Mock Newbery: Freak by Marcella Pixley

Freak by Marcella Pixley
Publisher:  New York : Farrar, Straus Giroux, 2007
ISBN: 9780374324537
Annotation:  Twelve-year-old Miriam, poetic, smart, and quirky, is considered a freak
by the popular girls at her middle school, and she eventually explodes in response
to their bullying, revealing an inner strength she did not know she had.

Heartbreakingly sad with flashes of humor. You want to shake the family and scream,
"Pay attention to this child!". Mean girl Jenny tortures intelligent, sensitive,
poetic Miriam. When the principal remarks that the two girls are quite alike, it
takes Miriam by suprise. Ignored by a distracted mother, left behind by a suddenly
cool and pretty older sister, betrayed by family friend (brother figure) Artie; poor
Miriam has no where to turn. The climax is original. This is the author's first
book. Impressive!

Reviewed by:  Beth J., CLTR