What a delightful middle grade title. I will be recommending to my media specialists that they definitely add to their collections! This hopeful title will appeal to middle grade readers.

This novel is a gem that I read in one sitting! I loved how Mason and Talia's humorous and heartfelt letters tackled tough topics like bullying, antisemitism, addiction, and friendship in a way that felt authentic and relatable. The letter format was engaging and made the story pass quickly, but you do have to suspend disbelief about two twelve-year-olds writing in perfect narrative grammar and dialogue. The characters were well-developed and their interactions in recounting what happened with them each day was both touching and hopeful. The final letter had me wishing for more, and selfishly I'm glad Talia did what she did in the end - I would have, too!

The concept of this book, middle school students going through hard times, thirty-six years apart, find one another and become friends by writing letters transported through a wormhole, makes for a good, relatable read for 5th grade and up.
Standing up to bullies, antisemitism, and a son’s concern about his mother’s drinking are topics all taken on with great care.
The author’s chosen cultural references were not my favorite, but I think this would be an engaging book for many of my students.
3 1/2⭐️

A cute middle grade novel! It took a while for the plot to pick up (the first 15-ish percent is just the two characters bickering over what timeline they are in), but once it got going, it was solid. I like the way that modern ideals took on 1980s antisemitism and how old-school techniques took on 2020s bullying. Both narrators were well-written, and it could bring up good discussions on comparing and contrasting different times.

This story is told exclusively through letters between the two characters, though it would have been nice to see the characters outside of the letters, perhaps in more of a narrative style.

I would probably rate this as a 3.5, but I tend to be positive in my reviews, so I am rounding up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. I am an assistant librarian at an elementary school, so I am reading with those students in mind.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free Arc!

When I initially read the description of the book, I immediately thought of the movie The Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeve who communicate with each other through letters in the same mailbox but two years apart. I found that idea to be intriguting. So I was eager to read Right Back at You, where two characters write letters to each other but are 36 years apart in 1987 and 2023.

Talia, who lives in 1987, and Mason, who lives in 2023, connect with each other by writing letters that they leave to each other in their closets. They talk about their lives in Western Pennsylvania (for Talia) and New York City (for Mason). The similarities and differences between the spring of their seventh grade years unfold through the topics of bullying antisemitism, family, and friendship.

While I really enjoyed the well-developed characters and the Jewish representation, the format felt a bit strange at times. While it was cool to read their letters back and forth, that format did not always fit with the descriptive narrative style that was used once they started telling particular stories. It might have made more sense to interweave their letters throughout a more narrative style prose.

I would recommend this book for middle schoolers to read. Jewish students will appreciate the representation and students who are not can definitely learn valuable lessons about antisemitism and the Holocaust.

I thoroughly enjoyed Right Back at You. Both of our protagonists are well written characters with depth and character development throughout the story. I would technically give this 4.8 stars if I could due to me wanting more of an explanation of how some things in the book were possible. Other than my own rampant curiosity I loved this book. Jewish representation in media is so important to me and not something I saw or experienced very often growing up. The final letter was excellent but I still found myself wanting more, as I had grown attached to these characters, despite the loose ends.

This book covers some tough topics in a funny relatable and respectful way. Friendships can be hard to navigate and this gives kids good perspectives .