The Thing About Jellyfish ~ Ali Benjamin

The Thing About Jellyfish, by Ali Benjamin, speaks to the heart of anyone who has ever felt out of place, lonely, or not enough. It beautifully and sharply captures the pain that accompanies those feelings, and brought tears to my eyes as I found myself reliving moments of my life when I felt different, excluded, or inferior. Throughout this novel, protagonist Suzy Swanson relives her friendship with her (former) best friend, Franny, after she is told that Franny drowned. She tries desperately to understand and cope with how and why their friendship changed, and she struggles to interpret her own feelings about Franny’s death. Any reader, grade 5 and up could relate to Suzy’s experiences.

“I didn’t know how to stop it. I don’t know any of the right things. I know about things like bats and glowworms. I know that pee and sweat are sterile, and that before the universe existed there was no color, no sound, no light, no air. But these things are of no use. I am supposed to know other things. Like how to clip a barrette to the front of my hair so it looks cute-but-not-babyish. Or how to walk in packs and how to squeal at campfire sparks and how to stand near boys with my hip jutting out” (160).

Buy it here!  

Maturity: 1/4

This novel is appropriate for readers age 10 and up.  

Pages: 334

Lexile: 740L

Lexile is a score that helps educators and parents match students with an appropriate text. A Lexile score is a measure of both a child’s reading ability and a text difficulty. However, Lexile does not take into account the content of a novel. So, pairing readers with a text is a complex process, and knowledge of a novel’s themes and plot is necessary to make a high-quality recommendation.If you are curious about the grade-level equivalent to Lexile scores, check out the conversion chart here!

♥ Kara & Riley