Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Oh nooooo, this book gutted me at a time when I am already feeling down, ow, not okay! The biggest bummer is that I can't tell you why because that would give away the tremendous plot, and frankly everyone of any age deserves to experience that for themselves.

So here's the story I can tell you. Saint is a lonely young girl who doesn't have a lot of friends because she is, objectively, an oddball. She's that kid at parties who rescues pinatas and refuses to pin a tail on a donkey, no matter how fake, and won't slice into a cake with a gnome on it because she protects everything with a face. She collects toy knights and has a life partner in the form of a painted turtle. Her relationship with her mother is contentious because, according to her, Mom never keeps promises. She's really hoping, tho, that Mom will actually honor one to take her to her favorite toy store in a week.

But when that toy store is sold and demolished before Saint gets a chance to go again, her disappointment turns into action. She's tired of all these gentrifiers coming into her town and buying up properties and getting rid of all the stores and people she knows and loves, and darned if she isn't going to do something about it! With the help of the round-faced boy across the street, Daniel "Chance" McGibbons, she embarks on a plan to drive away change and save what's left of her hometown.

When the biggest plot twist (of several) was revealed, y'all, it felt like I'd been hit in the chest with a brick. I <i>ached</i> for Saint in a way I can't remember feeling for any protagonist of an (ostensibly) kid's book. And while this novel is slow-going at first, the momentum builds till you're breathless and ready to cling only to the wisdom that weird old Mrs Trifaldi tells young Saint about living in the past.

In many ways, Looking Up reminds me of Diana Wynne Jones' Time Of The Ghost, one of my all-time favorite books. The plots share few similarities, but the themes are surprisingly mature, with the concept of expectations of the future a strong theme. So while this is ostensibly a book aimed at children, it might not land with that age group upon a first read, as TotG didn't for me. Kids (and adults) who've been through the same stuff as Saint tho will feel this story hard.

Stephan Pastis is more well-known for his acerbic syndicated comic Pearls Before Swine. Looking Up is a departure, but one that is tender, moving and worthwhile. I'm only sad I didn't finish it in time to go see him when he swung through town on his book tour.

Looking Up by Stephan Pastis was published October 10 2023 by Aladdin and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781665929622">Bookshop!</a>

This review first appeared at <a href="https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/19/looking-up-by-stephan-pastis/">TheFrumiousConsortium.net</a>.

I really liked the format of this book and the premise was great. The main character, Saint, lives in a town that's in the process of gentrification and she just wishes everything would stop changing. When she meets Daniel, who lives across the street, they hatch a plan together to stop the new people from moving in and changing their home. I got really bogged down in the middle when Saint and Daniel are hatching and executing their plots. The story started moving really slowly for me and I considered quitting. The ending was really lovely, and I wish the author had spent more time on the reveal, including Saint's emotional life and her relationship with her mom. I would definitely recommend to fans of Stephan Pastis and of this style of book with prose text but lots of illustrations.

This was a new author for me and a different type of book than I have been used to. I really enjoyed it. This story is all aboutSaint and how she handles the ups and downs of life. When the town around her is being torn down for upscale living, she and her friend Chance know what they need to do to save what’s left of her home.
This was a heartwarming story and had just the right amount of humor to make the story flow. I really enjoyed following along with Saint and her thoughts on things. It definitely follows the thoughts of middle school children and how they see our world. I think you will love this little adventure. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

This book completely took me by surprise in all the best ways possible! This book is heartwarming, happy, emotional, and takes you through a variety of many more emotions as you read this book. For starters, I did not expect to cry while reading a children's book. This book was beautifully done in so many ways. The story handles a variety of emotions that is probably geared towards children, but while reading it, I think it's safe to say we are all children at heart maybe just a little taller. This book was touching and added humor with a wonderful message and story that I did not expect, yet absolutely loved. The story kept you invested, the characters were wonderful, there was humor sprinkled throughout, and then when you were wrapped up in the story(and I thought I knew where it was headed), it hits you with all the feels with a twist I didn't see coming. I always feel that the way you know a good book is that after you've finished reading it, not only do you think about it, but you go over why you liked it. Some books are good right when you finish and then later you realize it wasn't as good as you thought at first, meanwhile others are pretty good when you finish and then the more you think about it, the better it becomes. And then you have the ones that are great at the end and the more you think about it, the more you love it. Well, this was one of those books for me, the more I've thought about it, the more I loved it. Would highly recommend anyone and everyone to read this no matter your age!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!