Book to Share: Take it from the Top, by Claire Swinarski

Thanks to Netgalley, I was able to read one of my most highly anticipated middle grade books of 2024 early—but don't worry, you won't have to wait long! You can pre-order ​Take it from the Top now, and it will be available in November.

On to the review! Let's start with the publisher's description:

Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they'd be friends forever. Claire Swinarski, regional indie bestseller of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this page-turning puzzle that readers will devour.

Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her.

But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.

Well, maybe she does…

There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?

I absolutely loved this story! Eowyn and Jules are both wonderful and wonderfully-crafted characters. I wish I could be friends with both of them…and still I found myself ready to smack both of them at various points throughout the story (okay, so I was a little invested). Like all of Claire Swinarksi's books, character development takes center stage, but Take it from the Top also brings the setting to life in such a tangible way. I could practically feel the stage makeup tickling my nose and imagine the chilly lake and cozy cabins of summer camp (and that says a lot considering I never went to summer camp). 

This is an obvious pick for the theater lovers in your life. What might not be as obvious from the description is how much Take it from the Top is a book about families—how they form us, how they hurt us, how they heal us, how they make us who we are and how who we are is not defined by them. The friendship between Jules and Eowyn is the central relationship in the story, but the entire plot revolves around how their two respective families and family situations create a conflict that Jules and Eowyn have to work to overcome. Perhaps this reminds you a little of a very famous play? Maybe the name Jules was chosen as a subtle nod? While these very normal American families may be no Capulets and Montagues with ill blood between them, Take it from the Top presents a more (to my mind) interesting and relevant inter-family dynamic: can our backgrounds be so different that true understanding is impossible? Of course the answer is no…but it is also: it might be difficult. And that's okay. Because so many of the things worth putting our time into in life are difficult. Like family. And friendship. And singing on stage in front of hundreds of people.

As usual, a note to parents on whether this book is right for your child. Here are few topics and themes I'll discuss with my children either before, during, or after they read Take it from the Top:
-death of a parent and how it affects a family
-a couple cases of characters taking God's name in vain (my children are very sensitive to this)
-a lot of crushes… The main characters are 13, and my 13-year-old has absolutely no interest in crushes. :) For that reason, I'll probably give it to my older daughters first. I love that the boy-girl relationships are always innocent—the relationship between Eowyn and her crush is particularly very sweet, but I would discuss with my kids that she sneaks out of her cabin to talk to him at night several times… I know, I know, kids do this. But I'm a mom of teens and my child safety detector is on high alert.
-some of the songs and musicals mentioned are more mature than what I let my 13-year-olds view, so I'll be giving them a heads up before they start searching Youtube…

(I always provide these notes as an aid to parents, teachers, and librarians, but I won't recommend any books I wouldn't feel comfortable handing to my own kids—as a parent, I simply always appreciate having more info rather than less! Sometimes I incorporate topic notes into my reviews, but in the future I'm going to try to list them out like this for viewing ease.)

As I said, Take it from the Top will be available in November, so be sure to pre-order from your favorite bookstore or library now!

For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, visit: http://alwaysinthemiddle.com