From the Publisher
★ “Written with understated humor and fine-tuned perception, Frost’s first-person narrative offers a riveting story as well as an uncomfortably realistic picture of middle school social dynamics.” — Booklist (starred review)
★ “Anderson dives into the world of middle school with a clear sense of how it works and what it needs. Kids, and the rest of the world, need more books like this one.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
★ “Anderson captures the tumultuous joys and pains of middle school with honesty, creating characters with whom readers will find common ground and insight. Words have lingering and persistent power, Anderson makes clear, but so does standing up for others and making one’s voice heard.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Acute observations about social media and school life and a smart, engaging narrator make this a journey well worth taking. Readers might even want some Post-it notes to mark the good parts.” — The Horn Book
The Horn Book
Acute observations about social media and school life and a smart, engaging narrator make this a journey well worth taking. Readers might even want some Post-it notes to mark the good parts.
Booklist (starred review)
★ “Written with understated humor and fine-tuned perception, Frost’s first-person narrative offers a riveting story as well as an uncomfortably realistic picture of middle school social dynamics.
AUGUST 2017 - AudioFile
Patrick Lawlor narrates this thoughtful story about friendship, identity, and the power of words. Frost, Deedee, Bench, and Wolf are an island unto themselves at Branton Middle School. That is, until Rose shows up. Adopting a reflective yet reluctant tone, Lawlor captures Frost’s inner turmoil as he recaps the two fateful weeks that forced him to confront what it means to be a friend. The main characters are easily distinguishable, allowing dialogue exchanges—even during Dungeons & Dragons play—to flow naturally and reveal relationship dynamics. While the word “bullying” is hardly mentioned, its effects are felt by numerous characters, and Lawlor handles those emotions with care, dropping his pitch, slowing his speech, and taking a breath when needed. A.S. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2017-02-20
When online bullying crosses over into real life, Eric and his friends do their best to stay out of the cloud of meanness, but it's a big one.When cellphones are banned from Branton Middle School, the student population is thrown into a frenzy, which only increases when kids find a new way of communicating throughout the day—Post-it notes. It turns out, the Post-it notes can be even crueler than social media updates, and everyone is affected, including Eric (known as Frost due to a poetry contest won in fifth grade) and his friends. Perhaps no one is more affected than Rose, a large, white new girl who clicks well with Frost's crew—all also white, save Indian-American Deedee. In fact, she turns out to be the catalyst for positive change the school really needs. Bursting with authentic challenges and solutions both familiar and revolutionary to any kid enduring middle school, this book manages the difficult feat of providing an anti-bullying message without alienating or boring the population that message is for. The characters, both adult and teen, are vivid, flawed, and approachable. Anderson dives into the world of middle school with a clear sense of how it works and what it needs. Kids, and the rest of the world, need more books like this one. (Fiction. 10-14)
