Babymouse: Queen of the World

 

Holm, Jennifer L., and Matthew Holm. Babymouse, Queen of the World. HarperCollins Children's, 2006.

Genre: Fiction, graphic novel 

Lexile: GN470L

More info: https://fab.lexile.com/book/details/9780375832291/

Summary: Babymouse wants nothing more than to be invited to the big sleepover hosted by the popular girls in her class. She wants to be noticed by these girls so badly that she ditches her best friend so the popular group will notice her. The sleepover girls end up being mean to Babymouse and not treating her like a good friend would. Babymouse learns a lot about herself, her friends and the way she wants to be treated throughout this novel. 

Target Audience: Middle school, 6th-8th.

Evaluation: I think this is a great book for middle school girls (or boys) to read. This graphic novel teaches a lot of valuable lessons about staying true to yourself, standing up to bullying and learning what a good friendship looks like. It also will teach students that being "popular" isn't the most important thing in the world. This novel teaches a lot of valuable lessons that are crucial for middle schoolers to learn and understand at their age. I think they will also appreciate the graphic novel style.

Reader response activity: I would, with the help of my students, make a poster board. On one side it would say "A good friend" and on the other side it would read, "A not so good friend". We would come up with words that describe what a good friend looks, sounds and acts like. I would then hang it up in my classroom so all of my students could know and understand what being a good friend looks like and how they can be better. This could be done at any age level, in any classroom. I think friendship is especially important at the middle school level, when groups and cliques are starting to form. This would be a great activity for middle school level students.