Genre: Middle Grade / Fantasy
Pages: 244 pages
Published Date: October 4, 2016
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 
Series: None
Rating: 4.7 out of 5

“Sometimes we really aren’t supposed to be the way we are. It’s not good for us. And people don’t like it. You’ve got to change. You’ve got to try harder and do deep breathing and maybe one day take pills and learn tricks so you can pretend to be more like other people. Normal people. But maybe Vanessa was right, and all those other people were broken too in their own ways. Maybe we all spent too much time pretending we weren’t.”

Steve is an anxious kid who worries about germs, lists, and has a little obsessive compulsive disorder. When his brother is found to be less than healthy and not getting better, Steve’s problems seem to come to a head. He knows what it’s like to be different and he doesn’t want his younger brother, Theo, to have to deal with the same problems he has. Steve wants him to be healthy. Then one night, “angels” come to him in his dreams and tell him that they are there to help his brother. Later we find out that the “angels” are wasps and Steve has been talking with the Queen Wasp. She tells Steve they are there to make him perfect. All they want is for Steve to help them and if he does, they will then work on him to make him perfect. Can Steve turn the “angels” down? Can he tell his parents when they have so much to deal with already?

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DISCLAIMER:  I received an advance copy of Short from the publisher through NetGalley for the purposes of writing a review.

Publisher’s Description: Julia is very short for her age, but by the end of the summer run of The Wizard of Oz, she’ll realize how big she is inside, where it counts. She hasn’t ever thought of herself as a performer, but when the wonderful director of Oz casts her as a Munchkin, she begins to see herself in a new way. Julia becomes friendly with the poised and wise Olive–one of the adults with dwarfism who’ve joined the production’s motley crew of Munchkins. With her deeply artistic neighbor, Mrs. Chang, Julia’s own sense of self as an artist grows. Soon, she doesn’t want to fade into the background–and it’s a good thing, because her director has more big plans for Julia!

The major concern I had for the book was how the beginning of the book was all over the place. The book starts off telling us the time when Julia heard her parents talking about how tall she is and then moves on to Ramon, her dog (which I had trouble following). Then tells us about her Uncle Jake and Aunt Megan and how Uncle Jake likes to carve. And that is just Chapter One.

The book, for me didn’t catch my interest until the author talked about the play and the lack of interest Julia had until she met Olive, Quincy, and Larry. Then I wanted to read more. I felt that most of Chapter One and Two could have been done in flash backs or discussion Julia has.

Until I read the whole book, I can’t give a true review. There was enough there to keep me interested and want to see where Holly Goldberg Sloan takes her characters. Will update when I can read whole book.