Tae Keller nails it again! Jennifer Chan is Not Alone is a gripping middle grades story of friendship, isolation, and bullying, with the perfect hint of sci-fi. It takes the reader on a thrilling journey with flashbacks and present-day action and leads to a conclusion that will leave you wondering.

I was unsure about whether I'd enjoy a book written from the perspective of a bully, but I have to admit it was done well. This is definitely one of those books that will make a bigger impact if you're the target audience, as it should, but I still did enjoy it. It raises some important questions for middleschoolers without giving them all the answers on a silver platter, which I appreciated as it invites readers to think critically about who they are as people, what makes a good or a bad person, and who they want to be.

I do think this book would have been even better if we'd seen more of Jennifer though. I thought she was a really interesting, really loveable character, and I would have loved to get to know her better.

This story was less about Jennifer's disappearance, and more about the culture of bullying in schools, from an author who experienced bullying herself, and was trying to piece together what happened to her, and to try and finally understand why the bullies chose her.

Told from the perspective of one of the bullies, Mallory, we follow her as she tries to right the wrongs she did, while trying to find Jennifer. She begs old friends for help, and starts to uncover clues as to where Jennifer may be, using her journals.

Although the girls in this story were all around 13, I did have to keep reminding myself of that. The writing style made me feel like they were older, 15 or 16. I did wish Mallory was a more sympathetic character, as I couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for her after what she did to Jennifer.

I raced through the pages to find out what happened to Jennifer, and if there was really something to her alien sightings. This is a shorter book, with compelling characters, that all have their flaws. I liked that the author pulled from her own experiences, making the story feel more realistic and emotional.

This was a slow paced middle grade novel that dealt with bullying. I really enjoy Tae Keller's writing and feel that she does a great job of capturing the voice of a middle grade girl.

From the Publisher:
Sometimes middle school can make you feel like you're totally alone in the universe...but what if we aren't alone at all?

Thanks to her best friend, Reagan, Mallory Moss knows the rules of middle school. The most important one? You have to fit in to survive. But then Jennifer Chan moves in across the street, and that rule doesn’t seem to apply. Jennifer doesn’t care about the laws of middle school, or the laws of the universe. She believes in aliens—and she thinks she can find them.

Then Jennifer goes missing. Using clues from Jennifer’s journals, Mallory goes searching. But the closer she gets, the more Mallory has to confront why Jennifer might have run . . . and face the truth within herself.

Tae Keller lights up the sky with this insightful story about shifting friendships, right and wrong, and the power we all hold to influence and change one another. No one is alone.

My Thoughts:
Tae Keller won a Newberry Medal for When You Trap a Tiger. This next book is about bullying and at the core it is about those personal insecurities that lead people to be bullies, even people who feel like they are good people at the core. It brought back all of the middle school ghosts of trying to fit even if the trajectory up was littered with people who once were friends.

This is a painful story about the cost of being different. This is a reminder that the middle school trauma follows us into adulthood. How many people invite their bullies to coffee so they can write this story and get the "why" answered? This is catharsis for adults and a necessary mirror for middle grades.

From one middle school teacher to other middle school teachers, this story is why "withitness" is so important. We have to read between the lines, see behind our backs, hear everything, check odd behavior and be intolerant of mean, bullying behavior in writing, "jokes," social media, texts and other forms of communication. It is about protecting what makes each student rare, gifted and magical.

Author: Tae Keller

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: April 26, 2022

Mallory, Mal, Moss discovers what's really important when a disappearance rocks her community.
New neighbor, Jennifer Chan, marches to the beat of her own drum and believes in, of all things, aliens. Mal humors her for the end of the summer, but when the school year comes, she's embarrassed of Jennifer and wants to distance herself. When Jennifer disappears, Mallory is convinced that she's gone to look for aliens. But
Mallory and her friends, Tess and Reagan, keep referring to something as "the Incident" which readers know has something to do with them bullying Jennifer. Mallory has to do a lot of self-reflecting both in herself and her friendships when she teams up with Kath and Ingrid, two members of the science club, to find Jennifer.

Tae Keller is one an author who has made her way to my auto-purchase list, and this story is no exception. It belongs in any collection that caters to middle grade readers.

This book ... wow. I'm speechless. Every middle schooler needs to read this book. I think it would be great to read as a whole class, or in book circles. The deep dive into the mentality of bullying and popularity is so, so thought provoking and real and necessary.

I loved Mal. I also hated Mal. That's how you know it's a real, breathing character--when you're gripped by fierce love and understanding--and also anger and even hatred. I hated her for what she did. I hated her for what I saw of herself in me. I loved her for how she tried, and who she was in that trying. I loved how the story ended, with things not exactly right, but resolved, and as right as they could be, given the circumstances.

Keller is a master of magical realism. This was a little less magical than her previous work, but it was still delightfully mysterious and fun. I don't know that I've actually read a book about aliens like this one before, where there's an honest to goodness alien hunt going on, and that was really fun. I would have adored this book growing up.

The whole book was very gripping, the plot flitting between two timelines--the present and the then--but it was never confusing. I was right with Mal and her story the whole time. The only reason it took me a while to read was because it was an e-arc on my phone, and I hate reading on my phone. But once I got past the 5th chapter, I was hooked and read it in one sitting. That's saying a lot for it being on my phone!

Thank you to netgalley for the free arc!

Jennifer Chan is Not Alone is the quintessential bullying story. Until now, I’ve never read anything that comes so close to revealing what truly goes on in the minds of the bullied, the bully, and the bully’s accomplices. It’s a story about a group of “popular” kids—primarily girls, in this case—determined to maintain the status quo at any cost. The story is told by Mallory Moss. She’s not a “good” girl, but she’s not a “bad” girl either. She’s caught somewhere in the middle, always being pulled in a tug of war between friends on opposite sides of the precipice, never quite sure of why or how or the motivations behind her friends’ actions.

Mallory is friends with Jennifer Chan. She’s the new girl; the soon-to-be victim of the popular kids—including Mallory. Jennifer doesn’t know what the rules are or how the other kids expect her to behave. In fact, she doesn’t really care about any of that. She has her own ideas and beliefs about life and who she is as a person. Unfortunately, those are some of the things that put her on a collision course with the popular kids, who make it their business to teach Jennifer her place. And they’re not very nice about how they do it. Oh, by the way: Mallory’s best friend, Reagan, is the ringleader of the popular kids. The queen bully.

Tae Keller is an extremely talented writer. But what makes this story so gripping and true-to-life is not so much the writing as it is Keller’s ability to capture the psyche of the characters and lay them bare for the reader to see and, more importantly, understand how bullying happens, and how even “nice kids” can sometimes unwittingly become bullies themselves. I haven’t read any of Keller’s other books. However, if they are half as good as Jennifer Chan is Not Alone, I’ll be sure to add them to my must-read list.

Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Wow--I absolutely love this book. Tae Keller did an amazing deep dive into friendship and self-discovery through the lens of a horrible bullying incident and the totally original question of alien life. I love how she writes from the perspective of the child who did the bullying, wanted to be something bigger, rather than from the one who is bullied. Such a fresh unique take on the topic. Beautifully written and constructed story.

After the death of her beloved father, Jennifer Chan’s mom relocates them from Chicago to Florida. Despite the title, Jennifer Chan is pretty much alone. Rejected by the cool clique and even the nerds, Jennifer is one quirky girl who doesn’t fit in anywhere. She completely believes in aliens and being herself — and that makes her the subject of ridicule. And then she goes missing.

Telling anything else would ruin this fabulous novel. While aimed at tweens and young teens, adults will adore this books just as much — especially as Jennifer, believed to a naïf, sees the most clearly of all.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Random House Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.

Jennifer Chan is not alone is a powerful book about bullying in middle school. The story is about Jennifer, who believes in aliens and standing up for herself. She gets bullied at school and runs away. Most of the novel is about Jennifer's non-friends coming together to search for her because they all hurt her somehow. Most of the novel felt slow but it had a powerful ending. The author shows the perspective of both the bullied and people who bully and words have the power to heal and connect. This book is a must-read by all middle-schoolers, parents and teachers.

Jennifer Chan is new to town, and the first local girl to meet her, Mallory, is torn between liking her individuality and knowing that Jennifer will not fit in at school, especially with Mallory's popular crowd. As Jennifer's quirkiness becomes more and more apparent, she becomes the target of bullies. Mallory's journey to self-awareness and eventual realization of her own role in the bullying is very poignant and moving. I think readers will be able to relate to Mallory's good intentions that don't always match up to her actions, the consequences she faces, and her attempt to try to make things right.

It is uncommon for me to read middle grade, but besides for the characters being young, you don't even realize you're reading middle grade. I forgot how cruel middle schoolers can be, like if you think the mean girls of high school were bad. . . This author is the perfect person to tell this story, I was tearing up over the author note. I thought this would all be from Jennifer's POV, but it's actually from one of the girls that helped to bully her. It gives an interesting perspective and sheds light on anxiety and other important topics.

Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone, a new novel by Newbery Medal winner Tae Keller, exemplifies the angst of middle school with an unexpected twist. The protagonist, Mallory Moss, begins to get the hang of surviving middle school by fitting in and following the unwritten rules from her best friend Reagan. Then she has a new neighbor across the street. Jennifer Chan, not only doesn’t know these rules, she doesn’t seem to care – and she believes in aliens.

As one would expect, bullies show up in middle school with Jennifer as a prime target. Even as Mallory can pick some of the tormentors out for herself and knows what they are doing is wrong, she is drawn into going along to get along. After the Incident, which does not become clear until later in the book, Jennifer disappears and the whole community begins a search. Could she really have been taken by the aliens she believes in? Mallory knows there may be clues in Jennifer’s journals. To find answers, Mallory must also face her own guilt in why Jennifer is missing and decide who her true friends really are.

This is a compelling and engaging book that needs to be in the hands of every middle schooler who has experienced bullying or participated in bullying. (Often those are the same people.) I would also recommend it as an excellent classroom read-aloud followed by discussion.

“Treat others how you want to be treated.”
I first heard that phrase from my dad after I’m sure I had done something stupid. The importance of that learning for me and others often takes a back seat in middle school where bullying behavior makes one act before thinking about their actions.

Mallory Moss has a popular friend and is finally fitting into the school culture at Gibbons Academy. But now that Jennifer Chan has moved into the neighborhood things get a bit confusing. Jennifer is obsessed with aliens and their existence. She even has journals filled with her findings.

At first Mallory hangs out with the new girl away from the staring eyes at school. The popular crowd sees Jennifer as someone who doesn’t do what is expected in middle school: wear the right clothes, control your image, and know your place. What becomes known as “the Incident” has Mallory and her school friends taking bullying to the worst extremes. Jennifer must be knocked down and put in her place for acting so weird and above all.

The result is one they don’t expect: Jennifer disappears. The police think she has run away but no one is sure why. Deep down Mallory believes the incident was the cause but maybe the real answer is Jennifer has been abducted by aliens. She uses clues from the journals and whether you believe in aliens or not the evidence that it really happened grows. Mallory tries to find Jennifer and the climatic ending reveals all

It’s a tough lesson about friendship, family, and the power often sought for success. Finding your true identity has never had such a heartfelt look. The first person narration alternates between “THEN” and “NOW” JENNIFER CHAN IS NOT ALONE is the most honest view of bullying I’ve ever read and perhaps one that should be experienced by every new 6th grader.

Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone is a beautiful, haunting story about an adolescent girl who finds herself at the center of a mystery surrounding her classmate’s disappearance. Tae Keller has managed to not only craft a narrative that draws in the reader (of any age, really) but also prominently incorporates themes of bullying, anxiety, stigma, and individuation, not to mention themes of race and identity.

I’m an adult reader and thoroughly enjoyed this novel; it has stayed with me through imagery and theme in ways I didn’t expect. I think this would be a great read for MG, YA, and adult readers.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for this advance e-arc. I can’t wait to get copies for the young readers in my life! Congratulations to the author on another stellar work.

One of the best stories ever about bullies and bystanders! The way Keller exposes insecurities that bullies focus on was a great example of reality. Highly recommend for grades 4 and up.

Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone is a story about bullying, but looks at it from a variety of angle and asking the question why. There is much more going on in this story beyond the bullying incident and the author tries to give the reader a complete picture from the various characters as we search for the "why" in this story. Beautifully written the story draws the readers in instantly to these characters and story as we unravel what The Incident was and the impact it had on all the characters in the story in the search for Jennifer Chan.

Tae Keller tells an important story in <i>Jennifer Chan is Not Alone</i>. The raw emotions of middle school are all here: the deep desire to fit in, the shifting ground of friendship at a time when everyone is figuring out who they are, the threat of someone who is comfortable in her skin, the ways we hurt others when we are hurting. While there is a science fiction element to this story, it is grounded in the very relatable trials of adolescent relationships. Without being preachy Keller allows readers to explore the impacts of subtle (and not so subtle) racism, bullying, and how our choices impact those around us. The events are of the story take on another layer of meaning when paired with the powerful author's note in the book, an addition that I hope young readers will be sure to take note of. This powerful story offers second chances to both the bullied and the bullies. I highly recommend it.