Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
The Prettiest
Brigit Young · 2021
82/100
👍 Worth It
Three starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and School Library Journal tell you this one is the real thing: a carefully crafted, multi-perspective middle-grade novel that takes the experience of being ranked and objectified seriously while remaining accessible and ultimately hopeful. The harassment content — including inappropriate texts sent to a middle-schooler — is handled with purpose rather than sensationalism, but parents of readers on the younger end of the 10–14 range should know it is present. A genuinely valuable book for upper elementary and middle school classrooms.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety72
substance85
craft84
originality78
accuracy88
hype80
age-fit80
human-eye85
Penny’s verdict82
Cross-pollinate