Book review - Bright

 

Title: Bright

Author: Brigit Young

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Rating: 

 

a solid read

 

Summary (provided by publisher): Marianne Blume has always known she’s not smart.

 After years of trying and trying at school, she’s mastered the art of getting by on a combination of luck, deflection, and her winning personality—that is, until she lands in the classroom of Mr. Garcia. Suddenly she’s at risk of flunking his class, repeating the eighth grade, and getting left behind by her best friend, Skyla. To receive much-needed extra credit and get into high school, Marianne makes the desperate decision to join her school’s Quiz Quest team, only to find out that her teammates have problems of their own—and that they need to win for her to get the credit.

Now Marianne will need to try—like, actually try—for the first time in her life, while also helping her teammates pull it together. Can Marianne learn to be smart? What does it mean to be “bright,” anyway? And will she be left in eighth grade forever?

My opinion: Young certainly isn't the first author to tackle the affect of labels on students. Even so, this book handles the topic well. Not only are we looking at the affect of other people's perception on behaviors, but the character's own self-labeling. We see how each aspect of the problem, especially years of falling behind, compound and create a nearly insurmountable school issue. While the ending is fairly predictable, the characters are dynamic and relatable.

Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley