So, my daughter, Lily, just finished reading "Destiny Date" by Melody James for her book report. It's about Gemma, who's kind of dreading the end-of-year prom because all her friends have dates except her. There's this one boy, Sam, she secretly hopes will ask her, but she's trying to play it cool like it doesn't matter. It sounded like typical middle school drama, and Lily's been really into those kinds of stories lately.
Lily really enjoyed it and actually finished it in two days, which is saying something since she usually has a stack of books piled up on her nightstand. She said it was easy to follow and she liked Gemma's character, especially how she deals with her feelings when she thinks Sam doesn't like her back. There aren't any pictures, but the chapters are short and sweet, and the story moves along at a good pace. It wasn't too overwhelming for her, and she didn't get bored halfway through, which is always a win.
The AR level is 4.1, and it's worth 5 points, so it was a good boost to her AR goal. Lily's in fourth grade, and she read it with no problem. It's not a super long book, around 35,000 words, which is perfect for that age where they're starting to read chapter books but still get intimidated by really thick ones.
I think this would be a hit with any kid who loves those coming-of-age stories and a little bit of sweet romance. It's pretty clean and innocent, which I appreciate. If your child is super sensitive or doesn't enjoy stories about middle school relationships, you might want to skip it. But for a lighthearted, quick read that my daughter actually enjoyed, I’d definitely say it was worth checking out.