By iamsandykay on September 15, 2020 ( Leave a comment )

Book Review with MyChild – Stepping Stones

Welcome to another

Book Review with MyChild!

Books are critically important in our family – the saying around here goes, “I am always willing to spend money on books and Legos.” As a refresher, MyChild is 8-years-old, in third grade, reads on her own, and her current favorite books to read are graphic novels – especially those by Raina Telgemeier and the Amulet series.

Stepping Stones
by Lucy Knisley

Book Description:

Jen is used to not getting what she wants. So suddenly moving to the country and getting new stepsisters shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

Jen did not want to leave the city. She did not want to move to a farm with her mom and her mom’s new boyfriend, Walter. She did not want to leave her friends and her dad. Most of all, Jen did not want to get new “sisters,” Andy and Reese.

If learning new chores on Peapod Farm wasn’t hard enough, then having to deal with perfect-at-everything Andy might be the last straw for Jen. Besides cleaning the chicken coop, trying to keep up with the customers at the local farmers’ market, and missing her old life, Jen has to deal with her own insecurities about this new family . . . and where she fits in.

Our Review:

Mom: I was excited to share this book with MyChild as I follow the author on Instagram and love her content. I thought this could be a fun thing for us to do together.

MyChild: I thought the book was okay, but I didn’t really enjoy how the girls didn’t get along. They kind of did in the end, but it was just…

Mom: Yeah, I felt that, too. I can understand that this is the story of the author’s life, but some of the real-ness didn’t convey well into the story. I also found myself struggling with how the adults treated Jen – her mom’s boyfriend in particular. The jokes and name calling are just not funny and it really bothered me that even when Jen did try to speak up and say, “this bothers me,” she was brushed aside.

MyChild: I didn’t like that either.

Mom: Again, this could be due to the fact that the events the story is based on are from 20 years ago, but I think the author could have adapted her story a bit to bring some closure to these issues. Maybe the story will be resolved in a next book, but if that book doesn’t ever materialize, we’re left with a young girl who is being told, “Sometimes he bothers me, too, but you just have to let him win. He’ll argue until he does.”

This is not something we teach MyChild, this is not what we model, and honestly, it’s not what we allow, even as adults.

The Final Verdict