Simon O'Keeffe is 12-years old and just moved to a small town in the National Quiet Zone, an area where the internet, cell phones, microwaves, and other technology are banned because they interfere with scientific equipment scanning for life outside of Earth. While he hates being the new kid, he's thankful for a fresh start in a place where he hopes no one will find out about his traumatic past. It takes a long time for the trauma to be revealed (too long, in my opinion), but the reader can guess what it is. Still, it hit me like a ton of bricks and there were tears from this adult reader. While the book starts out slow, the storyline is punctuated by moments of hilarity. Themes of family and friendship abound in this middle-grade book.

Thank you to Disney Publishing and NetGalley for a review copy.

Although Simon Sort of Says is a fun story, I had a hard time getting into it. Simon has a sassy and relatable voice, and his circumstances are entertaining, I wasn't able to get hooked enough on the mystery surrounding his family's move and what his whole deal is to finish the story. However, I know several kids who will gobble it up in no time.

A year after Simon survived a school shooting, he and his family are only too happy to move to a rare U.S. town with no radio, television, or internet—they are all suffering from PTSD and the overinterest of the media, but especially Simon. This novel is absolutely deft. I cannot emphasize enough how ridiculously funny this book is, without ever diminishing any of the extremely heavy, heavy topics it covers. I laughed, I cried, but mostly I laughed while being amazed I wasn't crying. The world's most accurate and evocative depiction of emus ever in fiction, and possibly the same for peacocks (I have less real world experience of peacocks with which to compare). An absolutely beautiful story of friendship, and of a level of strength that should never, ever be necessary.

Oh my goodness! I could not have loved this book any more. Simon Sort of Says is a fantastic middle grade novel. This book follows Simon, a boy who was the sole survivor of a school shooting, and his family as they move to a new town for a fresh start. Simon works hard to find a place for himself at his new school while making sure no one finds out about his past. Erin Bow does a wonderful job of presenting an incredibly heavy topic to children in an easy to understand way. She manages to balance heavy real-world topics with humor and typical childhood experiences. The characters are real and relatable. The side stories are funny and engaging. This book is perfect for middle grade teachers to use as a novel study, as it provides lots of context for discussion. Simon Sort of Says has quickly become one of the best books I've every read and will easily be at the top of the list of books I read this year. Thank you to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion Books for providing me with a copy of this unforgettable book.

At the center of Simon Sort of Says is Simon, a likeable character who, at the beginning, seems like a quirky kid with quirky parents who has moved to a quirky place. And you keep thinking that for about a third of the book.

Then things start to get really heavy. PTSD looms. Everything has a little more weight to it.

And if author Erin Bow stopped there, Simon Sort of Says would be a failure. But she doesn’t stop there. Instead, she gives Simon the support system he needs in the form of loving parents and new and unexpected friends. She gives him a project that pushes things forward. And a bunch of animal elements brighten the entire book.

There are a few plot holes that were obvious to me, but probably won’t bother younger readers. Among those is the fact that not a single person in town knows Simon’s story. You’d think at least the school principal would know based on school records.

Bow does, however, redeem herself when it comes to her exploration of trauma, anxiety and moving forward. Her thoughtful touch when it comes to this is excellent.

Simon Sort of Says is a hard book to read. It’s the sort of book that will either strongly resonate with readers or leave them with anxieties of their own. I suggest parents read this prior to handing it to their kids or at least read it with them. It’s a book that will prompt a lot of discussion.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 5/5 stars.

I...oh my goodness. First of all, this novel is beautiful - tragic - but beautiful and just very much resonant of so many people with trauma and ptsd. This novel is also hilarious. There's a crazy llama, faking messages from space, the national quiet zone, dead bodies, alpacas, emus, birthing goats, and...I don't even know. Squirrel Jesus. Sacraments. Mistakes. It's hilarious. There are so many funny lines that had me busting out laughing.

It's also pretty serious. Simon is the survivor of a school shooting, but that doesn't become "revealed" until the middle of the novel. It was interesting to see how it progressed to Simon dealing with his trauma and PTSD (especially with the help of friends) and how it went from trying to forget something -- and it not being mentioned -- to it slowly become important to his healing. It is difficult to read at moments, particularly with Simon's panic attacks, but I absolutely loved loved loved loved this book. I will 110% buy it for my classroom library as well.

Despite being a book about the aftermath of a school shooting, this book is heartfelt and hilarious. It's been two years since Simon O'Keefe survived a traumatic school shooting, and he and his family are starting over in Grin and Bear It, NE. Their new town is has no tv, wifi, or internet on account of the giant radio telescopes which is fine by Simon b/c maybe he won't be recognized. This is a book about reconciling the past with who you are now and defining who you want to be. It's also about friendship, faking UFO signals, emu wrangling, and being stuck owning an amorous peacock.

What a great book! Simon is the only kid ever happy to move to a town with no internet. He’s ahead enough of everyone knowing everything. He’s got a very supportive family and he soon makes friends. The past will catch up with him. It always will.

What I love most about it, though, was how directly and head on the issue of trauma is addressed. Simon’s every thought is in the face of the reader. You will feel. I would argue that complicated feelings are what makes reading great. I know it is not popular now, but there is nothing wrong with a book making you feel, even if it makes you feel pain, discomfort, awkwardness, shame, or any other so-called negative emotion. You feel for Simon whether he wants you to or not. And it made me think about how we try to be supportive and whether we are thinking of ourselves or the person we are trying to support when we do it. You are not supposed to always feel good.

I laughed out loud and read parts out loud to my husband as I was reading. I don’t want to spoil anything, but…
Jesus Squirrel and the Escaped Emus would be a great band name.

This book had so many moving parts. It really should have been two books. Simon has PTSD from a past trauma and he moves with his parents to a town called Grin and Bear It in Nebraska. Mom is a funeral director and dad is a pastor in the catholic church. Their new town is a quiet zone. No cell phones. No internet. No microwaves. They keep the radio waves so the radio astronomers can do their work looking for contact from outer space. What I did love was all the quirky animal bits from Pretty Stabby, the attack peacock, to Hank, the dog who gets his own beer out of the fridge, and Hercules, the service dog in training. My previous book by this author was excellent: Stand on the Sky. Check that one out if you want to learn about the tribal life in Mongolia.

Thank you to Disney Publishing and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the type of book that I wanted to like much more than I ended up liking it. I went in knowing that Simon had survived a school shooting and was frustrated by the author kind of teasing information about the event or before Simon had moved to the new town. I also didn't buy that no one in the town knew that Simon was the survivor - they all knew about the shooting and I'm expected to believe that no one had seen additional stories or seen Simon from the news stories he and his parents talk about? It was a stretch to say the least. Also, the school would have known or at least been able to put two and two together. Aside from that I didn't like the way Agate was characterized - from calling her fat on multiple occasions to making the decision to have her be autistic. These descriptions added nothing to her as a character or to move the plot along. I also didn't understand why everyone was so upset with Simon's dad over his "black sabbath sermon", I thought what he said was what he was feeling and he had the same right as everyone else to talk about that (I also agreed with him). What I did like were the discussions about trauma. I especially liked that Simon realized by the end that his parents also went through their own trauma as a result of the shooting - maybe he will go a little easier on them in the future.

A wonderfully adept, age-appropriate exploration of PTSD, neuro-diversity, and family relationships.The author handles tough topics with clear, thoughtful, but not overly done explanations that suit the characters and settings (and do not feel out of place or preachy as is the case with other books I’ve read). Every reader will be able to connect with the characters, and doing so will help them understand those who seem different aren’t really so different after all.

Thank you to Disney Publishing Worldwide, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this moving and humorous novel.

4.5/5

This story was really nice. I liked how real Simon's trauma responses are and how sad it is that he is struggling to carry the weight of being The Final Girl (in his case, boy). I like how the author makes it a point to showcase 1.) How tragically common school shootings are 2.) How hard it is to mentally recover from that as both the child and the parent and 3.) How desperate people can be to escape the eyes of the world after everything goes wrong.

Simon has a lot going for him. I think he has a great sense of humor and once he starts paying attention to others, his empathy kicks in and he begins to understand that he's not the only one hurting.

I did knock this down from 5 stars because I just cannot stand how many times he called Agatha fat.

"I'm the new kid in a small town where everybody knows everybody. I'm just trying to blend in."

Simon has a lot on his plate. (I do mean a lot. Bring tissues.)

I live and teach in a small town myself. And grew up in an even smaller one. I get it. And I think my students would get it too.

This book really conflicted me. I alllllllmost put this one down. At first I thought that the story was a cute little caper type adventure with some delightful characters and it just needed some editing. Honestly I couldn't remember why I had requested the arc. Then at the 40% mark you get to the THING, which is entirely too far to learn the absolute major "secret" about the character. Yes, people keep their trauma to themselves but when the book is narrated in the first person, finding out that a major detail is untrue is jarring.

On the other hand, this book has excellent knowledge and dialogue about trauma and anxiety and PTSD and that part of the story is very well written.

I think this could have been two entirely different books, the story of how Simon navigates the world post-trauma and the story of the adventure Simon, Agate, and Kevin get up to. The first is off to an excellent start. The second has some major plot holes that you could cover up if this weren't about real-world traumatic events.

Simon and his undertaker mother and Catholic deacon father have just moved to a really, really small town in Nebraska. On top of being in the middle of nowhere, there is no internet or TV because it interferes with the work of scientists searching for extraterrestrial life. Simon meets some friends at school that help him navigate life in his new town. But when they find out the real reason Simon's family moved, will that jeopardize everything for Simon? Middle grade readers who like books with quirky characters and settings should love this heartwarming book. (Although a traumatic event is what brought Simon to his new town so readers need to be ready to handle that. The author does a wonderful job of dealing with trauma and its effects. The final version will also have resources.)

I didn’t want this book to end AT ALL. I’m a fifth grade teacher and I think all students and teachers have some form if PTSD with our lockdowns, shelter in place, and lockout drills. I can’t even comprehend the unimaginable. I wish we all had friend like Kevin and Agate to help us through it. I just pre-ordered this got my niece, my nephew, and most importantly….my classroom.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read.

Simon is ready to become a new Simon, and what better place than Grin and Bear It, Nebraska: an official quiet zone where there is no internet, no cell phones, no TV, and no one knows about Simon's dark past. Things are going well: Simon makes some new friends; his mom gets along well as the local funeral home director; his dad becomes an essential deacon in the local Catholic church. There are a few hiccups, such as the violent peacock in the funeral home's yard and the occasional fire drill, but Simon will be OK as long as no one discovers who he really is. But then his new best friend decides it's a good idea to impersonate space aliens for the local scientists, and between a science fair catastrophe, a service dog in training, a missing corpse, and a rogue holy squirrel, it begins to look like secrets won't be secrets as long as Simon hoped.

This book has the perfect balance of humor and hard-hitting realism. I laughed out loud. I cringed and hid. I felt Simon's helplessness and his courage. I wouldn't have thought a book about trauma would be so impactful or memorable, but this one is both fun to read and really deep. I won't deny it gave me a few nightmares, but it was so easy to empathize with Simon, and I'm glad this book exists as a nod toward the tricky balance between honesty and desperation. Definitely one of my top reads of the year, and it's only January.

Simon O’Keeffe is in seventh grade, and he and his parents have just moved from Omaha to the tiny town of Grin and Bear It, Nebraska. While moving at this point in one’s life is typically difficult, Simon is looking forward to a change of scenery—especially because Grin and Bear It is one of the only places left where the Internet will not find him. Unlike many others his age, Simon is running from his past—a past he smothers with humor and stories to prevent it from sneaking up on him. But despite his best efforts, Simon must eventually face the demons that haunt him; luckily, he has good friends and family to help him along the way.

This book is utterly fascinating in its delivery. Written in a first-person stream-of-consciousness style, readers immediately connect to Simon on a profound level. At first, the mentions of what catalyzed Simon’s family’s move are infrequent and nearly unnoticeable. As the story progresses, however, these moments become more frequent and intense, ultimately helping readers realize exactly what is haunting Simon’s memory. A colorful cast of characters surrounds Simon, and readers will find themselves laughing aloud more often than not throughout the narrative. Zany antics and unexpected experiences fuel this humor, leaving a strong impression in readers’ minds.

At its core, this is a novel that focuses on recovery from a major traumatic event in one person’s life. Nobody is immune from traumatic experiences, and some feel these moments more strongly than others. However, a strong support system and trusted coping mechanisms can make all the difference between victory and defeat, and Simon is fortunate to have both. Young readers will empathize with Simon’s story even before they know exactly what his past looks like, and Simon’s journey to find peace is one for which readers will cheer. Though it is written with a middle grade audience in mind, this is a novel that will speak to older readers, as well. This is an essential addition to library collections for middle grade readers.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Erin Bow, and the publisher of the book for an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Simon O'Keeffe is known for the time his dad (a deacon) accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. There is something else Simon is known for but doesn't want to be. He is the lone survivor of a school shooting. Two years after that, Simon and his parents move to the town of Grin and Bear it, Nebraska. A town where the internet is banned and the town residents are looking for signs of life in space. While there, Simon makes a friend who is determined to find other life in space. Will she be able to help Simon begin a new story for his life?

I really enjoyed this book as a Catholic and as a teacher. I enjoyed the Catholic references and "jokes". It was a little painful as teacher though to think about only one student surviving a classroom shooting and having to deal with the pain of that. Unfortunately, school shootings are now apart of our world. I hope it's a part of our world that will stop.
I will be buying a copy of this book for my classroom!

an honest and well-written story about the impact of a school shooting on a middle schooler and his family, simon sort of says took me by surprise. i really enjoyed this story, but i will say that it might not be for everyone and that readers should take care of themselves. erin bow is a great writer and i loved how she developed her characters throughout this story. raw and upsetting and hopeful and funny (jesus squirrel made me crack up) and overall an amazing story of growing up, trauma and the power of supportive friends and family.