It's Girls Like You, Mickey
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
“Bursts with personality and energy.” —Kirkus Reviews
Mickey navigates the pitfalls, heartbreaks, and triumphs of seventh grade in this uplifting companion to I’m Ok, which award-winning author Gene Luen Yang praised as “funny and heartfelt.”
For the first time in her confident, bold life, Mickey McDonald is nervous about starting school. Her best friend, Ok, has moved away; her father has probably left town for good; and she can’t afford to go back-to-school shopping. But she’s going to make the most of things because that’s the kind of person Mickey is. Nothing’s going to stand in her way or get her down.
Still, the first few days of school are rough, until she becomes friends with Sun Joo, who has just moved to town. Their connection is instant and strong. But things get complicated when Sydney, the popular (and mean) girl in Mickey’s class, also takes a shine to Sun Joo. Suddenly Mickey is facing her first ever friend breakup, and it’s getting harder and harder to keep her chin up. Luckily, Mickey’s made of tough stuff.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This standalone companion to Kim's I'm Ok shifts the focus to Ok's friend Mickey McDonald, now starting the seventh grade and exchanging postcards with Ok, who has moved away. After the family is deserted by her father, self-described "fat poor white girl" Mickey lives with her overworked, irritable mother and helps care for her little brother, Benny, and their menagerie of animals. When new girl Sun Joo, who is Korean, is assigned to be Mickey's science partner, Mickey helps Sun Joo acclimate, learning Korean phrases and relishing having someone make her a friendship bracelet and nominate her for student government. Mickey sees a chance for them both to upgrade socially when Sun Joo gains the favor of the most popular girl in school, but encouraging her to join the popular group destroys their friendship and tests Mickey's unshakable confidence. Despite money stress at home, Mickey stays upbeat and inventive, as when she creatively repurposes a pillowcase into a skirt, and models both empathy and compassion while confidently standing up to the school's mean girl. Along with her desire to help others, Mickey's unfiltered commentary, for example about her first period and her mother's smoking habit, make her an inimitable protagonist worth rooting for. Ages 10 up.
