The middle grade novel A Season Most Unfair by J. Anderson Coats (Atheneum, Jun 2023) shares the common issue of a preteen girl not ready to “grow up” in the unique setting of a small town in Medieval England. Scholastica (Tick) wants to continue being her father’s candle-making partner, but to her horror, he has hired an apprentice and now Tick must start acting like the young woman society expects her to become instead of standing over the tallow pot. Along with her childhood friends, Tick seeks for a way to express herself as she always has and to find joy in life even while facing increasing societal demands as a young woman.


Tick was a very loveable character. Although the era was the relatively unfamiliar middle ages with the unfamiliar job of candle-making, A Season Most Unfair is told with a friendly and highly readable tone that draws the modern middle grader reader into the setting that felt at once familiar. Tweens and teen girls, especially, will relate to Tick’s desire to halt the expectations of adolescence, and boys will enjoy seeing how Henry, the apprentice, had to step into responsibility at his comparably young age in this depicted era.

The book as a whole was somewhat predictable as it introduced the main themes of adolescence and expected gender roles, which helps the book be easy to approach for the tweenage reader. Other themes and subjects arise as well throughout the story: parent-child relationships, life in a small Medieval town versus a a large town, market day, superstitions, poverty versus plenty in a small town. A Season Most Unfair is a pleasant middle grade novel to include with a study of the middle ages or for any middle grade reader who enjoys historical fiction.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.