Cover Image: Greta Grace

Greta Grace

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Member Reviews

This Middle Grade novel about a 13-year-old girl is perfect for readers in the age 10-14 range. Between facing realistic middle school problems like friendship issues, crushes and bullying and being a kind young person who worries about her neighbours and family, Greta Grace is the kind of main character parents and teachers want young readers to connect with. Themes like caring for others, forgiveness and believing in yourself are woven throughout the novel. At just under 200 pages, this is the perfect length book for this age group and with relatively short chapters and no pictures, it will be seen as neither daunting nor "kiddish" for readers eager to be seen as mature and independent. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

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This is a great book for kids who love reading chapter books. As this book covered bullying it would be a useful read for those who are experiencing these issues. I like the story and thought the author dealt with a difficult subject well. I tried this book on my 10 year old but it was a long shot as she only likes adventure or history books but I couldn't get her into it so I read it myself and enjoyed reading it. This is a great story that would be suitable for ages 9 plus. I believe this is part of a series based on Greta so I know from experience kids love series. It would be great to read how Greta develops through the series. I definitely recommend this book to kids who are having issues at school and to those ready to go to middle grade or high school. 

Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this great and useful story that kids will enjoy and learn from. 
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/greta-grace-by-joanna-quinn-ibpa-independent-author-3-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

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With the school bully gunning for you and your friends have deserted you for fear of reprisal, you need to talk to the head honcho, mum. Greta Grace's journey through her teenage years has just begun, and she needed to develop a hard outer core fast and learn to stand up for herself. Greta Grace's journey was like most teenagers, and it had just begun. The road ahead was going to be rough and sometimes turbulent, but with love, the correct guidance, and faith Greta’s journey was a memorable one. This book was very entertaining, enlightening, and inspirational.

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I enjoyed this YA/ Middle grade story with all of the characters. The main character was Greta Grace.

Greta Grace is in middle school. She get good grades and stays out of getting into trouble. But one day a girl from  her school starts to bully her. Because she will not let the girl see the answer on her paper. By doing this the girl gets mad and start to bully her every day. By not showing the answers her life turn for the worst. Not only now she dealing with the bully she also dealing with other things to. Her best friend turns against her and her neighbor that feel like a grandmother falls and gets hurt quite badly. Her life is falling apart.

With all that happens in this story there is also a happy ending. Most of the beginning of  story is a little sad because you go through what Greta Grace is deal with. From the bully to her best friend and also her neighbor.
This story has a lot of different emotion throughout it. The part that made me quite sad was when her neighbor gets hurt and is in a coma.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinions.

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I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This is a great book for kids getting ready for middle school and all that comes with it. There's stuff about bullies and teachers, and being a leader.

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I was intrigued by the title of this middle grade book and was happy to see that I had been approved via NetGalley to read and review this book. But unfortunately, this book wasn’t my cup of tea.

I can imagine in some ways there are parts of this book which could be seen as relatable to younger girls, however our main character, Greta Grace; who was thirteen years old, tended to act a lot younger than her age and I thought she seemed very petty and immature for a number of things that happen in this book.

There were a lot of phrases that were said throughout this book by Greta’s mum and neighbour, Mrs McGee, that kept getting mentioned. I thought the primary reason for this was to make the reader think and take away important messages from the book.

I have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of the format of this book as the time seemed to skip between days and months at a time. The characters were okay, I didn’t think they were well-developed although I did think Greta Grace started to mature and grow by the end of the book which was a plus.

If there’s another book made in this series I don’t think I’ll be picking it up anytime soon. I don’t think I would necessarily recommend this book to any children in my family or friends children either.

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I found this to be an enjoyable read. Well written and the characters are ones I felt for. I think this is a good one for its age group, and will have many happy readers.

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Greta Grace reminded me of my 13 year old self, trying to fit in with a group and feeling the same things that she did in this book. I love reading middle grade books every now and then as it brings me back to my childhood and they often have very important topics in them that are portrayed in a great way.
the book is written in 1st person and I found that it helped me connect to the character a lot more because you could see exactly how she was feeling in the circumstances that were being thrown at her.
I was given a e copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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A good easy to read book with relatability bee topics for middle grade readers - I'd say it was a little bit younger than YA

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This book read like an afterschool special (probably dating myself there...) with a complete lack of organization and timing. The author seemed to grasp at a few hard topics without really addressing them and then glossing on to the next issue, repeat.

Greta Grace is a 7th grader whose dad left at an early age and has completely disappeared from her life (first issue, not addressed fully). Greta Grace has also become the target of a bully (second issue, in more depth but resolution was a little hinky). While being bullied, her best friend abandons her for said bully and GG does not want to tell anyone she is being bullied, despite it being obvious to nearly all the adults in her life. Then her friend Mrs. McGee falls down the stairs and winds up in a coma and GG is convinced she is going to die (third issue - lasts for a few chapters, mom never addresses WHY GG is convinced the hospital kills people and her friend is going to die). There are a handful of other heavy topics thrown in, all of them given the four to five chapter treatment and then everything is coming up roses. The whole thing struck me as a bit ridiculous.

I realize this review makes me sound like a miserable miser who doesn't believe in happy endings. That is not the case but I just feel like there are so many underlying problems here blanketed by these brief descriptions and resolutions that it is completely unrealistic, especially since the author is a "life coach." The way the book is formatted is months pass in the blink of a page and the book ended to abruptly I was literally flipping pages for the rest. I suppose the author was setting this up for another book but again, BIG BOMBSHELL TOPIC dropped in the last three paragraphs and POOF! Story over.

Would NOT recommend this book for young kids, ESPECIALLY those being bullied. The advice in here is nearly as bad as "If you ignore them, they'll get tired and move on to someone else" (spoiler alert - that's wrong).

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Meet Greta Grace, a seventh-grader that’s trying to end her school year on a positive note. That won’t be easy, however; she is dealing with constant harassment from the school’s queen Mean Bee and her minions. And even worse, Greta Grace’s best friend of forever has suddenly deserted her for that group of girls! Greta Grace just hopes she can survive till the end of school without life getting any worse…
A great middle-grade read! All middle-school teachers should have a copy of this one in their classrooms.
*Thanks, Netgalley, for a digital copy in return for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

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Greta Grace is a story about a girl who is navigating middle school while being bullied.

Highly sensitive children might feel that the book starts off on a rather jolting note because it begins with a diatribe about how a character is similar to the toxicity of cancer.

On the other hand, children with behavioral struggles that incline them towards aggression may find the introductory scene amusing as it describes specific instances of bullying behavior.

The tone of the book is dramatic, and as a sensitive person I felt like I had to shield myself from accessing an incompatible vibration. However, some will find the book to be relatable because it covers real issues that we face on Earth.

My main concern with this book is that the tone is not the most uplifting.

One of the characters laments the following over a bully: “Is it bad to wish that she would gently die in her sleep?” The character is told, “Yeah” and the Golden Rule is mentioned.

On the other hand, there are some inspiring quotes. One of the quotes I enjoyed was, “You can say anything you have to say to anybody as long as it comes from a place of love.”

I also like how the main character's mothers said: “Greta Grace, you are amazing, strong, loveable and beautiful with an inner bright light shining that cannot be dimmed.”

If one can get over the drama and the fact that this book gives kids who are bullies a nice arsenal of phrases to add to their repertoire; one might find some useful nuggets to bring up for discussion .

In my opinion, this is a clear example of a book that either will resonate with you or it will not.

(I did not purchase this book, I received an advanced reader copy).

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Greta Grace was a quick light-hearted read but it wasn't the most memorable.

The character of Greta Grace was flat and unrealistic making her unrelatable. The plot was just a series of events that occured without any relation making it seem incoherent.

Most loose ends were not tied up properly and the ending seemed unsatisfactory in my opinion. The themes it carried however were quite inspiring and probably the best part of this book.

Overall this was a good read. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

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Wow! What a refreshing read than I'm normally used to! It was also fun and relaxing.
Told from Greta Grace's point of view and her experiences in her coming of age. I felt just as Greta did sometimes!
I really really liked this story but I hated in how it ended. Just drops off poof just like that. I sure hope there's more coming because I love Greta Grace!
Another thing that I really appreciated was how the author included God. It really surprised me in a middle grade novel.
God really does put people in your life at just the right time just like Mrs. McGee said!
I think that my favorite people in this story however are Mrs. McGee and Greta's mom.
Why? Because they're full of wisdom and is a perfect example of how adults should be. I really admired that about them. Greta Grace was lucky.
I laughed at Greta in quite a few places because some of the scenes just tickled me pink.
This would be the best middle grade novel I have read if it weren't for the ending.
4 stars
My thanks for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own. I was NOT required to write a positive review.

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A great book that all children should read, bullying is such an important topic that is faced by or faced by someone that nearly everyone knows, it literally touches everyone and so a book like this that children can relate to is really important.

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This was a sweet read for middle grade readers. Greta Grace is a young girl navigating the many of the trials of growing up including bullying, friendships, a first boyfriend and even illness of a beloved grandmother figure.

It was really refreshing to see the aptly named title character handle situations with the grace of someone much older. She receives advice from her mother and grandmother figure that help her deal with situations with maturity not often seen in young characters. For example, when given the opportunity to to turn the tables on a bully, she not only refuses to do so, but she makes her friends promises not to tell anyone what they learned about the bully either.

Although some readers might find some of the advice a bit preachy, overall, I would definitely recommend this book for young readers.

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I got this as an ARC from Netgalley because I loved the cover. It seems to be for a younger age than 13 which is the age of the main character Greta Grace. Or maybe, it is for the not so mature just teens! Having just read a book in which kids 10 and above were scarily precocious, this was a kind of relief though!
Greta is bullied for getting better grades than the class bully and when she refuses to do badly in school, she faces more bullying. Her relationship with her elderly neighbor is sweet. There is no real handling of the situation at first, at least that's not the focus of the story which reads more like a normal school story.
So it's a cute read which could have emphasized more on how to handle the bullying that it starts off with as the main theme.

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This book focuses on everything to do with self esteem and and bullying. What’s worse then having no friends and a lack of social life? Yes you guessed it, being noticed by non other then the school bully, the one person who you want to be invisible to the most, the one person you try to avoid and you can’t. And to become the main target? Of course things just have to escalate from there. Greta is comfortable in her save haven, she doesn’t have friends and she isn’t worried about it she’s pretty satisfied. And when her crush shows some form of interest in Greta? Well she well and truly believes she’s won the lottery. But of course things are never left the way they are - perfect. And she’s noticed and targeted by the school bully and things continue to escalate from there. This was a lovely coming of age story about friendship and bullying, self esteem and character building and it was perfect for middle graders. I hope this opens your eyes just as much as it opened mine, even as an adult! 5 out of 5 stars!

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I am a 5th grade teacher and received this book on NetGalley. I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was such an easy read but had a lot of purpose and lessons throughout the story. I think that the author did a great job at relating to problems that a lot of pre-teens are experiencing, like bullying. Not only does the author address those issues, but I think she provides a lot of insight on how to approach and deal with these situations. She used awesome character development to the point where I, the reader, felt like I was friends with the characters. I would 100% recommend this book! I hope that a sequel comes out soon so that we can learn more about Greta Grace!

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As someone who has dealt with bullying I instantly was drawn to this title. We meet Greta Grace and go on a journey with her when she catches the attention of the school bully and what that means for her. No child should ever have to deal with bullying but unfortunately it’s still very prevalent today’s society. This is a beautiful book to teach young children about the damaging effects bullying can cause.

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