Unstuck / by Barbara Dee.

Title :

Unstuck

Author:

Format:

Books

Summary:

Twelve-year-old Lyla sets out to write the perfect fantasy novel in her creative writing class, but discovers some unexpected twists and turns, both on and off the page. Includes twenty-five ways to overcome writer's block.

Language:

English

Audience:

Ages 9 to 13. Aladdin.

ISBN - ISSN:

9781534489868

153448986X

Physical Description:

272 pages ; 22 cm

Subject:

Authorship -- Juvenile fiction.

Creative writing -- Juvenile fiction.

Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.

Sisters -- Juvenile fiction.

Schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Authorship -- Fiction.

Creative writing -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Sisters -- Fiction.

Schools -- Fiction.

School fiction.

First Title value, for Searching:

Unstuck / by Barbara Dee.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Central	Kid/Juvenile	Fiction	New juvenile books	DEE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Flores	Kid/Juvenile	Fiction	New juvenile books	DEE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Henington-Alief	Kid/Juvenile	Fiction	New juvenile books	DEE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Kashmere Gardens	Kid/Juvenile	Fiction	New juvenile books	DEE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Place	Kid/Juvenile	Fiction	New juvenile books	DEE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Ring	Kid/Juvenile	Fiction	New juvenile books	DEE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Vinson	Kid/Juvenile	Fiction	New juvenile books	DEE	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

From critically acclaimed author Barbara Dee comes a middle grade novel about a girl whose struggles with anxiety and writer's block set off unexpected twists and turns, both on and off the page.

Lyla is thrilled when her seventh-grade English language arts class begins a daily creative writing project. For the past year, she's been writing a brilliant fantasy novel in her head, and here's her chance to get it on paper! The plot to Lyla's novel is super complicated, with battle scenes and witches and a mysterious one-toed-beast, but at its core, it's about an overlooked girl who has to rescue her beautiful, highly accomplished older sister.

But writing a fantasy novel turns out to be harder than simply imagining one, and pretty soon Lyla finds herself stuck, experiencing a panic she realizes is writer's block. Part of the problem is that she's trying to impress certain people--like Rania, her best friend who's pulling away, and Ms. Bowman, the coolest teacher at school. Plus, there's the pressure of meeting the deadline for the town writing contest. A few years ago, Lyla's superstar teen sister Dahlia came in second, and this time, Lyla is determined to win first prize.

Finally, Lyla confides about her writing problems to Dahlia, who is dealing with her own academic stress as she applies to college. That's when she learns Dahlia's secret, which is causing a very different type of writer's block. Can Lyla rescue a surprisingly vulnerable big sister, both on the page and in real life?

Author Notes

Barbara Dee is the author of fourteen middle grade novels including Unstuck , Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet , Violets Are Blue , My Life in the Fish Tank , Maybe He Just Likes You , Everything I Know About You , Halfway Normal , and Star-Crossed . Her books have earned several starred reviews and have been named to many best-of lists, including The Washington Post 's Best Children's Books, the ALA Notable Children's Books, the ALA Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, the NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, and the ALA Rainbow List Top Ten. Barbara lives with her family, including a naughty cat named Luna and a sweet rescue hound named Ripley, in Westchester County, New York.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Seventh grader Lyla Benjamin is bursting with ideas for the extravagant fantasy novel she's been plotting for a year, which centers on witches, feuding sisters, and a one-toed beast. But when her English class begins a creative writing unit that will end with the students participating in a town-wide writing contest that Lyla's apparently perfect older sister Dahlia once won, Lyla experiences unexpected writer's block. Even though she knows where she wants her novel to go, Lyla feels paralyzed by her goal to create an impressive story, resulting in distractions when she's supposed to be writing. Her stress over the fast-approaching deadline is amplified by interpersonal complications including a growing rift with her best friend Rania, who's attending a different middle school, and Dahlia confiding in Lyla that she's uncertain about attending college. Through Lyla's by turns earnest and anxious first-person perspective, Dee (Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet) deftly depicts the complex and sometimes turbulent writing process, and the self-doubt that can come with it. A section titled "Twenty-Five Ways to Get Unstuck" concludes. Lyla and her family are white; the supporting cast is racially diverse. Ages 9--13. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Feb.)

Booklist Review

Seventh-grader Lyla wants to--no, has to--submit her fantasy novel to the local writing contest. Overshadowed by her older sister (who's refusing to apply to college) and now rejected by her used-to-be best friend, Lyla feels like she has something to prove. But she's so desperate to be seen as a writer that she ends up completely blocked. With her teacher's help, Lyla gradually learns to embrace the writing journey rather than the destination. Lyla's slow progress to make meaningful changes to her story or relationships can drag at times, but dynamic side characters, such as her older sister and new friend, Journey, add color to Lyla's more insular perspective. With well-established insight into the interior lives of middle-schoolers, Dee (Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet, 2022) nails some of the tiny, painful intricacies of hesitant new friendships and feeling boxed in by other people's expectations. Lyla's passion and frustrations will be relatable to any aspiring young writer who's struggled with feeling blocked by their own big idea, and they may find Lyla's techniques helpful in their own writing.

Kirkus Review

If you already know your fantasy story's plot, characters, and world, then writing it will be easy, right? So why is Lyla so stuck? Attending a different middle school than her best friend, Rania Goswami, seventh grader Lyla hasn't found other close friends; at lunch she's stuck with weird, friendless, animal-obsessed Journey Lombardi-Sullivan. At least Lyla's favorite teacher assigns them creative writing, so Lyla can finally start the story she's long been plotting, one about a Scribe named Aster's quest through the haunted Quagmire to rescue her big sister. But why won't the words come? And why do Rania and her new friends seem to be laughing at Lyla's writing project? At home, constant fighting between Dahlia (Lyla's "genius" older sister) and their parents hides Dahlia's desperate desire not to attend college. How can Lyla unstick her writing, recognize her true friends, and find a practical way to help her sister? With wonderfully rich characterization and impeccable pacing, the author interweaves middle school friend and family dramas with struggles familiar to any writer. Of the many constructive suggestions offered by Lyla's teacher, some do help her, such as not remaining laser focused on winning the contest. The inserted excerpts from Lyla's novel demonstrate both her writing-process difficulties and how her real-life problems subconsciously inform her writing. Most main characters are cued white; Rania reads Indian American. A heartfelt exploration of a young writer's struggles and successes, with practical advice included. (writing tips) (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Excerpts

1. The Blank Page THE BLANK PAGE Okay, here we go. What I've been waiting for, the chance to share my story. Not just the random bits I've been writing in my head, or scribbling on notepads, but the whole thing, from the absolute beginning. I mean, I guess from the absolute beginning. Because... what exactly is the absolute beginning? The day Aster is born? Or runs away from home? Or first spies the one-toed Beast that's tracking her every move? But so much happens before all that, and it's stuff I should probably explain in the first chapter. Seriously, if you don't know about the Defectors, or Oleander the Witch, or how Aster's big sister is basically kidnapped, nothing in the plot will make any sense. And this story gets incredibly complicated, although in a good way. Really, there's so much action, it could be a whole series! I wonder if Ms. Bowman would let me keep writing. I bet she would, once she sees how much there is to tell, because she's the kind of teacher who lets you actually create . Unlike Mr. Delgado last year, who made us write five-paragraph essays on topics like Why Kids Need Limits on Screen Time. I mean literally-- five paragraphs , not four or six. Once I actually wrote seven paragraphs and he made me smoosh them together so that I had exactly five. It's amazing I survived sixth grade without my brain leaking out my ears. And now Ms. Bowman is smiling in my direction. Making eye contact and nodding like, Go ahead, Lyla. Why don't you start writing? I smile back at her like, No problem! Here I go! Writing my story! Seriously, Ms. Bowman is the coolest teacher in the entire school, even if she thought my sister, Dahlia, was a genius. But I don't hold it against her, because teachers always think Dahlia is a genius. It's what my parents think too. And of course Dahlia agrees with all of them. Anyway. I click the top of my favorite gel pen: blue ink, extra-fine tip, not too clunky in my hand. When Ms. Bowman told us about daily writing, some kids said they could write only on their laptops. Ms. Bowman said she'd like us to begin our stories in spiral notebooks, although later on we can switch to tablets or computers, if we want. But I don't think I will, at least not until I have a first draft. I like to feel a pen in my hand, and see my handwriting on the paper. It just seems, I don't know, more personal somehow. And the thought that soon, in maybe just a few weeks, this empty notebook will be completely filled-- every page, every line--makes me feel like dancing. Of course I stay in my seat, but it's hard to stop smiling. Not that you need to suffer to write a story! I mean, that's such a cliché, right? Why can't writing just make you happy? In front of me, Stella Ramirez is using a pencil, and so is Noah Hennessey on my right. Stella's pencil is one of those fancy mechanical ones, but Noah's is a nub, barely big enough to grip. I watch them both hunch over their desks, doing two different kinds of hunching. Stella sits like she's taking a test, and doesn't want anyone copying her answers. Noah is hunched like he's already given up, even though we're just getting started. Poor Noah--he looks so miserable. In math class he knows all the answers, so I bet he likes numbers better than words. I'm the total opposite: if I could do nothing all day long except reading and writing, I'd be the happiest human on the planet! CHAPTER ONE This story will have lots of chapters, so they'll definitely need numbers. I wonder how many there'll be by the last page of this notebook, because it's going to be extremely long. Way longer than five paragraphs--so DO NOT READ THIS, Mr. Delgado! Nothing to see here, hahaha! Although later on I might give the chapters titles instead of numbers. Possibly. I haven't decided--but that's okay, because there's plenty of time to think about things like that. We're going to be working on this writing project for the next few weeks, Ms. Bowman says. Every day, for at least a few minutes! Woohoo! Seriously, Ms. Bowman is like the Best Teacher Ever. I can barely wait to see her reaction when she reads this! When I'm ready to show it to her, I mean. Oh no. Wait, stop! Why is my hand all blue? Is that ink ? Oh crap, my pen is leaking! Gross! Just as I was getting started! I'd better go wash up in the bathroom. Even if the period is basically over now, and I won't have time to do any writing. Excerpted from Unstuck by Barbara Dee All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.