press Kids through NetGalley, with many thanks.