Justice for Sheku Bayoh: https://www.change.org/p/police-scotland-investigate-the-death-of-sheku-bayoh-in-police-custody
Synopsis: The Kids Under the Stairs: BenBee and the Teacher Griefer is a funny, clever novel-in-verse series about Ben Bellows—who failed the Language Arts section of the Florida State test—and three classmates who get stuck in a summer school class.
But these kids aren't dumb—they're divergent thinkers, as Ms. J tells them: they simply approach things in a different way than traditional school demands.
• Each chapter is told through the perspective of one of the four students, who each write in a different style (art, verse, stream of consciousness).
• Celebrates different types of intelligence
• A heartwarming, laugh-out-loud novel-in-verse
Soon, the kids win over Ms. J with their passion for Sandbox, a Minecraft-type game. The kids make a deal with Ms. J: every minute they spend reading aloud equals one minute they get to play Sandbox in class. But when the administration finds about this unorthodox method of teaching, Ben B. and his buds have to band together to save their teacher's job—and their own academic future.
The first in a series of complementary storylines, this is an honest, heartfelt book about friendship, videogames, and learning to love yourself.
Review: BenBee and the Teacher Griefer is a cute middle-grade story about a group of kids in summer school, and they make a unique deal with their teacher. They’ll read out loud in her class for 10 minutes if she plays 10 minutes of their favorite video game, Sandbox. This book is absolutely meant for kids with any sort of learning disorder who finds reading difficult. I understand that. Still, the format of the book is the weakest part. A lot of the story is told in verse or told through chat logs in Sandbox. That makes reading it extremely easy, but I found it difficult to keep track of the passage of time and I thought scenes took place over multiple days, but they only took place during a single day. I also found it difficult to really connect with any of the characters. I loved that K.A. Holt included things like grief (grieving for a person and a pet), as well as gender identity on top of the disability aspects.
The story made my heart happy because I have my own online community that I got to know through gaming and I love them. I appreciated how much of the focus was on the friendship these kids formed and there weren't any budding romances. It also did a good job of showing that a person’s online person isn’t necessarily the way they are in real life. The end wrapped up really quickly but, again, I think that’s more of an issue with the format. And, again, I understand that was intentional. I’m not going to give BenBee a rating because I understand that what I view as a weakness is a strength in the way it can entice weak readers.
If you enjoyed BenBee and the Teacher Griefer, consider checking out the following books:
Slay by Brittany Morris (YA contemporary about a girl who makes a gaming safe-space for African-Americans, and the social issues that come from racism)
Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith (YA contemporary about online antagonism)
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang (Graphic novel that depicts the struggle kids have between their passion and familial obligation)
Synopsis: The Kids Under the Stairs: BenBee and the Teacher Griefer is a funny, clever novel-in-verse series about Ben Bellows—who failed the Language Arts section of the Florida State test—and three classmates who get stuck in a summer school class.
But these kids aren't dumb—they're divergent thinkers, as Ms. J tells them: they simply approach things in a different way than traditional school demands.
• Each chapter is told through the perspective of one of the four students, who each write in a different style (art, verse, stream of consciousness).
• Celebrates different types of intelligence
• A heartwarming, laugh-out-loud novel-in-verse
Soon, the kids win over Ms. J with their passion for Sandbox, a Minecraft-type game. The kids make a deal with Ms. J: every minute they spend reading aloud equals one minute they get to play Sandbox in class. But when the administration finds about this unorthodox method of teaching, Ben B. and his buds have to band together to save their teacher's job—and their own academic future.
The first in a series of complementary storylines, this is an honest, heartfelt book about friendship, videogames, and learning to love yourself.
Review: BenBee and the Teacher Griefer is a cute middle-grade story about a group of kids in summer school, and they make a unique deal with their teacher. They’ll read out loud in her class for 10 minutes if she plays 10 minutes of their favorite video game, Sandbox. This book is absolutely meant for kids with any sort of learning disorder who finds reading difficult. I understand that. Still, the format of the book is the weakest part. A lot of the story is told in verse or told through chat logs in Sandbox. That makes reading it extremely easy, but I found it difficult to keep track of the passage of time and I thought scenes took place over multiple days, but they only took place during a single day. I also found it difficult to really connect with any of the characters. I loved that K.A. Holt included things like grief (grieving for a person and a pet), as well as gender identity on top of the disability aspects.
The story made my heart happy because I have my own online community that I got to know through gaming and I love them. I appreciated how much of the focus was on the friendship these kids formed and there weren't any budding romances. It also did a good job of showing that a person’s online person isn’t necessarily the way they are in real life. The end wrapped up really quickly but, again, I think that’s more of an issue with the format. And, again, I understand that was intentional. I’m not going to give BenBee a rating because I understand that what I view as a weakness is a strength in the way it can entice weak readers.
If you enjoyed BenBee and the Teacher Griefer, consider checking out the following books:
Slay by Brittany Morris (YA contemporary about a girl who makes a gaming safe-space for African-Americans, and the social issues that come from racism)
Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith (YA contemporary about online antagonism)
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang (Graphic novel that depicts the struggle kids have between their passion and familial obligation)
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