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Amelia Rules! Volume 7: The Meaning Of Life... And Other Stuff (2011)

by Jimmy Gownley(Favorite Author)

4.21 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1416986138 (ISBN13: 9781416986133)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

series

Amelia Rules!

review 1: Side splittingly hilarious... highly recommended for all ages.Amelia's family and friends will take up permanent residence in your heart.Wonderful all ages comic!Amelia McBride may not be growing up, but she's feeling down. If there's one theme to her life, it's that nothing lasts: not her parents' marriage, not Aunt Tanner's support, not the clubhouse for the Gathering of Awesome Super Pals (G.A.S.P.), not even her new spot on the stupid cheerleading squad. And while she's learning all kinds of things about foot fungus, cheerwitches, and Reggie- who thinks Rhonda is cute?!- there's still one thing Amelia can't figure out, and that's the meaning of life. It takes a grown-up sort of tragedy for Amelia and her friends to realize that even when the world is scary and life is ... moreas mystifying as ever, some things - like friendship- do last.In Jimy Gownley's touching seventh volume in the Amelia Rules! series, Amelia may not find all the answers, but she does know how to ask the right questions.
review 2: Citation: Amelia Rules! Volume 7: The Meaning of Life... and Other Stuff, by Jimmy Gownley. (Simon & Schuster Children’s, 2011). 147 p. Graphic Novel. Summary: Amelia McBride is a precocious middle-schooler navigating the worlds of friends, the cheerleading team, her parents’ divorce and a relationship with her favorite aunt. While trying to prove that she’s not really the troublemaker her reputation implies, she learns the real value of friends who support her, and returning their support when it is most needed.Critique: a) Using the humor of traditional comic strips, Gownley tackles tough issues in young adults’ lives with careful attention. It is Amelia’s authentic voice through her struggles that allows these discussions to be filtered and sorted by young readers.b) What makes Amelia’s voice so endearing is the ability for the reader to see her responses and emotions through the panel illustrations, while “hearing” her character interactions through the speech bubbles. Amelia acts with her friends and teachers as though she is a sassy troublemaker, “going all ‘punk rock’ “(p.67,) but the reader is able to hear Amelia’s inner voice as more fragile and uncertain. This makes her sound genuinely appealing to young readers as she sounds just like how they really feel (and how adults remember feeling when they were in middle school!)c) Amelia’s dichotomous voice shows her to be struggling to keep up her “tough girl” exterior, but inside dealing with heart-wrenching issues. In a meeting with her principal, she is accused of using language like “Doofus. Lousy. Stupid. Schmuck. Crappy.” (p.60). Walking home from the same meeting, she laments that “Nothing lasts. Not family. Not friends. Not homes. Not happiness. Not love. Not peace. Not anything.” (p.80) In the final pages, Amelia reflects that “Maybe no one knows the ‘Meaning of Life.’ Maybe no one ever will. Because people are too weird and crazy and stupid,” (p.144) showing how young people have moments of mature contemplation coupled with moments of simple kid-thoughtsCurriculum Connection: This book would best be used in a small-group reading setting. Within a small group, students could read independently first, allowing them to take in the nuances of the comic illustrations, but come together to discuss the difficult themes and relationships. less

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