Rated by Melissa Grey - ADVISABLE

Rated by Melissa Grey, 336 pages.  Scholastic Press, SEPTEMBER 2019.  $28.

Language: PG (15 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG; Violence:

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Without a good rating you are nothing in life and less than nothing at Maplethorne Academy. On the first day back after summer break, though, someone has sprayed “THE RATINGS ARE NOT REAL in bright red across the Academy’s doors.  Six very different students are about to get tied up in the mystery of the tagger and of the ratings. While they hit all the stereotypes – loner, jock, gay, athlete, etc. – each of them is so much more than even they suspect.  Not in a magical way, but in strength of character.  

Think about the damage and the good that the Breakfast Club could have done in a sequel involving righting wrongs and you are on the way to understanding this clever little beginning of a new series. At least I hope it’s a series, because their journey just seems to be beginning.  Grey manages to play into the stereotypes while using them to carve new paths. You’d think that would be difficult with six main characters, but she manages to give each of them the right amount of time in the front and time as supporting characters.  Very skillfully crafted.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS