All About Middle Grade Review: The Littlest Bigfoot

The Littlest Bigfoot by Jennifer Weiner, September 13, 2016. 304 pages. Published by Aladdin. Source: received from publisher.

Alice Mayfair, twelve years old, slips through the world unseen and unnoticed. Ignored by her family and shipped off to her eighth boarding school, Alice would like a friend. And when she rescues Millie Maximus from drowning in a lake one day, she finds one.

But Millie is a Bigfoot, part of a clan who dwells deep in the woods. Most Bigfoots believe that people—NoFurs, as they call them—are dangerous, yet Millie is fascinated with the No-Fur world. She is convinced that humans will appreciate all the things about her that her Bigfoot tribe does not: her fearless nature, her lovely singing voice, and her desire to be a star.

Alice swears to protect Millie’s secret. But a league of Bigfoot hunters is on their trail, led by a lonely kid named Jeremy. And in order to survive, Alice and Millie have to put their trust in each other—and have faith in themselves—above all else.

First Sentence:
On a clear and sunny morning in September, a twelve-year-old girl named Alice Mayfair stood in the sunshine on the corner of Eighty-Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City and tried to disappear.

I'll be completely honest, Jennifer Weiner's books never really caught my attention; they just are not my cup 'o tea. That is until her middle grade debut of The Littlest Bigfoot- which was beautiful, sad, and just really well done.

• Truthfully, I have no idea on how to even begin this review. So, I suppose I'll start with the writing. If there are two things Jennifer Weiner perfectly captured in her middle grade debut, they would be the awkwardness and feelings that one does not fit in-especially with the media version of "normal/beautiful". I just felt that she so easily grasped the essence of what makes children, and well everyone, feel that maybe they are different. I also loved how the story was contrasted with the impossible story of the notorious Bigfoot; it made it fun mixed with some hard truths. 

• As much as I loved the writing, the story is what really made the book. I loved reading about the characters and how they grew to appreciate the differences and dreamed about being more. Really, their struggles were well done and, I at least, felt drawn right into their world as they faced the challenges of not fitting the "societal mold" of their respective worlds. Alice and Millie were different, and yet, so similar to each other. You really just need to read their stories for yourself to really understand why they are such great characters to read about. 

• I really do think that Jennifer Weiner struck a great balance between real and fictional with the plot-line of The Littlest Bigfoot. This book has the beauty of outlandishness, with incorporating the Bigfoot myth, with the struggles that adolescents face with body image. 

• Even though there many things I enjoyed about The Littlest Bigfoot, there was one thing that I was hoping to happen that never occurred. I would have liked to see a drastic change in Alice's parents at the conclusion of the story. It made me sad that they never seem to fully appreciate the wonderfulness that was Alice. That was, to put it mildly, disappointing as I hoped they could find redemption.  

Final Verdict: The Littlest Bigfoot- One of those books that I'm sure readers will connect with; especially when it comes to the characters, Alice and Millie, as so many feel that they don't belong. I really, really enjoyed watching their friendship, trust build throughout the book.

The Littlest Bigfoot earns

A copy of this book was received in consideration for review from Simon and Shuster. . All thoughts are my own.