Flashcards of My Life by Charise Mericle Harper

In Flashcards of My Life by Charise Mericle Harper, middle school student Emily receives a stack of flashcards from her Aunt Chester to use as a journaling project.  The last journaling experiment didn’t work out so well for Emily, but as she opens the stack she finds there’s plenty to write about.  From her two sets of friends who don’t get along, to her parents, and her crush, Emily chronicles exactly what it’s like to be in middle school.  In addition to regular text, the book includes flashcards, as well as Emily’s doodles.  It’s a nice representation and the pictures add a lot of humor.

Though this book didn’t have a huge overall conflict, Harper excels at capturing a time when everything is a big deal.   She uses super long paragraphs to create this breathless, stream of conciousness feeling.  There were a number of instances when I was reading that I thought Harper just nailed the voice, but at the same time it also left me a little winded.  This book is worth a read and would be great for a reader who wants longer books but might like the break of the illustrations.

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