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YOUNGER FICTION
Weinberg, Steven

The Middle Kid

76 pp. | Chronicle | March, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-4521-8180-6 $14.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-4521-8184-4 $9.99
(2) 1-3 In nine brief day-in-the-life chapters, heavily illustrated and complete with time-stamps, Weinberg (himself a middle child) relates the challenges and rewards of the titular birth order position. From being unceremoniously woken up (big brother snores, little sister wails), to having a drawing ruined by spilled orange juice (general breakfast chaos), to being locked in ­Grandma's trunk (by big brother), to getting a time-out (for upsetting little sister), the morning is rough. Luckily, a library visit with Mom provides a reset for our protagonist, who takes control in the afternoon with imaginary play, Popsicles, and a solo art project. Weinberg's illustrations--"watercolor, pencil, art from a few centuries ago, digital media, and a whole lot more"--feature a happy, if harried, middle sib whose own exuberance and artistry come through in the present-tense, direct-address main text and on busy spreads with lots of kid-friendly details and easy-to-read speech bubbles. Although being "right in the middle" isn't always a walk in the park, "sometimes [it] is the best place to be," concludes our narrator, whose place in this boisterous, mischief-prone, and tight-knit family is comfortably assured.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

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