  | Quagmire Tiarello couldn't be better Author: Larsen, Mylisa | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
Quagmire Tiarello prides himself on not needing anything from anybody. Sure, his mom is skipping work again and showing signs of going into one of her full-out spins, but it's nothing he can't handle. Then his mom disappears, and Quag must find shelter with an uncle he didn't know he had. Should he come clean about his mother's mental health challenges? Or can he use his carefully honed skills to bluff long enough to find his mom and get home?
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 5.10 Points: 8.0 Quiz: 552285 |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (07/15/24)
School Library Journal (02/28/25)
Booklist (+) (09/01/24)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (+) (00/10/24)
The Hornbook (+) (00/11/24)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 02/28/2025 Gr 3–7—Larsen plucks Quagmire Tiarello from the ensemble cast of her debut novel, Playing Through the Turnaround, to give him a star turn in her second one. As he joins Cassie (his crush from the earlier book) in developing a radio play at the YMCA, his mother shows up suddenly and takes him away. Quag is used to his mother spinning through mental health cycles, and he's mostly learned how to deal with it; but as they drive from their home in upstate New York westward through multiple states, he begins to realize he may need some help this time. When he gets separated from his mother in Iowa, he reaches out to Uncle Jay—the uncle he never knew he had—and that proves to be the climactic turning point. A running thread about bird behaviors—Quag has taken the hobby up to impress Cassie—is a brilliant exploration of the themes of survival and resilience. Filled with heart, humor, and exceptional sentence-level writing, Larsen's tale makes Quagmire Tiarello an easy character to root for. VERDICT In a year with many acclaimed books featuring neglectful parents—Lisa Fipps's And Then, Boom!, Sherri Winston's Shark Teeth, and Gennifer Choldenko's The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman—this one may be the best of the bunch.—Jonathan Hunt - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 09/01/2024 *Starred Review* Quentin, known as Quagmire since grade school, needs to step up his game. His mom, who suffers from undiagnosed mental illness, is heading into a full-blown emotional spin and his current level of caretaking and question-dodging isn’t going to cut it this time. When his mom takes him on a crazy road trip from New York into the Midwest and then abandons him, he must use his wits to survive. Discovering a heretofore unknown uncle, he moves in with him and begins to let go of his reins of control, realizing that it’s OK to be 14 and not 40, as he opens up to a different kind of life. The author cleverly juxtaposes portraits of absurd bird behaviors with Quagmire’s unfortunate yet comically told existence, illustrating the lengths all creatures go to to survive. This amazing story is told with deep understanding and touched with a humor forged through pain, delivering an exceptional experience that avoids maudlin stereotypes and instead captures emotions and situations with succinct sincerity; not a word is wasted. Perfect for middle-grade readers, especially those who gravitate towards books by Gary D. Schmidt, Daniel Nayeri, and Erin Bow. Buy it, read it, talk about it, and share the love by passing it on. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.
