Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 10/15/2016 *Starred Review* In this sweet and uplifting story, quirky middle-schooler Julia grows up in unexpected ways after winning the roles of a Munchkin and a winged monkey in a summer production of The Wizard of Oz. She can’t dance or sing, but she’s ideally suited for the roles because she’s very short. Julia hopes being in the play will help take her mind off the recent death of her beloved dog, Ramon. She’s not the best student, isn’t a good listener, and tends to daydream, but she’s wryly observant, especially of the adults around her, who often act more out of control than the kids. She finds friendship and great role models in an elderly neighbor and in a number of people involved with the show: her director, a talented costume designer, and Olive, a woman with dwarfism who plays a fellow Munchkin. Julia’s tendency for self-analysis and her unique view of things is often very funny, as in the way she compares blue cheese to the tops of her grandmother’s legs when she’s in her swimsuit. It’s refreshing that Julia doesn’t mind being short and believes she’s “little, but big inside.” Her self-acceptance is inspiring, and the joy she experiences in her foray into theater is irresistible. - Copyright 2016 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 10/01/2016 Gr 5–8—Middle schooler Julia Marks reluctantly lands a part as a munchkin in a summer stock production of The Wizard of Oz. Tentative at first about her performing abilities, she's helped along by a group of adults who see what she has not yet realized about herself: she makes a big impression for such a small person. Julia is indeed very small; the title of the book describes the protagonist, who is several inches shorter than her classmates and has been uncomfortable about her height since she overheard her parents discussing it negatively. Julia's rambling first-person narration is very funny as she resists every new opportunity (lead munchkin dancer; second string winged monkey) and then decides she loves it once she tries it. Julia finds mentors in the well-drawn characters who make up the theater group, especially the charismatic director, who works lying down after he breaks his tailbone, and a septuagenarian costume designer and former prima ballerina. She changes her perspective on her own size when she befriends Olive, an actress with dwarfism who wows the protagonist with her singing and dancing chops, her fashion sense, and her confidence as she dresses down the director for his bias against an aspiring cast member. Brief chapters and an accessible writing style add to the novel's appeal. VERDICT Theater kids and fans of Tim Federle's "Nate" books will love this.—Beth Wright Redford, Richmond Elementary School Library, VT - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 01/01/2017 Size matters when it comes to Julia Marks, who’s very small for her age (“I’m still small enough to fit through the dog door at home”). She’s been feeling smaller than usual since the death of her beloved dog, Ramon, and she’s not thrilled that her mother is making her join her hammy little brother as a Munchkin in a local college production of The Wizard of Oz. Like many before her, however, Julia falls in love with theater-she loves the director, she loves the professional adult little people working alongside her, she loves the neighbor who turns out to be a gifted costumer, and she loves the person it allows her to be. Though the book relies a little too often on the reader getting a joke that Julia doesn’t, she’s an endearing narrator in her seriousness and her careful consideration of the world and her part of it; her grief for Ramon is authentically present without taking over her daily life. What’s particularly rewarding for Julia is her relationship with adults who see her in a different light, especially her Munchkin compatriot Olive, who provides a role model for Julia of somebody whose height brings opportunities as well as limitations. This is therefore less a theatrical tale (though there’s plenty of that) than a jubilant story about the way a new context can give kids a whole different perspective on life and themselves, and readers feeling stuck in their roles will particularly appreciate the implication. DS - Copyright 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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