This was a very well written book, and I enjoyed it up until the twist at the end. It was very unexpected and I didn’t love it. Besides the ending, the characters were very good, and I loved all the friendships Melanie had made.

My ten year old daughter thoroughly enjoyed this book and had me looking for others by the same author. I was surprised to see this was the only one available, so presumably the authors debut! For a debut novel this is outstanding, my daughter enjoyed it so much and didn’t want it to end. Following Melanie through grief and bullying, friendship and ambition, this is a beautifully told story for junior school children.

Melanie is trying desperately to fit in and make friends at her new school. She’s also desperately missing her mum who walked our a year ago & struggling with her artist dad who is lost in his own world most of the time. Her relationship with her “friends” is odd, as is her imagination and way of describing her feelings. I even began to wonder if she might be autistic.

Melanie lands the lead part in Peter Pan, a story she used to read with her mum. The parallels between the lost boys who have no mother and Melanie herself are nicely drawn. All the way through I felt that there was something not right and I almost gave up reading half way through. I’m glad I persevered as all is revealed at the end and it almost made me want to read the whole book again to spot the clues... but sadly, I didn’t enjoy it enough to do that.

My rating: 3.5/5 stars.
Even though I'm way older than the intended demographic for this book, I still found it very endearing and sweet. The way the narrator interacts with the people in her life is very easy to relate to. I specially liked how Melanie's story intertwines with Peter Pan in a beautiful way, and it is still critical of the source material. Yet there are a few things that didn't quite do it for me in this book. I didn't feel invested in the story until the very end, and the twists were easily predictable from the first page.
Still, I think this is a good book, and it tells a story about loss and recovery in a sweet, simple way, enjoyable for readers of all ages.

This book took a lot longer to read than it should have. It has some advanced concepts that kids don’t typically know much about at the target age for this story such as people trying to fly while under the influence of drugs (specifically mentioning PCP), Hitler, the Six Day War, “white flight,” Jim Crow laws, the Ku Klux Klan, etc. Some of these were just mentions, but I read this with my grandson and he would ask, “What’s that?” I found that I needed to pause to explain parts of the story and I was glad he wasn’t reading it on his own. Don’t get me wrong, I think kids need to learn about all of these things in history; I just hadn’t planned on explaining them all at once to a ten year old.

“…his classes are full of difficult subjects, like the time we saw two lungs in glass cases, side by side, one as pink and healthy as a baby pig, the other like black lace from a lifetime of smoking. Then there was the day we learned about PCP, or Angel Dust, which makes kids not much older than me jump off bridges because they think they can fly, and rubber cement, which kills your brain cells when you stick it into a brown paper bag and sniff it.”

I didn’t love the writing. A few times I felt myself stumble over the wording and had to go back and re-read the line. It just didn’t flow smoothly for me.

The blurb claims this book is “full of humor,” but I did not find it humorous at all. It is full of loss and grief. Unfortunately for me, that is not at all what I was in the mood for and I struggled with wanting to pick the story back up. There is growth of the main character, but it was a little difficult to read her getting there. Middle grade is difficult. It’s a time when many kids are just figuring out who they are and trying to fit it. Melanie is no different. She is dealing her loss and grief the best she can while also trying to avoid the school bully. She is starting to open up to the world and tried out for the school play earning the lead role, which gives her some confidence. It was nice to see Melanie grow, but at the same time it was hard to see her go through the process.

I liked the inclusivity of the main character’s father’s best friend being in a wheelchair. He seemed to be a pretty cool, normal guy. The main character even compliments how he dances in his chair. I thought it was very well done. I wish more middle school books had similar representation of people with different abilities.

There are a couple of "twists" in the book. I expected them the entire time, but they would still be reveals for the target age group. However, about half way through the book my grandson lost interest. I ended up reading the rest on my own just to do the review. Overall, I think it was just an ok read. It may benefit some children who are going through similar situations, such as loss of a parent.

Believe is that kind of book that leaves you with a couch full of used napkins and a heart that is broken and is healing at the same time.
This story is about Melanie, amazing kid that does not believe in herself. Mel is a bullied girl that has no friends, she’s full of questions and answers, but doesn’t know which one are the answers she is looking for until the day she meets Sabrina. Sabrina is the heroine she has always admired; bold, fearless and loyal. And strangely enough, she wants to be Mel’s friend. With Sabrina’s help Melanie will begin to make new friends, open up to the people she loves and most important, to believe in herself.
I have to admit that this is not the book I was looking for but the book I needed.
The general plot has already been seen and there’s no plot twist. I understood from the beginning what was going on and how it was going to end. BUT. There’s a big but here. I loved the tenderness of the author in explaining Mel’s thoughts, her fears and most of all I loved how her character developed. I can’t even start to explain how the 30yo me at 2am was crying alone in the bed because she didn’t want this book to end.
I definitely recommend Believe to the people that still believe in magic. Not the wizard stuff. But the magic that is inside of all of us. The one that when we were kids let us dream and speak with objects just to know their story, the one that let you wake up in the morning knowing it will be a bright day, the one that let us hope.

I received an arc from NetGalley.

This book is about Melanie, also referred to as Smellanie by her school bully. She is quite a lone wolf, until she meets Sabrina and her life takes a turn.

I really liked the descriptions in the book, it really helped me envision the places and characters. The fact that the play Peter Pan really was weaved into the story qua theme and character arc and not just a side project, was also really nice to see.
The plot twists were build up quite well and some of them I didn't see them coming.
I do feel that the themes grief, loss and friendship are explored and handled very well in this book.

I do feel like it went over race issues quite swiftly. In just a few lines it was over and done for. Now it was a different time in the 80s, where this book takes place. However, if you're going to talk about racism in your book and speak out against it, which I'm all down for, either make your character learn about (in a non-forceful way) or have them already know it. I do get what this book is trying to do in terms of this topic.

All in all, Believe is a pretty quick read about acceptance, friendship and believing in yourself, so I give it a 3/5 stars.

Melanie is an incredibly loveable character. I felt immediately invested in her story. Her imagination is wild and lovely. The way she explains relationships and intentions is really clever and moving, too.

Melanie’s imagination lands her the lead role in the school’s performance of PETER PAN. It helps her deal with the bullying of a fellow classmate and find the courage to make a new friend.

She describes and observes a lot of relationships in BELIEVE, too. From watching her dad interact with his friends, to navigating her own complicated relationship with her grandmother, she relates those exchanges with flair.

Fans of THE OTHER BETTER ME by Antony Jon or NOT IF I CAN HELP IT by Carolyn Mackler will definitely want this book in their libraries.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Melanie is trying to come to terms with her mother's disappearance, she auditions for the school play Peter Pan as her mother used to read the story to her when she was young. This brings about feelings she has been trying to hide from for a year. During all of this she is also being bullied at school.

Whilst i enjoyed the story and really rooted for Melanie and the friendship she was forging with Leanne. I did have issues though with some of the language choices and imagery, it was weird in a couple of places and it really brought you out of the story expecially. There were also a couple of references that i understood as a 40 year old woman but a Middle Grader/Primary Schooler would not, example, who Ma and Pa Ingles are. There were also alot of references to things science doesn't understand, as this is only 134 pages there were at least 5 references like this. I really feel the edit could have been stronger.

These instances really detracted from a really good story. I understand this is a debut novel and I would read others by Mathison as the premise of the story is solid.

Thank you to NetGalley and Starr Creek Press for the copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Full of humor and wonder, BELIEVE explores the power and limits of the imagination – and how love both breaks and heals our hearts.
Eleven-year-old Melanie knows she is special and had never been bored. She understands the secret language of old houses and makes jewels out of broken glass. Her imagination can do anything -- except make friends. It is 1980, and life as a fifth grader at Buckminster Experimental School is lonely at best, when she is not dodging Karen, the school bully. Then, Melanie meets Sabrina, who looks like a TV star and acts like a spy, and who does not care what anyone thinks. She teaches Melanie how to believe in herself, and soon Melanie starts living her dreams. She even lands the lead in Peter Pan!
If only she could share it all with Mom. Missing her mom is like trying to breathe with one lung. It is bad. Sabrina thinks they can track her down, and Melanie wants to believe, but sometimes it is easier to pretend. Her new life feels like a house of cards, until one day it all comes crashing down and she finds herself with no choice but to face the truth… and let go.
An incredible teen story so wonderfully written, with a unique plot line following the everyday struggles of young girl. This book tackles mental health in a way that young children can access. The ending was a refreshing surprise, satisfying but not stereotypical.

This quirky, heartfelt middle-grade novel about grief and the resilience of the human spirit will keep you guessing until the very last chapter.

I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to obtain a an advance copy of this book to give an honest review.
BELIEVE

By Julia Matheson


Description:
Full of humor and wonder, BELIEVE explores the power and limits of the imagination – and how love both breaks and heals our hearts.
Eleven-year-old Melanie knows she is special and had never been bored. She understands the secret language of old houses and makes jewels out of broken glass. Her imagination can do anything -- except make friends. It is 1980, and life as a fifth grader at Buckminster Experimental School is lonely at best, when she is not dodging Karen, the school bully. Then, Melanie meets Sabrina, who looks like a TV star and acts like a spy, and who does not care what anyone thinks. She teaches Melanie how to believe in herself, and soon Melanie starts living her dreams. She even lands the lead in Peter Pan!
If only she could share it all with Mom. Missing her mom is like trying to breathe with one lung. It is bad. Sabrina thinks they can track her down, and Melanie wants to believe, but sometimes it is easier to pretend. Her new life feels like a house of cards, until one day it all comes crashing down and she finds herself with no choice but to face the truth… and let go.
An incredible teen story so wonderfully written, with a unique plot line following the everyday struggles of young girl. This book tackles mental health in a way that young children can access. The ending was a refreshing surprise, satisfying but not stereotypical.

This quirky, heartfelt middle-grade novel about grief and the resilience of the human spirit will keep you guessing until the very last chapter.

I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to obtain a an advance copy of this book to give an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Believe is about Melanie, a smart and imaginative 5th-grader. On the surface, this is the story of Melanie's struggle with being the new kid in school and dealing with mean-girl Karen's bullying. On a deeper level, though, Melanie is coping with the loss of her mother who, as Melanie explains, left the family just a year prior. Melanie leans on her precocious and confident friend, Sabrina, to help her know just what to say to Karen, find the courage to audition for a school play, and ultimately face the reality of her mother's disappearance.

Believe is a book for middle-graders who sometimes feel they are on the outside of their peer group, who experience bullying, and who are faced with the loss of a parent. A familiarity with the original story of Peter Pan will help the reader to better understand the references to the play and how they relate to Melanie's woes, but those unfamiliar can still enjoy this book.

As an adult reader, I picked up on the two major twists very early in the book. However, an early middle-grade reader probably won't. Both reveals were elegantly written. Additionally, the year in which the book is set does play a part in some of the events. I take that the time setting was chosen to give the kids more freedom (a child catching a Grey Hound bus to the next town over just wouldn't be believable in today's society). Younger readers may or may not understand this.

A bitter-sweet story centred on the impact of loss and grief on a child. This book pulled on my heartstrings without leaving me a sobbing mess - quite a feat!

Melanie has lost her mother, moved to a new school and is the target of some low-level bullying. Her imagination is her escape and her saviour. She embarks on a quest to find her lost parent and ultimately ends up finding herself along the way.

Imagination and the escape it offers forms central themes for this book. It serves as a reminder to stay true to oneself, no matter how difficult to circumstance. It’s a nice story, but didn’t resonate deeply with me.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.5/5

Reader beware! Julie Mathison´s middle grade book Believe will steal your heart. The main character, Melanie, is a witty, sweet fifth grader who is finding it difficult to make friends.
After her mother leaves, Melanie´s dad has been consumed by his art and seems completely disconnected from his daughter. Meanwhile, Melanie endures the wrath of Karen, a bully at school who epitomizes the sad truth ¨Hurt people hurt people.¨ When Melanie learns that her class will perform the play Peter Pan, she fears her shyness will keep her out of the bright lights of the stage. With encouragement from her lone friend Sabrina, Melanie auditions and lands the lead role of Peter Pan. But this is bigger than the stage. Peter Pan was a bridge to her mother and the many hours the two spent reenacting scenes from the play in their blanket forts. Now, Melanie yearns to share her stage experiences with her mother, and she is determined to find her. This young girl's journey becomes a search for herself. How can she move forward unless she understands why her mother left?

Mathison set this book in the 1980s, so some of the references and humor needs explanation that is at times awkward and may leave kids questioning references to icons of pop culture such as Charlie´s Angels. While it was nostalgic for me as an adult who grew up in the 70s and 80s, it made me wonder about Mathison´s decision considering her modern audience of pre-teens. Nevertheless, this is a delightful read, and it established a strong authentic voice for the author, who seemed to enjoy reminiscing.

Mathison´s masterful work is in the depiction of this character's emotional state while dealing with grief. This is a realistic representation of processing those feelings and trying to figure out life's greatest mysteries, especially when provided with very little direction from adults. Melanie´s discoveries about her mother are also the reader´s discoveries. The shared feeling of not having the answers makes this a powerful and emotional experience for readers.

This book would be best for mature middle grade students. It invites important and necessary conversations, but this may be a difficult read for sensitive kids. Melanie´s coping mechanisms may create some confusion for some readers, but Mathison does a wonderful job of portraying difficult topics realistically. This story is a beautiful one, and I absolutely adore Melanie.

I read an advanced copy of this book for NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When you have never seen the need to have a friend before, or speak up in class or put yourself into the spotlight, but suddenly find yourself doing all of these things, how would you feel? In Believe by Julie Mathison, Melanie finds herself doing all of this, and she is living the dream. Then her new friend asks about her mother and everything, as the description of the book states, becomes a house of cards, liable to fall down at any second. She must make the journey to stop pretending and learn to move on.

Change is a hard thing, and when you keep pretending that it hasn't happened, it might sneak up on you. In this book, the main character decides to pretend that nothing has happened, and eventually, Melanie pretends so much, she begins to think that it is the reality. Really, you need to accept things that happen even if you don't always like it.

I thought the author left too many things for you to imagine, and I would have liked more clarity. I wasn't sure what was real and what was the character's imagination. I thought I would know by the end of the book, but I still have questions.

That said, I loved Melanie as a character. I liked how she never thought of herself as someone who got bored. She always was willing to try something new, even if it took her a while to feel comfortable. I could relate to it because her school was putting on a production of Peter Pan, and I've also done that. I identified with some other changes too, but you'll have to read the book to find out what those changes were.

I recommend this book if you have recently experienced a significant life change, and you don't know how to deal with it yet. This book showed some insights on what to do and what not to do. Hope you like the book.

*I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.*

Melanie is an eleven-year-old girl who's imagination seems to be able to create anything, but she can't make friends in her school or even defend herself from Karen, the school bully.
Then she meets Sabrina, who looks like a TV star and is just fearless, never caring about what anyone thinks. They become friends fast and soon enough Melanie gets encouraged by her, even getting the lead role as Peter Pan in the school play. The only thing missing is Melanie's mom, who disappeared almost a year ago and nobody wants to talk about it. But what if Sabrina and Melanie can finally track her down and find out what happened?

"Believe" is the emotional journey of accepting grief while learning to open yourself up to others. It's a middle-grade book, but I believe older readers can fall in love with it too, just like I did (and I'm 11 years older than the main character).
Julie Mathison's characters are very real and every one of them has a background so we can understand their motivations and why they are the way that they are. The friendships are really well-constructed and all of the "Peter Pan"s references and parallels were amazing! The writing in this book is great!
Melanie's way to see the world and her whole journey throghout the book was so awesome to read that in the end I just wanted to see more, specially from Karen, the school bully, who's story I trully feel like had more to it.
It's not a book full of big surprises (even though it has some), but it's such a beautifully-written story about friendship and love and growing up... I just know it's a great book for all ages and it became one of my favorites.

At the heart of this story is how Melanie is dealing with the loss of her mom. Her two primary coping strategies are revealed in the end. It was obvious to me an adult reader not sure about if kids will see it. This is set in the 80s but the setting doesn’t impact the story.

I think this book is adorable for all ages. It provides a really strong message about moving thru loss and the tricks our minds play to help us in the grieving process if we don’t allow ourselves to feel the loss. The story also presents that each person has their own problems/issues to deal with in life and no matter what our life is like, we never really know what is happening underneath the surface for others.

My 11yo daughter loved this book. Emotional and thought-provoking there's a strong connection between the reader and the MC needs for friendship during such a difficult time of her life. A well-written novel that staying in the reader's heart for a long while after.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Melanie is our main character...a lonely girl in 5th grade who is doing her best to get by without getting too much attention from the school bully. Of course, it doesn't always work for her because most bullies choose the kids that don't have a whole lot of confidence in themselves and will let them get away with it... At least in my experience and from talking to many others. Anyway, one day Melanie meets Sabrina who seems to bring out the best in Melanie. She becomes an entirely different person when she is around her...one who is no longer stuck in her little shell and is willing to try new things because she believes in herself. So much so that Melanie makes another friend who admires her for those qualities...because she seems so comfortable being herself with no fear. Throughout the book, Melanie tries new things while having to deal with Karen(appropriate name in today's day and age). Melanie has a lonely home life because she says that one day her Mom and Dad got in a fight and her Mom took off and never came back...and now her Dad can't really deal with it and won't talk with her about what happened. But Melanie believes her Mom is out there somewhere and missing her...For me, the title Believe stands for the way she learned to believe she could do anything and the belief that her Mom is okay and she will see her again.

There is a magical world that children can escape to when middle school gets to be too much to handle and they have problems making friends. A world of adventure and happiness, friends and allies, all you need is an imagination. In Believe, debut novel by Julie Mathison, eleven-year-old Melanie is one such believer, a bullied child going through a rough patch and one in desperate need of a friend.

Things start looking up when Melanie meets Sabrina and she even lands the role as Peter Pan in her school play. The only problem? Melanie's mother is missing, possibly involved in a fight to bring down the mob, and Melanie misses her dearly.

Believe is an enchanting story about grief, friendship and trust. Set in 1980, it harks back to a simpler time before the advent of technology and when the original Charlie's Angels was on TV.

There are twists in Believe and I somehow guessed both of them in the opening paragraphs. I'm not sure that early middle-graders would though which would make the reveals especially interesting and will generate a lot of conversation on the issues addressed. The final reveal was very well done indeed.

My main criticism of Believe would be the quotes of Peter Pan throughout the novel. I've always been a fan of Peter Pan and Melanie's experience playing Peter is integral to her development throughout the story. However, Peter Pan is a play marred by racism and from the quotes used I deduce that the children are performing the original, unabridged stage version.

This would have been absolutely normal in 1980 when the book was set (and Melanie does reflect on how uncomfortable some of the terms make her feel) but there are references to 'Indians' and 'natives' throughout the book and Melanie goes on to use the term 'pygmy' in a story which is an equally racist term.

There is also ableist language throughout the book, with Melanie remarking at one point that she 'stood there like a stroke victim'.

I read an advance copy of Believe on Netgalley. Perhaps these issues will be ironed out in the final version? Having suffered loss in our family, I would love to be able to recommend this book to my nieces but feel I couldn't unless these issues were resolved (and they can be resolved by a simple edit).

An otherwise excellent novel spoiled by insufficient analysis of racist and ableist terminology common in the era in which it was set, I give Believe a disappointing two out of five stars.