This was a cute read with an important message that I think will resonate with the middle grade reader crowd. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me access to this digital advanced copy to read and review.

Prepare to feel empowered and hopeful! This is a story about finding and using your voice. It's about friendship and activism. Bonus: there's a pet guinea pig! And whoopee pies!

The concept of a student newspaper with an advise column is fun and interesting. She gave out good advise too. Personally I loved all the animals. The march was a great idea another thing not in most mg books. Overall a very good story

Dear Student is a wonderful middle grade novel that my students are sure to enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“We don’t have to think the same to be friends.”
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Middle school has arrived for Autumn, but nothing seems to be going right. Her dad left to join the Peace Corps, leaving Autumn and her sister, Pickle, with their vet mom and Autumn’s BFF moved to California. Introverted and anxious Autumn worries about finding new friends until friendly and personable Logan refuses to let Autumn say no to a friendship. Autumn also meets Cooper: new student who is also shy like herself. Her two new friends couldn’t be any different from one another. When Autumn applies and gets accepted as the school’s anonymous advice columnist Dear Student, her friendships are put on the line when she keeps her new job a secret. When everyone finds out, it threatens the new relationships she was building.
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Elly is one of my go-to middle grade authors. She has such a great way of writing for kids and dealing with big topics, her speciality, IMO, being mental health. As an introvert and someone who deals with anxiety as well I felt like Elly nailed Autumn’s POV. Big, loud populated places are not my thing so Autumn and Cooper eating in the science lab was on point. I also believe the descriptions of friendships was so well done. So many times in my youth I was friends with people I probably shouldn’t have been because we were so different. However, in middle school friendships and social status can trump a true connection. As always I loved the Jewish representation as well. This MG book releases 2.15. Preorder now!

A sweet middle grade novel about a shy, anxious girl who finds her voice. A great ready for upper elementary and middle school girls.

I am a huge fan of Elly Swartz. She writes wonderful, real life characters and I always make sure to have several copies of her work in my classroom. This proves no different. Students with anxiety will feel seen by this story. As an adult, I enjoyed it which is the highest praise I can give any middle grade fiction.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I enjoyed Dear Student. I thought the character development was very natural and relatable. As a middle level teacher, I could see myself using this novel to help discuss character development and finding relatable themes within a story. I really on love the author, Elly Swartz.

Elly Swartz delivers a fun and relatable middle grade story about growing up, forming friendships and finding your calling with Dear Student. An excellent addition to elementary collections and a book I will be purchasing for my own elementary library.

I finished this book a while ago, but waited to post my review after I had an opportunity to add copies to my classroom library, and get some feedback from my student.
The book is a winner!
Dear Student is exactly what some of my students needed and I highly recommend educators add this to their classroom and school libraries. While the themes of friendship, bravery, and family are explored, it is how the author addresses the sensitive topic of anxiety that appealed to my students.

Five stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Received an eArc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Student follows Autumn, the new secret writer for her school's advice column. While giving advice to others comes easy at times, dealing with drama between her two friends and her father's recent choice to join the Peace Corp and move to Ecuador is harder.

Overall this book was a quick, enjoyable read. This story addresses many issues kids can face. Autumn has to face friend issues, a change in living situation and a newly absent parent. The book handles all of these situations with grace and is very real and open with the emotions she feels.

This books reads more for intermediate classrooms. I would recommend it for 3-6 graders. I don't think it would be as enjoyed by middle school student.

Middle school is tough without your bestie, but life moves on...fast! Autumn's BFF moved to California and now she has to deal with Hillview on her own. Autumn worries that things won't go well, but finds some strength in new friends, although they are complete opposites and that leads to some difficult situations.

After speaking with her parents, Autumn decides to apply for the "Dear Student" advice columnist in the school's newspaper. Much to her surprise, she's chosen! Keeping her identity a secret may be more than she can handle with her anxiety issues. How can Autumn give advice when she can't figure out her own life?

This is a must-read middle school book, filled with kids, parents, teachers, and their relatable issues. Many students will see themselves in this story, and Elly Swartz's gifted words always bring the characters and readers together in the pages.

Recommended for ages 8+ and especially middle schoolers.

Such a great book to model new friendships. I loved how it also modeled how a long-distance friendship can work.

Welcome Back!

As always things have been busy! I recently made some pretty big changes in my life and while they were all good changes it’s been a really big adjustment. So I have been spending a lot of time reading whenever I can because it’s nice to fall into the pages of a new adventure when things are changing! Dear Student is a book I finished a little while ago, but can not recommend enough! I was super fortunate to receive an e-ARC of Dear Student on NetGalley, and I downloaded it to my phone. From there I picked this book up every time I found myself waiting in a line, or just having a spare moment or two. A few chapters in and I could not wait to see where Autumn’s story was headed!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Autumn is starting a new school year, however, this time is unlike any before. Autumn recently moved but she still lives in the same town, she just does not live in her house anymore. Now Autumn lives above the vet office where her mother works, and now her father does not live with them anymore. Autumn’s dad joined the Peace Corps and is away for a long time, also her very best friend moved to the other side of the country, so her life is full of big changes. As the school year is starting she is taking on many new responsibilities to try and help her mom with her little sister. On her first day of school, Autumn accidentally meets a new friend but she also decides to fill out the application to become the new secret student for her school. Autumn is 99% sure she will not get the role but she applies anyway, however, when a teacher pulls her aside and offers her the role, stressing that she must keep it a secret, Autumn takes the offer, and begins a whole new exciting path! However, will secret student bring her the best school year yet? Or will it cause more problems than she could ever imagine?

I loved every second of Dear Student! I could not put down Autumn’s story, I always wanted to know what was going to happen. To touch on Autumn’s story more specifically, I think the author did an amazing job, handling Autumn’s anxiety and feelings about everything going on in her life, additionally, Autumn having to take on bigger roles and grow up a bit faster than other kids was also handled really well. Outside of Autumn, I loved the secret student aspect of the story, I think it was an excellent way for Autumn to be involved without going super far out of her comfort zone! As a final note, I love the cover for this book as well! I think it really represents Autumn and the story within!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

**Thank you so much to the publisher for this E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions!

Autumn is in middle school. She manages to land herself an advice column in the school paper. She quickly finds that she is giving advice to all kinds of people, people she knows, her friends. It's not an easy thing and she learns a lot about herself. This is a great read.

Enjoyable middle grade novel about the challenges of coming into your own, all while navigating middle school friendships, a separated family, and fighting for important social issues. Readers will relate to Autumn, who becomes the voice of the school paper’s advice column, but who didn’t realize it could cause problems in her friendships.

This was a very delightful book! Autumn had a very authentic voice and the issues in the book were relatable. I loved seeing Autumn's close relationship with her little sister. I don't like when older siblings are mean to younger siblings in books, so this was a great book to add to my list of books that don't have that particular dynamic.

I enjoyed seeing Autumn's friendships evolve with Cooper and Logan and appreciated the all to common issue of being torn between friends who value different things.

I wish a few places in the book would've been tightened up a little and the ending hadn't been so abrupt but those things don't take away from my enjoyment of the book.

Looking forward to purchasing for my 2 elementary school libraries!

Dear Student by Ellie Swartz, 304 pages. Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House), February 2022 $20
Content: G.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

12yo Autumn has just started 6th grade. Her BFF just moved to California, and Autumn is worried about starting middle school alone. Walking to school on the first day, she meets Cooper when he accidently injures a baby lizard on the road. Then, at school that day, Autumn is invited to have lunch with Logan, a gregarious girl who seems to make friends easily. Maybe there's a chance for friendships after all. A favorite part of the school paper is "Dear Student" an advice column which will be written by a 6th grade student secretly assigned by Mr. Baker. Autumn applies (so does Logan) and when Autumn gets the job, she finds giving advice secretly is much harder than she thought, and could hurt her newly found friendships.

Autumn is a great character, a lot going for her as well as a lot going on in her life (don't get me started about her father "leaving to join the peace corps" (what??)) She's resilient, thoughtful and is really trying to do the right thing even though she's going through a lot. Realistic representation of today's kids - Cooper and Logan were also experiencing some challenges. I liked the middle school drama and how a rumor can spread through the whole school in just a few class periods.

Lisa Librarian

A beautifully written and powerful story about a girl with social anxiety who is trying to figure out how to make everyone happy until she realizes that she is desperately unhappy because of it. This is one of Swartz's best novels yet!