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Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone
A story about a girl who is alienated by her friends . . . for believing in aliens.
Sometimes middle school can make you feel like you're totally alone in the universe...but what if we aren't alone at all?
Mallory Moss knows how the world works. After meeting the cool girl, Reagan, she finally has a best friend, and Reagan makes Mallory feel like she belongs, like she can fit in this infinite universe, as long as she follows Reagan’s simple rules: wear the right clothes, control your image, know your place.
But when Jennifer Chan moves into the house across the street, those rules don’t feel quite so simple anymore. Because Jennifer is different. She doesn’t seem to care about the laws of middle school, or the laws of the universe. She’s willing to embrace the strange, the unknown… the extraterrestrial. She believes in aliens—and what’s more, she thinks she can find them.
Then Jennifer goes missing. The adults say she ran away…but where is she going? And why? Using clues in Jennifer’s journals about alien encounters, Mallory attempts to find her. But the closer she gets, the more Mallory has to confront why Jennifer might have run … and face the truth within herself.
Sometimes middle school can make you feel like you're totally alone in the universe...but what if we aren't alone at all?
Mallory Moss knows how the world works. After meeting the cool girl, Reagan, she finally has a best friend, and Reagan makes Mallory feel like she belongs, like she can fit in this infinite universe, as long as she follows Reagan’s simple rules: wear the right clothes, control your image, know your place.
But when Jennifer Chan moves into the house across the street, those rules don’t feel quite so simple anymore. Because Jennifer is different. She doesn’t seem to care about the laws of middle school, or the laws of the universe. She’s willing to embrace the strange, the unknown… the extraterrestrial. She believes in aliens—and what’s more, she thinks she can find them.
Then Jennifer goes missing. The adults say she ran away…but where is she going? And why? Using clues in Jennifer’s journals about alien encounters, Mallory attempts to find her. But the closer she gets, the more Mallory has to confront why Jennifer might have run … and face the truth within herself.
277 pages, Hardcover
First published April 26, 2022
About the author
Tae Keller
13 books473 followersTAE KELLER is the Newbery award winning and New York Times bestselling author of When You Trap a Tiger and The Science of Breakable Things. She grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she subsisted on kimchi, purple rice, and stories. Now, she writes about biracial girls trying to find their voices, and lives in Seattle with her husband and a multitude of books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 480 reviews
July 14, 2022
I don’t like bully books. That’s a tough thing to say when you’re a librarian that reads tons of children’s titles for a living. It’s kind of like saying “I find breathing air annoying” or “I wish water were less inside my cells.” If you work with children’s literature then bully books are ubiquitous. Omnipresent. The lazy writer’s method of conjuring up quick conflict at a moment’s notice. As a kid I felt the same way, though. If I sensed even a whiff of bullying, I turned tail and ran the other way (though one always makes exceptions for the odd Harriet the Spy title, of course). These days I am a fully functioning adult, so I can pick and choose which books to read, and my fellow library workers know me well enough to steer me away from the bully lit. Once in a while, though, one sneaks through. It was my co-worker Brian that sold me on trying Tae Keller’s latest. I’d read When You Trap a Tiger and liked it fine, but nothing about it was powerful enough to overcome my instinctual avoidance of all things bullyish. “It kind of has some science fiction elements to it,” Brian said. At this, my ears pricked up. I love science fiction. He was quick to note that it was mild, but that hint of something otherworldly was enough to get me to give it a go. I started listening to the audiobook. Then, when that turned out to be too slow, I graduated to a physical copy. Is Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone a bully book? Yes, in the sense that bullying is the crux of the novel. But you might just as easily say that the book is less about bullying between kids and more about the bigger picture. How do we justify cruel behavior? Can a person who is essentially good still be considered good if they do bad things? To what extent does our position in society dictate our behavior, and does it have to? Bully books lack nuance. This book? A deeply nuanced take, unafraid to declare loudly that when it comes to human nature, there are no easy answers.
Some say the end of the world will come with a bang. Others, with a whimper. But Mal is fairly certain it’s already happened and it came with a buzz. At her school’s evening orchestra concert, Mal’s best friend Reagan has received a text with bad news: Jennifer Chan has run away from home. Through flashbacks, we find that over the summer Mal befriended Jennifer, the new girl, in a town in Florida that Mal flatly calls “Nowhereville”. Once school started, however, Jennifer’s upfront fascination with contacting aliens is a threat to not just her popularity but Mal’s as well. Cut to today and we learn that Jennifer ran away shortly after something terrible Mal and her friends did, which she simply calls “The Incident”. When Mal decides that there’s a distinct possibility that Jennifer may have actually successfully contacted aliens, she employs old friends, new friends, and all her resources to tracking Jennifer down. But will her sudden care be enough to make up for what she’s already done? What makes a person good or bad? And where is Jennifer?
I’m always intrigued by the choices a novelist makes when writing a book for kids. Do you write from one perspective? Two? Twenty? Do you stay entirely in the present or jump to the past? First person or third? Present tense or past tense? In the case of Jennifer Chan Keller mixes it up a bit. We’re in the present in the beginning with Mal. She flashes back to the past periodically, but it’s still all from her perspective. And then, all of a sudden, we’re occasionally reading the notebook entries of Jennifer, in the past, from her own first-person perspective. This caught me entirely off guard, particularly since I initially listened to the audiobook of this title and the casting director decided to cast a different actress to do the voice of Jennifer during these sequences. It has the interesting effect of giving the reader a little shock. You’re so embedded in Mal’s mind, within Mal’s self-justifications, that to actually hear from the missing girl herself (albeit from before she went missing) hits you differently. I wonder if it also has the effect of calling into question Mal’s motives too. Not to say that Keller ever goes so far as to make Mal an unreliable narrator per se. But aren’t all first-person narratives unreliable to some extent? Hearing Jennifer defend herself by merely being herself and telling her own story throws the reader’s focus outside of Mal’s mind. The obvious benefit to the story is that the distance, however brief, doesn’t make you unsympathetic to your usual narrator, but neither are you going to just go along with every justification she pulls out of the ether. Clever.
I’m going back through the book right now, to try to pinpoint that moment when you believe, care, and invest in Mal versus the moment when you realize the full extent of the horrible acts she’s participated in. This book could only have worked if it began from Mal’s p.o.v. The first person narration lets you see her friends through her eyes. At what point does Keller let you realize that you’re essentially hanging out with the school mean girls? For some, it may be as late as the moment when Jennifer literally realizes that Mal is not worthy of her friendship and says, point blank, “Oh. I get it. You’re mean girls.” Jennifer’s the type to say the quiet part loud, so to speak, but that realization, in spite of everything we’ve heard until now, may well be the one that a lot of kid readers have at the same time. Because Keller isn’t dealing with the usual bullying stereotypes. I’m not saying we’ve never seen middle grade novels from the bullies’ perspective before, but Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone is different in a lot of ways. Mal spends a great deal of time wrestling with the question of whether or not she’s a bad person. It would be interesting to count the number of times one character or another asks the people around them that very question. “Am I a bad person?” What is a bad person anyway? Mal seems nice when you’re living inside of her head, but we see her do terrible things, sometimes actively, sometimes passively. And how does that make her any different than us? Is the reader complicit by sympathizing with her? Would love to hear kids debate this idea.
Much of what Keller captures so brilliantly is that middle school feeling of trying to keep your head low. Not every book for kids that I read brings me back to that time, but this one sure did. I didn’t have popular friends so Mal’s fate was not my own, but attempting to disappear into the woodwork was very much my own specialty. When Mal sees a crowd gathering to watch a confrontation between Jennifer and the casually awful Pete, she wishes desperately that someone would intervene. Just not her. Never her. It’s incredibly easy to take this middle school setting and apply it to the wider world. People aren’t at their worst selves in middle school. They may just be more honest about how they actually feel, is all. Keller probes that distinction. She makes the details specific to this story, universal. I would wager that there’s not a person out there who wouldn’t be able to relate to something that Mal says or feels at one time or another. Her character is so beautifully drawn, allowing the reader to love and loathe her by turns because, honestly, we may feel culpable at times.
The dialogue and writing between characters could easily devolve into a series of platitudes forced upon the reader by the author. Instead, they not only come off sounding natural, but inevitable. In one scene Mal’s talking to a girl named Kath and they’re getting into the weeds of what being a good person is. Mal says, “Maybe it’s more complicated than knowing the right thing. Maybe people are just trying to balance helping other people and keeping themselves safe.” Kath replies, “Maybe. But sometimes I think complicated is the word people use when they don’t want to think too hard.” And then Keller does this elegant maneuver not two pages later. It’s really adept, so you kind of have to see it for yourself, but she manages to go from this conversation about being a good person to the two characters effortlessly making fun of their classmate Tess. When they realize what they’re doing the pull up short, but the shared connection they felt when they were mean to a third party? It’s something so many of us have done. Does the fact that they feel bad about it make them better people than those of us that never thought twice?
Oh. And there are some aliens. The greatest compliment I could probably give to this book is to say that the aliens are possibly the least interesting aspect of this story. I can guarantee that some poor kid is going to be told that this is a definite science fiction tale, only to be disappointed to find that it’s a lot of ethical dilemmas and moral quandaries and very few little green men. Keller’s always been comfortable mixing the magical with her reality, but here’s it’s more of a seasoning than a main course. It provides just the slightest hint of the otherworldly, which I must say really helps propel you through some of the more difficult moments. At the same time, when I put this book down at the end of the day, the unsolved nature of whether or not there really are aliens didn’t perturb me in the least. I was much more perturbed by the question of how the friendships in this book will ultimately fall out.
I don’t like bully books. But I will go to my grave defending and championing Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone. More to the point, I know I would have really enjoyed this book as a kid too. Come for the aliens. Stay for man’s inhumanity to man. I like a middle grade novel that takes a great big swing. A story about a girl who runs away after she’s been bullied doesn’t sound particularly great on paper, but like all great authors, Tae Keller can take that seemingly simple material and turn it into a serious consideration of what we owe each other. There’s philosophy embedded in its pages, and you don’t have to scratch too deeply to find it. This is a book for the bullied, the bullies, and the onlookers. It provides no solutions but there's comfort lodged in its title and repeated by Tae Keller at the end of her Author’s Note:
“Know that you are not alone.”
Some say the end of the world will come with a bang. Others, with a whimper. But Mal is fairly certain it’s already happened and it came with a buzz. At her school’s evening orchestra concert, Mal’s best friend Reagan has received a text with bad news: Jennifer Chan has run away from home. Through flashbacks, we find that over the summer Mal befriended Jennifer, the new girl, in a town in Florida that Mal flatly calls “Nowhereville”. Once school started, however, Jennifer’s upfront fascination with contacting aliens is a threat to not just her popularity but Mal’s as well. Cut to today and we learn that Jennifer ran away shortly after something terrible Mal and her friends did, which she simply calls “The Incident”. When Mal decides that there’s a distinct possibility that Jennifer may have actually successfully contacted aliens, she employs old friends, new friends, and all her resources to tracking Jennifer down. But will her sudden care be enough to make up for what she’s already done? What makes a person good or bad? And where is Jennifer?
I’m always intrigued by the choices a novelist makes when writing a book for kids. Do you write from one perspective? Two? Twenty? Do you stay entirely in the present or jump to the past? First person or third? Present tense or past tense? In the case of Jennifer Chan Keller mixes it up a bit. We’re in the present in the beginning with Mal. She flashes back to the past periodically, but it’s still all from her perspective. And then, all of a sudden, we’re occasionally reading the notebook entries of Jennifer, in the past, from her own first-person perspective. This caught me entirely off guard, particularly since I initially listened to the audiobook of this title and the casting director decided to cast a different actress to do the voice of Jennifer during these sequences. It has the interesting effect of giving the reader a little shock. You’re so embedded in Mal’s mind, within Mal’s self-justifications, that to actually hear from the missing girl herself (albeit from before she went missing) hits you differently. I wonder if it also has the effect of calling into question Mal’s motives too. Not to say that Keller ever goes so far as to make Mal an unreliable narrator per se. But aren’t all first-person narratives unreliable to some extent? Hearing Jennifer defend herself by merely being herself and telling her own story throws the reader’s focus outside of Mal’s mind. The obvious benefit to the story is that the distance, however brief, doesn’t make you unsympathetic to your usual narrator, but neither are you going to just go along with every justification she pulls out of the ether. Clever.
I’m going back through the book right now, to try to pinpoint that moment when you believe, care, and invest in Mal versus the moment when you realize the full extent of the horrible acts she’s participated in. This book could only have worked if it began from Mal’s p.o.v. The first person narration lets you see her friends through her eyes. At what point does Keller let you realize that you’re essentially hanging out with the school mean girls? For some, it may be as late as the moment when Jennifer literally realizes that Mal is not worthy of her friendship and says, point blank, “Oh. I get it. You’re mean girls.” Jennifer’s the type to say the quiet part loud, so to speak, but that realization, in spite of everything we’ve heard until now, may well be the one that a lot of kid readers have at the same time. Because Keller isn’t dealing with the usual bullying stereotypes. I’m not saying we’ve never seen middle grade novels from the bullies’ perspective before, but Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone is different in a lot of ways. Mal spends a great deal of time wrestling with the question of whether or not she’s a bad person. It would be interesting to count the number of times one character or another asks the people around them that very question. “Am I a bad person?” What is a bad person anyway? Mal seems nice when you’re living inside of her head, but we see her do terrible things, sometimes actively, sometimes passively. And how does that make her any different than us? Is the reader complicit by sympathizing with her? Would love to hear kids debate this idea.
Much of what Keller captures so brilliantly is that middle school feeling of trying to keep your head low. Not every book for kids that I read brings me back to that time, but this one sure did. I didn’t have popular friends so Mal’s fate was not my own, but attempting to disappear into the woodwork was very much my own specialty. When Mal sees a crowd gathering to watch a confrontation between Jennifer and the casually awful Pete, she wishes desperately that someone would intervene. Just not her. Never her. It’s incredibly easy to take this middle school setting and apply it to the wider world. People aren’t at their worst selves in middle school. They may just be more honest about how they actually feel, is all. Keller probes that distinction. She makes the details specific to this story, universal. I would wager that there’s not a person out there who wouldn’t be able to relate to something that Mal says or feels at one time or another. Her character is so beautifully drawn, allowing the reader to love and loathe her by turns because, honestly, we may feel culpable at times.
The dialogue and writing between characters could easily devolve into a series of platitudes forced upon the reader by the author. Instead, they not only come off sounding natural, but inevitable. In one scene Mal’s talking to a girl named Kath and they’re getting into the weeds of what being a good person is. Mal says, “Maybe it’s more complicated than knowing the right thing. Maybe people are just trying to balance helping other people and keeping themselves safe.” Kath replies, “Maybe. But sometimes I think complicated is the word people use when they don’t want to think too hard.” And then Keller does this elegant maneuver not two pages later. It’s really adept, so you kind of have to see it for yourself, but she manages to go from this conversation about being a good person to the two characters effortlessly making fun of their classmate Tess. When they realize what they’re doing the pull up short, but the shared connection they felt when they were mean to a third party? It’s something so many of us have done. Does the fact that they feel bad about it make them better people than those of us that never thought twice?
Oh. And there are some aliens. The greatest compliment I could probably give to this book is to say that the aliens are possibly the least interesting aspect of this story. I can guarantee that some poor kid is going to be told that this is a definite science fiction tale, only to be disappointed to find that it’s a lot of ethical dilemmas and moral quandaries and very few little green men. Keller’s always been comfortable mixing the magical with her reality, but here’s it’s more of a seasoning than a main course. It provides just the slightest hint of the otherworldly, which I must say really helps propel you through some of the more difficult moments. At the same time, when I put this book down at the end of the day, the unsolved nature of whether or not there really are aliens didn’t perturb me in the least. I was much more perturbed by the question of how the friendships in this book will ultimately fall out.
I don’t like bully books. But I will go to my grave defending and championing Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone. More to the point, I know I would have really enjoyed this book as a kid too. Come for the aliens. Stay for man’s inhumanity to man. I like a middle grade novel that takes a great big swing. A story about a girl who runs away after she’s been bullied doesn’t sound particularly great on paper, but like all great authors, Tae Keller can take that seemingly simple material and turn it into a serious consideration of what we owe each other. There’s philosophy embedded in its pages, and you don’t have to scratch too deeply to find it. This is a book for the bullied, the bullies, and the onlookers. It provides no solutions but there's comfort lodged in its title and repeated by Tae Keller at the end of her Author’s Note:
“Know that you are not alone.”
October 23, 2023
a book that’s bigger than middle school
Middle school is the worst. I remember feeling alone and spending my time reading every chance I got. I wish there had been more books like this when I was 12 - books that are entertaining without being crazy, books where not everything has to happen, books that deal with the day to day issues of middle school including the bullying, but where the bully is just as confused as everyone else. Middle school is a time where everyone is doing their best to figure out who they are - books like this help. And while I am no longer 12 years old, the author’s discussion of her own experiences took me right back to that time. I don’t read much YA, but I cared about the protagonists in this story, and the discussions of right and wrong and believing in something bigger than yourself were much deeper than I expected.
“How you treat yourself matters. And you have to be kind enough to forgive yourself when you make mistakes.”
Recommended for anyone looking for insight or relief from bullying and finding one’s way. Even if you don’t typically read YA, I encourage you to give this book a chance.
Middle school is the worst. I remember feeling alone and spending my time reading every chance I got. I wish there had been more books like this when I was 12 - books that are entertaining without being crazy, books where not everything has to happen, books that deal with the day to day issues of middle school including the bullying, but where the bully is just as confused as everyone else. Middle school is a time where everyone is doing their best to figure out who they are - books like this help. And while I am no longer 12 years old, the author’s discussion of her own experiences took me right back to that time. I don’t read much YA, but I cared about the protagonists in this story, and the discussions of right and wrong and believing in something bigger than yourself were much deeper than I expected.
“How you treat yourself matters. And you have to be kind enough to forgive yourself when you make mistakes.”
Recommended for anyone looking for insight or relief from bullying and finding one’s way. Even if you don’t typically read YA, I encourage you to give this book a chance.
May 22, 2022
After the death of her beloved father, Jennifer Chan’s mom relocates them from Chicago to Florida. Despite the title, Jennifer Chan is pretty much alone. Rejected by the cool clique and even the nerds, Jennifer is one quirky girl who doesn’t fit in anywhere. She completely believes in aliens and being herself — and that makes her the subject of ridicule. And then she goes missing.
Telling anything else would ruin this fabulous novel. While aimed at tweens and young teens, adults will adore this books just as much — especially as Jennifer, believed to a naïf, sees the most clearly of all.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Random House Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.
Telling anything else would ruin this fabulous novel. While aimed at tweens and young teens, adults will adore this books just as much — especially as Jennifer, believed to a naïf, sees the most clearly of all.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Random House Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.
May 29, 2022
This book ... wow. I'm speechless. Every middle schooler needs to read this book. I think it would be great to read as a whole class, or in book circles. The deep dive into the mentality of bullying and popularity is so, so thought provoking and real and necessary.
I loved Mal. I also hated Mal. That's how you know it's a real, breathing character--when you're gripped by fierce love and understanding--and also anger and even hatred. I hated her for what she did. I hated her for what I saw of herself in me. I loved her for how she tried, and who she was in that trying. I loved how the story ended, with things not exactly right, but resolved, and as right as they could be, given the circumstances.
Keller is a master of magical realism. This was a little less magical than her previous work, but it was still delightfully mysterious and fun. I don't know that I've actually read a book about aliens like this one before, where there's an honest to goodness alien hunt going on, and that was really fun. I would have adored this book growing up.
The whole book was very gripping, the plot flitting between two timelines--the present and the then--but it was never confusing. I was right with Mal and her story the whole time. The only reason it took me a while to read was because it was an e-arc on my phone, and I hate reading on my phone. But once I got past the 5th chapter, I was hooked and read it in one sitting. That's saying a lot for it being on my phone!
Thank you to netgalley for the free arc!
I loved Mal. I also hated Mal. That's how you know it's a real, breathing character--when you're gripped by fierce love and understanding--and also anger and even hatred. I hated her for what she did. I hated her for what I saw of herself in me. I loved her for how she tried, and who she was in that trying. I loved how the story ended, with things not exactly right, but resolved, and as right as they could be, given the circumstances.
Keller is a master of magical realism. This was a little less magical than her previous work, but it was still delightfully mysterious and fun. I don't know that I've actually read a book about aliens like this one before, where there's an honest to goodness alien hunt going on, and that was really fun. I would have adored this book growing up.
The whole book was very gripping, the plot flitting between two timelines--the present and the then--but it was never confusing. I was right with Mal and her story the whole time. The only reason it took me a while to read was because it was an e-arc on my phone, and I hate reading on my phone. But once I got past the 5th chapter, I was hooked and read it in one sitting. That's saying a lot for it being on my phone!
Thank you to netgalley for the free arc!
June 16, 2022
Do you want to know my weakness?
Middle school.
Particularly, books about middle school, and especially girls in middle school. What an awful part of growing up. Sometimes looking back, 12 years old seems so young, so insignificant, so far back that any juvenile scheming and trash talking that took place probably shouldn’t still affect anyone who is no longer in middle school.
Books like this prove otherwise.
Recommended for those who like books that can capture the voice of someone young without downplaying the pain and cruelty of early adolescence.
Make sure you stick around for the beautiful author’s note.
Middle school.
Particularly, books about middle school, and especially girls in middle school. What an awful part of growing up. Sometimes looking back, 12 years old seems so young, so insignificant, so far back that any juvenile scheming and trash talking that took place probably shouldn’t still affect anyone who is no longer in middle school.
Books like this prove otherwise.
Recommended for those who like books that can capture the voice of someone young without downplaying the pain and cruelty of early adolescence.
Make sure you stick around for the beautiful author’s note.
July 1, 2022
So far, this is one of my favorite books published in 2022. A classmate goes missing and Mallory is determined to find her. Big questions about the universe and aliens are asked, and the story depicts very well the different roles people can play in fostering an environment of bullying. I marveled at how Tae Keller balanced telling an engaging, page-turning story while incorporating bullying in a complex and nuanced way. Thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC of this book.
June 13, 2022
I was unsure about whether I'd enjoy a book written from the perspective of a bully, but I have to admit it was done well. This is definitely one of those books that will make a bigger impact if you're the target audience, as it should, but I still did enjoy it. It raises some important questions for middleschoolers without giving them all the answers on a silver platter, which I appreciated as it invites readers to think critically about who they are as people, what makes a good or a bad person, and who they want to be.
I do think this book would have been even better if we'd seen more of Jennifer though. I thought she was a really interesting, really loveable character, and I would have loved to get to know her better.
I do think this book would have been even better if we'd seen more of Jennifer though. I thought she was a really interesting, really loveable character, and I would have loved to get to know her better.
May 24, 2022
Absolute perfection. I swear, middle grade often does so much better than adult.
April 24, 2022
3.5⭐
Woah, this middle-grade novel turned out to be a much heavier read than I'd expected but in a good way because it highlights important topics such as peer pressure and bullying so well. I also love the Asian representation.
The book left me with mixed feelings though. On one hand, it's very well-written and most of the characters are sufficiently developed so you really feel for them. The story is interestingly told from the perspective of Mallory, who you can arguably say is the 'bully' here.
However, we get so much insight about Mallory's thoughts and actions that it's hard to feel too negatively towards her even if I didn't love her (which also made it tough for me to love the book overall). I also feel like there were gaps in the story that weren't fully explored e.g. absent parents, why Tess is the way she is, etc.
The author's note is a must-read and deserving all of the stars. Thank you for sharing your story and experiences, Tae.
Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
Woah, this middle-grade novel turned out to be a much heavier read than I'd expected but in a good way because it highlights important topics such as peer pressure and bullying so well. I also love the Asian representation.
The book left me with mixed feelings though. On one hand, it's very well-written and most of the characters are sufficiently developed so you really feel for them. The story is interestingly told from the perspective of Mallory, who you can arguably say is the 'bully' here.
However, we get so much insight about Mallory's thoughts and actions that it's hard to feel too negatively towards her even if I didn't love her (which also made it tough for me to love the book overall). I also feel like there were gaps in the story that weren't fully explored e.g. absent parents, why Tess is the way she is, etc.
The author's note is a must-read and deserving all of the stars. Thank you for sharing your story and experiences, Tae.
Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
June 13, 2022
This book really did not end up being what I thought it'd be. It's a book about bullying, fitting in, and exerting power. I think in general I loved the point of it, I thought the characters were authentic, and think the author's note is commendable. But the book has a very slow/bland plot that made it hard for me to keep wanting to pick it up. Another thing I usually don't like in books is when you start the story with a piece of juicy information that is dangled but not revealed ("The Incident" in this book). This event is continually brought up but obviously never explained until the last 10% of the story. Inside I was screaming, "Tell me already!" Lastly, I do wish there had been more family represented in this book... that's something I loved so much about When You Trap a Tiger.
June 11, 2022
This story was less about Jennifer's disappearance, and more about the culture of bullying in schools, from an author who experienced bullying herself, and was trying to piece together what happened to her, and to try and finally understand why the bullies chose her.
Told from the perspective of one of the bullies, Mallory, we follow her as she tries to right the wrongs she did, while trying to find Jennifer. She begs old friends for help, and starts to uncover clues as to where Jennifer may be, using her journals.
Although the girls in this story were all around 13, I did have to keep reminding myself of that. The writing style made me feel like they were older, 15 or 16. I did wish Mallory was a more sympathetic character, as I couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for her after what she did to Jennifer.
I raced through the pages to find out what happened to Jennifer, and if there was really something to her alien sightings. This is a shorter book, with compelling characters, that all have their flaws. I liked that the author pulled from her own experiences, making the story feel more realistic and emotional.
Told from the perspective of one of the bullies, Mallory, we follow her as she tries to right the wrongs she did, while trying to find Jennifer. She begs old friends for help, and starts to uncover clues as to where Jennifer may be, using her journals.
Although the girls in this story were all around 13, I did have to keep reminding myself of that. The writing style made me feel like they were older, 15 or 16. I did wish Mallory was a more sympathetic character, as I couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for her after what she did to Jennifer.
I raced through the pages to find out what happened to Jennifer, and if there was really something to her alien sightings. This is a shorter book, with compelling characters, that all have their flaws. I liked that the author pulled from her own experiences, making the story feel more realistic and emotional.
August 26, 2022
Razor-sharp, realistic portrayal of kids mismanaging their insecurities and coping by bullying others. Keller does a brilliant job of highlighting how uncomfortable it can feel to be unsure of yourself when someone else seems so comfortable and even proud of their quirks. Besides bullying and toxic friendships, this book also delves into race and microaggressions concerning how Asians are often lumped together. This is another stellar work by Tae Keller that will resonate with kids and adults trying to be themselves and find their people.
September 3, 2022
This was a really strong beginning with some great momentum. At about the 2/3 mark, it started to get predictable and the ending felt kind of obvious. Even then, the characters had a lot of dimension and were interesting.
My original comments:
I read about 20 pages and would love to read more when I have the time. Keller rapidly develops several mysteries and an ensemble of compelling, flawed characters in just a few pages. This is a masterclass in how to hit the ground running.
My original comments:
I read about 20 pages and would love to read more when I have the time. Keller rapidly develops several mysteries and an ensemble of compelling, flawed characters in just a few pages. This is a masterclass in how to hit the ground running.
March 28, 2023
I had a really hard time getting through this book. I normally like books that bring to light what people go through because of bullying in schools but I just couldn't connect to this story. I didn't like the characters and I didn't like the alien life side story. I also felt that this story really didn't paint faith in a good light.
August 17, 2022
Powerful, heartbreaking, and inspiring.
April 12, 2023
Wow, wow. This was so good. The main character learned that standing out is better than blending in. That you shouldnt care about what other people think. At first I didnt liked the MC. She was a bully. But then, you learn that she is so, so insecure. And that deep down she is kind and wants to do the right thing. Overall, this book was amazing. A must read.
December 17, 2023
A victim, bystanders, outsiders and bullies. When Jennifer Chan disappears, which one is Mallory? Mallory, a twelve-year-old waffles between friend groups. There's Reagan who makes her feel special and Tess. Then there's Ingrid who she used to spend time with and Kath, a budding scientist. Plus Mallory befriended Jennifer over the summer. While hanging out, Jennifer shared her interest in Unidentified Arial Phenomena (UAPs) with Mallory.
Where is Jennifer? Did she run away? Was she taken? Or could it be aliens? Using clues from Jennifer's notebooks, will Mallory figure it out?
This was an interesting and fascinating look at the fluidity of middle school friendship and peer groups.
Where is Jennifer? Did she run away? Was she taken? Or could it be aliens? Using clues from Jennifer's notebooks, will Mallory figure it out?
This was an interesting and fascinating look at the fluidity of middle school friendship and peer groups.
June 17, 2023
This was an amazing story about bullying, and the effects of it, without being so heavy handed that it sounded like an after-school special. The authors note at the end broke my heart and I can't wait to discuss it in our middle grade book club!
May 14, 2023
An intriguing middle grade book about social behavior and personal beliefs. This book is a great story with flawed and believable characters.
October 28, 2022
E ARC provided by Netgalley.com
The first thing we find out about Jennifer Chan is that she is missing, presumably because she has run away. Mallory and her friends are worried that an interaction they had with her might be the cause of her flight, and are concerned that they might get in trouble. We then go back to the start of it all: there is someone moving into Mallory's Southern Florida neighborhood, and her friends at school are all abuzz-- Jennifer Chan is coming from Chicago, and rumor has it that she killed someone. Or hurt someone, rumors vary. Mallory's mother, who is half Korean, is eager to meet the Chans, who are Chinese American, since there are few other Asians in their area. Mallory isn't thrilled to find out that Jennifer will be attending Gibbons Academy, where she has gone since she was younger, since she can tell that her friends Tess and Reagan will think the new girl is a little "weird". Jennifer is dealing not only with the move, but the death of her father, with whom she shared an interest in space. Specifically, Jennifer is intersted in space aliens, and thinks that if she finds the right frequency, she will be able to communicate with them. Even while Mallory knows that her friends won't understand, she is oddly draw to both Jennifer and her theories, and helps her investigate. This brings her back in contact with science club members Kath and Ingrid, whom Reagan definitely classifies as "weird". They are reluctant to talk to Mallory since she hangs out with the popular girls, but are also intrigued by Jennifer's ideas. When Jennifer draws the girls further into her alien speculations, she runs afoul of Reagan and the girls have a nasty interchange. Will Mallory be able to figure out where Jennifer is before any harm comes to her? And what's the right thing to do when your friends are being mean to someone else?
Strengths: This has plenty of friend drama, and has some similaries to Walker's Let's Pretend We Never Met; one of the hardest things about middle school is balancing being a kind person and fitting in with others. Students like Jennifer, who are quirky, different, and proud of it, are tough to befriend, because in middle school, "weird" definitely rubs off. This is a great, nuanced discussion of that fine line that needs to be walked, and is based on a pivotal experience from Keller's own tweendom. Mallory likes Jennifer, even though she knows her friends will not approve, and ultimately does the right thing, even though it is a struggle. This is very realistic, and not easy to find in today's middle grade literature. Bullying isn't as simple as it is sometimes portrayed, and this book addresses that very well. I especially appreciated that both girls' Asian American backgrounds come in to play, but are not the entire focus of the story.
Weaknesses: Jennifer's interests in space aliens went a bit beyond quirky, and as an adult, I worried that she needed some help in the wake of her father's death that she wasn't getting.
What I really think: This had a bit of the same feel as King's The Year We Fell From Space, with touches of Summy's The Disappearance of Emily H. It's a mystery, but the social interactions are at the forefront of the novel.
The first thing we find out about Jennifer Chan is that she is missing, presumably because she has run away. Mallory and her friends are worried that an interaction they had with her might be the cause of her flight, and are concerned that they might get in trouble. We then go back to the start of it all: there is someone moving into Mallory's Southern Florida neighborhood, and her friends at school are all abuzz-- Jennifer Chan is coming from Chicago, and rumor has it that she killed someone. Or hurt someone, rumors vary. Mallory's mother, who is half Korean, is eager to meet the Chans, who are Chinese American, since there are few other Asians in their area. Mallory isn't thrilled to find out that Jennifer will be attending Gibbons Academy, where she has gone since she was younger, since she can tell that her friends Tess and Reagan will think the new girl is a little "weird". Jennifer is dealing not only with the move, but the death of her father, with whom she shared an interest in space. Specifically, Jennifer is intersted in space aliens, and thinks that if she finds the right frequency, she will be able to communicate with them. Even while Mallory knows that her friends won't understand, she is oddly draw to both Jennifer and her theories, and helps her investigate. This brings her back in contact with science club members Kath and Ingrid, whom Reagan definitely classifies as "weird". They are reluctant to talk to Mallory since she hangs out with the popular girls, but are also intrigued by Jennifer's ideas. When Jennifer draws the girls further into her alien speculations, she runs afoul of Reagan and the girls have a nasty interchange. Will Mallory be able to figure out where Jennifer is before any harm comes to her? And what's the right thing to do when your friends are being mean to someone else?
Strengths: This has plenty of friend drama, and has some similaries to Walker's Let's Pretend We Never Met; one of the hardest things about middle school is balancing being a kind person and fitting in with others. Students like Jennifer, who are quirky, different, and proud of it, are tough to befriend, because in middle school, "weird" definitely rubs off. This is a great, nuanced discussion of that fine line that needs to be walked, and is based on a pivotal experience from Keller's own tweendom. Mallory likes Jennifer, even though she knows her friends will not approve, and ultimately does the right thing, even though it is a struggle. This is very realistic, and not easy to find in today's middle grade literature. Bullying isn't as simple as it is sometimes portrayed, and this book addresses that very well. I especially appreciated that both girls' Asian American backgrounds come in to play, but are not the entire focus of the story.
Weaknesses: Jennifer's interests in space aliens went a bit beyond quirky, and as an adult, I worried that she needed some help in the wake of her father's death that she wasn't getting.
What I really think: This had a bit of the same feel as King's The Year We Fell From Space, with touches of Summy's The Disappearance of Emily H. It's a mystery, but the social interactions are at the forefront of the novel.
July 2, 2024
Another 24-25 WAW nominee. I’d give this book a 3.5, mostly because I’ve never really been a sci-fi reader. Love the overall message of not being alone and how the book ties this into a variety of situations.
Topics: aliens, UFO, loss of a parent, strong bullying, missing child
Topics: aliens, UFO, loss of a parent, strong bullying, missing child
May 26, 2022
Jennifer Chan is Not Alone is the quintessential bullying story. Until now, I’ve never read anything that comes so close to revealing what truly goes on in the minds of the bullied, the bully, and the bully’s accomplices. It’s a story about a group of “popular” kids—primarily girls, in this case—determined to maintain the status quo at any cost. The story is told by Mallory Moss. She’s not a “good” girl, but she’s not a “bad” girl either. She’s caught somewhere in the middle, always being pulled in a tug of war between friends on opposite sides of the precipice, never quite sure of why or how or the motivations behind her friends’ actions.
Mallory is friends with Jennifer Chan. She’s the new girl; the soon-to-be victim of the popular kids—including Mallory. Jennifer doesn’t know what the rules are or how the other kids expect her to behave. In fact, she doesn’t really care about any of that. She has her own ideas and beliefs about life and who she is as a person. Unfortunately, those are some of the things that put her on a collision course with the popular kids, who make it their business to teach Jennifer her place. And they’re not very nice about how they do it. Oh, by the way: Mallory’s best friend, Reagan, is the ringleader of the popular kids. The queen bully.
Tae Keller is an extremely talented writer. But what makes this story so gripping and true-to-life is not so much the writing as it is Keller’s ability to capture the psyche of the characters and lay them bare for the reader to see and, more importantly, understand how bullying happens, and how even “nice kids” can sometimes unwittingly become bullies themselves. I haven’t read any of Keller’s other books. However, if they are half as good as Jennifer Chan is Not Alone, I’ll be sure to add them to my must-read list.
Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
Mallory is friends with Jennifer Chan. She’s the new girl; the soon-to-be victim of the popular kids—including Mallory. Jennifer doesn’t know what the rules are or how the other kids expect her to behave. In fact, she doesn’t really care about any of that. She has her own ideas and beliefs about life and who she is as a person. Unfortunately, those are some of the things that put her on a collision course with the popular kids, who make it their business to teach Jennifer her place. And they’re not very nice about how they do it. Oh, by the way: Mallory’s best friend, Reagan, is the ringleader of the popular kids. The queen bully.
Tae Keller is an extremely talented writer. But what makes this story so gripping and true-to-life is not so much the writing as it is Keller’s ability to capture the psyche of the characters and lay them bare for the reader to see and, more importantly, understand how bullying happens, and how even “nice kids” can sometimes unwittingly become bullies themselves. I haven’t read any of Keller’s other books. However, if they are half as good as Jennifer Chan is Not Alone, I’ll be sure to add them to my must-read list.
Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
May 12, 2022
I am LOVING all these books coming out lately for middle schoolers. It's so hard to find perfect books for this age based on how publishers publish stuff (is it juvenile fic or teen fic?). This was at times a hard read but an achingly real read of being in middle school and figuring out who you are while feeling the push from forces telling you to fit in while knowing you may be born to stand out (or at least need to stand out during certain decisions being made by your friends that may not be the right decision for you). I loved the author note at the end where she talks about why she decided to write a book about bullying (and I think why it hits all the right notes to show growth)! Also, usually do not believe or like alien stories but this was a great alien story (among other things).
September 8, 2022
This was SUCH a good book! Tae Keller’s writing style is so relatable. The whole book was just so full of emotion. It was amazing, especially the ending and the author’s note. I read When You Trap a Tiger after this(this was my first book of hers)and enjoyed it, but this one was way better. This was much better than I expected it to be.
January 21, 2023
Wow, this was a seriously touching story. This novel is all about young girls trying to find their place both in their harsh, judgmental, middle school settings and in the expansive, unknown world around them. Jennifer’s story is a heart wrenching one and relatable to entirely too many children. As a teacher, it was an extra heavy punch to the gut. So many children have also stood in Mal’s shoes and had to figure out who they are, despite peer and societal pressures.
Despite being middle grade, this novel is a great read (and honestly a necessary one) for anyone of any age. It’s sweet, sometimes funny, a little fantastical, emotional, realistically harsh, and full of important lessons. The last chapter was definitely my favorite and I will hold those last few quotes close to my heart!
Despite being middle grade, this novel is a great read (and honestly a necessary one) for anyone of any age. It’s sweet, sometimes funny, a little fantastical, emotional, realistically harsh, and full of important lessons. The last chapter was definitely my favorite and I will hold those last few quotes close to my heart!
September 15, 2024
Just finished this and my mind is still spinning around with what I think about the book. I enjoyed it and I enjoyed the weird flashback feelings of being a middle school girl navigating social hierarchies. I think anyone reading this could find a perspective they empathize with or recognize. It’s so deeply truthful but in an easy to digest way that makes you do some self reflection and a little wondering about the people from your past. I’m curious what it would be like to be a middle school aged girl and read this. I wonder if it would have made me think harder about the way my friends and I interacted with the people around us.
This is book 2/22 of this year’s William Allen White award nominees and I can’t wait to see how it compares to the rest!
This is book 2/22 of this year’s William Allen White award nominees and I can’t wait to see how it compares to the rest!
June 19, 2022
Jennifer Chan moves into the neighbourhood during the holidays, and Mallory finds her quirky ideas refreshing, until, that is, once school starts back, her differences make her a target and popular Mallory doesn’t have the strength to maintain the friendship. When Jennifer goes missing, Mallory is forced to admit to herself and then others that she played a big part in bringing her down.
Lots of sciency astronomy detail included so a bit more to this than a basic bullying story. Nice insight from the author at the end too. Highly recommended for year 6-8. Could make a good class read aloud.
Lots of sciency astronomy detail included so a bit more to this than a basic bullying story. Nice insight from the author at the end too. Highly recommended for year 6-8. Could make a good class read aloud.
May 5, 2022
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the ARC of this.
An emotional middle grade about bullying and the possibility of life outside the Earth, this gave me all the feels. I will definitely be recommending it to my almost 9 year old, it seems like a good way to get a child who loves sci-fi, fantasy and aliens to dip their toes into a more contemporary drama without losing those aspects they enjoy. I will definitely be trying more of this author’s books.
An emotional middle grade about bullying and the possibility of life outside the Earth, this gave me all the feels. I will definitely be recommending it to my almost 9 year old, it seems like a good way to get a child who loves sci-fi, fantasy and aliens to dip their toes into a more contemporary drama without losing those aspects they enjoy. I will definitely be trying more of this author’s books.
April 6, 2022
I really liked this. I liked the writing and how realistic the characters were and that it showed how mean kids could be because of their own insecurities. Overall, I think it had a good message.
July 24, 2022
I usually don’t like books that go from now to the past and flip back and forth, but for this one, it worked. It sucked me in and kept me wanting to know more. Good stuff. Lots of powerful internal dialogue in this one. QUARTER OF THE WAY THROUGH SPOILER: I love that Mallory is a mean girl and she doesn’t even know it. The way the author weaved that in was excellent. She seems like a normal girl, just trying to fit in, but it’s her internal dialogue that really made this book work for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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