Fantastic middle-grade read about girl power, perseverance, confidence, and the importance of team - in a school setting, on the field, or at home. Realistic plot to which many early middle schoolers can relate!

Grateful to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the early e-ARC of the latest Lindsey Stoddard middle grade novel out in May.

Lindsey has a gift with writing middle grade stories filled with characters we can't help but love. If I am being honest, it took me longer to connect with Bea, but I adored Maximilian and Grandma from page one. The deep connection with Bea, her mom, her grandma, and her aunt felt familiar and relatable and this was a definite strength in the story.

Bea and her mom have spent Bea's entire life as a family of two, two Embers who have the power to make a flame! Now Bea's mom is marrying Wendell, a sweet, sappy, sensitive, easy to cry man who comes as a package deal with three sons, two dogs, and a cat. To make matters worse the youngest son has been a thorn in Bea's side and hangs with boys who mercilessly tease Bea's neurodivergent best friend Maximilian. And soon Bea's mother will have a baby leaving Bea wondering where she fits in this new blended family.

Bea is also facing frustrations at school. She loves playing soccer, but the soccer coach thinks there is only room for one team and the boys, including her new step-brother, get more playing time and all the attention. When the girls secure enough players for their own team, the principal/coach is sure the girls won't be able to commit to the pressure and therefore isn't willing to invest time and money into two teams. The girls fight to get what they deserve, and with the help of the loving adults around them they are able to prove they are just as able to have a winning team as the boys despite a sexist and demeaning coach that is determined to break their spirit.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and there were many things that I felt my students will relate with including the caring teachers who support the girls on the soccer field and in class with the bullying, deeply connecting with a book read for class, the inequities in school sports, working as a team and sometimes having to sit out while others play, the challenges of balancing life in a blended family, and standing up for others when you know they are being mistreated. I look forward to sharing with students when it publishes in May.

I loved Bea's story from every angle: navigating the formation of a new family through a second marriage (and a new sibling on the way), being able to put aside her own ego to befriend the new girl across the street who is also a good soccer player and may challenge Bea for a starring role, learning to live with the class bully (who is now her stepbrother) AND watching him learn and change as a result of his experiences, and even challenging the status quo at her school with a principal and soccer coach who is obviously sexist. Bea's story is definitely one for the ages and one I will recommend time and again to all students!

Lindsey Stoddard can do no wrong. In her new book, Bea is for Blended. She takes on many themes that are relevant to today and does each of them proud. In this story, you meet Bea. She is a young soccer player that is on the rise. Together with some girls at her school, Bea convinces their principal that it is time to form a girls' soccer team. He isn't on board and thinks that girls do not deserve the same time of day on the field that his precious boys' soccer team deserves. Bea and her team set off to prove that they are worthy and just as good as the boys.

In addition to taking on gender stereotypes in this book, Lindsey Stoddard tells the story of a new family that is blending together. Bea's mom just married the father of one of her classmates. Now, she and her mom are joining in with her new stepdad and three stepbrothers. To complicate things, a new baby is on the way. Bea isn't sure how things are going to work, but the story takes her on the journey to find the family beyond what she could have imagined.

Bea is adjusting to a new family unit as her mom married Wendell, who has three boys. Blended is the goal, but Bea sometimes misses when it was just mom and her. Did I mention a baby is on its way?!

I love Bea’s voice and gumption with her all girl soccer team coached by a man with misconceptions of girls, girl athletes, and girl power! Bea, her team, and two awesome teachers may have some lessons for him!

Love this book!! ❤️

I teach at an all-girls’ middle school and am always looking for books promoting « girl-power » to add to my classroom library. Many of my students are athletes and fight against sexism against female athletes. They will root for Bea. Children living in blended families will relate as well. Another beautiful Lindsey Stoddard book.

This is a great story for any kid who has or is experiencing joining their family with another. I really liked how our characters grew and adapted as they blended their two families together. I loved Bea and her Grandma they were both really fun characters. I understand how Bea felt in having her life upended and changed by blending together with her new family. I am glad that she was open to new friendships and also stood up for herself. A good middle grade book!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

This comes at female empowerment from several different angles: the old “ boys will be boys” trope to excuse bullying; Bea’s newly remarried mother and grandmother who model assertiveness; a male principal who dismisses girls who want to play soccer and demeans them at every turn. The kids, including a neauto-atypical boy and a deaf girl, learn to stand up for themselves and demand that their voices be heard. Authentic and moving.

What a wonderful story about new beginnings as Bea tries to adjust to a blended family and new friends while trying to start a girls’ soccer team. Bea learns how teamwork and persistence can help you achieve your goals. Loved the teachers in this book especially the ones who allowed the students to choose their own books and gave them time to read them in class. So many great things happening in this book.

Bea is for Blended is charming, engaging, and thought provoking.
The story begins as Bea, the main character, is upset that her mom is remarrying. She mourns the loss of the two of them living in their condo, near her best friend. Instead, she is moving into a house with pets and three stepbrothers, including one in her grade who is friends with bullies. Rather than focus on her struggles in the house, the Bea encounters a new problem - soccer. The principal of her small school is also the soccer coach, with a history of not playing girls. When Bea and her friends create their own team, they continue to clash against this unsupportive principal. Woven into this story are rich characters, such as her new neighbor, A, and her best friend Maximillian. This book deftly touches on the nuances of when to stay strong and fight, and when to back down and see if you were wrong.

Meet Bea. Her mom just married Wendell and she has to move to a new house with him and his three sons, one of whom is in her class. Also, her mom is pregnant and she's afraid the new girl in school (who is also her neighbor) is going to try to steal her place on the soccer team. Bea doesn't want to settle for being on the boys team this year so when enough girls sign up, they force the principal to let them have their own team.
A wonderful story about speaking up for yourself and your friends to get what you deserve!