Mortified

by Kristy Jackson, Rhael McGregor (Illustrator)

For fans of Remarkably Ruby and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, comedy and cringe come together in this sweet novel about facing your fears.

When someone secretly signs up Belinda Houle, the school’s shyest kid, to audition for a play, Belinda turns to her best friend, Sally, for help. Sally isn’t like the other kids. Unlike Belinda, she isn’t embarrassed by anything. Also, Sally thinks she’s a witch.

Belinda doesn’t believe in magic, but if Sally has a spell for confidence—well, it couldn’t hurt to try it. Could it?

What follows the spell is a series of tragedies so tragic they would have been funny—if only they weren’t happening to Belinda! First, Belinda’s ex-best friend tricks her into eating dog food. Next, she’s forced to wear a wig when her hair-straightening session goes very wrong. And then, Belinda slips on a plate of paint, wrecking a mural, and ends up with globs of green, brown and yellow paint all over her head!

Things get worse and worse, until Belinda must face the facts: One piece of bad luck can be explained away, but this? This is a straight-up curse!

Can she break the curse before the dreamy Ricky Daniels takes more notice of her crooked wig? More importantly, how can Belinda battle the very thing she hoped the spell would take away: her embarrassment?

Genres: Middle Grade, Canada, Fiction, Humor, Indigenous

320 pages, Hardcover

Published May 21, 2024

Reviews

[Lolz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good one. The author did a great job of building tension and evoking mortification, but also it felt light and funny. I admire Kristy Jackson’s creativity, she designed some outrageous calamities.
The comic/novel side-by-side was great, I would have loved to see more. The illustrations were so sweet, I’ve already got another book by Rhael McGregor on order.
The moments of Cree culture and language were perfect. More stories that take place in Saskatchewan, please!

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a silly way to review something but, I enjoyed this novel much more than I thought I would! I think the book blurb doesn't do it justice. Because of the mention of a witch, I thought it was going to be a fantasy or magical realism story and I wasn't really looking forward to reading it. However, it really isn't. It is a realistic fiction novel and when embarrassing thing after embarrassing thing happens to Belinda, she blames a "spell" from her friend.

Mortified is funny and engaging, and the comic panel to begin each chapter are adorable. Belinda is a likeable character whose embarrassments and wishes are relatable for many young readers. - In my opinion, the worst written part is the book blurb! ;-)

Mortified is a 2026 MYRCA Sundogs nominee.

3+ stars

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally laughed out loud too many times ❤️

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mortified is a funny middle-grade novel about preteen Belinda trying to overcome her disastrous bad luck and audition for the school play. The author really captures the terror of embarrassment at that age and the true gift of a good friend. Belinda's best friend, and occasional witch, Sally tries to help with her confidence but Belinda thinks she accidentally curses her after a series of events that leaves Belinda mortified. The novel keeps things pretty light with some mentions of the discrimination/classism Belinda feels as a Cree girl whose family doesn't have a lot of money. I really liked the page of illustrated comic introducing each chapter and the Saskatchewan representation as that's not a setting you often see. Poor Belinda just wants to hide in her bunnyhug! I think this novel will be relatable and accessible to many in its target audience.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book last year and finally am getting to it for Middle grade March (perfect timing).

I really enjoyed this book even though I’m not in the age category it’s for hah. I liked how at the beginning of each chapter it has a page of comics to start that chapter off. It was nice to see some of our characters. I honestly felt so bad for Belinda because her one friend was totally not a good friend at all. Sally was an awesome friend and I’m glad that they found each other. I can’t believe Belinda had so much bad luck happen to her, but it’s true it did make her more confident. I liked that she was an indigenous character because I haven’t seen many in middle grade books.
It was an easy and enjoyable read and I’ll be keeping it for my daughter to read when she’s a bit older.

[Mariann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Belinda is constantly embarrassed by crazy events that happen to her all of the time. Her best friend, Sally, tries to help her by casting a “confidence spell” and the craziness continues from there! Mortified was a great book that helps us all think about the negative talk that we use to discourage ourselves. The book shows us through instances that everyone can identify with — being embarrassed — and how coming to terms with it helps us grow and become comfortable with who each of us is. 😊 I would definitely recommend this book!

[Cynthia Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this was a fantastic read. Belinda and Sally were such great characters and the story was so relatable. I mean who doesn't remember having embarrassing moments in grade school--thank god we didn't have internet back then! Poor Belinda, I felt so bad for her at times and she's such a great character I couldn't help but root for her. This book is hilarious, entertaining, witty, fun loving and everything in between. Right up there with Gordan Korman. Looking forward to many more stories by Kristy Jackson.

[Mrs. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is aptly named. There are many truly yet hilarious, cringeworthy moments. As a reader you feel bad laughing at this poor girl's dilemmas and yet that's all you can do as they can be truly ridiculous. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There was a great moral to the story of accepting yourself warts and all. Self confidence isn't something many teens have in abundance and yet they should. The author did a fantastic job of capturing the essence of the self conscience teen, who should by all rights be permitted human moments.

[Sarah G-Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those of us who survived middle school and for those IN middle school, this is a MUST read. I saw myself at each mortifying moment and couldn't stop laughing. Everyone will fall in love with Belinda - just trying to survive adolescence. Jackson's book is perfect for showing that we all get through that time in our lives and are the better for it. So much fun!

[Corian Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was hilarious and I felt so much sympathy for Belinda. She had SO MUCH bad luck and even though it seemed too outrageous, I couldn’t wait to see what happened to her next. The illustrations for the graphic novel pages were amazing but having them as a preview to each chapter almost gave away too much. I would have rather had them at the end of each chapter to recap what you just read.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who can’t relate with Belinda? She just wants to get through school with her hoodie over her eyes. But when she’s cursed with bad luck, the laughs are non-stop. Barf all around the sun and back three times, one way or another Belinda’s going to have to get over being MORTIFIED!

[Anna Rosner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a wonderful, entertaining book, filled with moments of joy and human compassion, as well as the inevitable pains of middle school. Highly, highly recommended for young readers and for adults, too. I can't wait to read Kristy Jackson's next book, Touching Grass.

[Eliza Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

my 10 year old MYRCA voter loved this and only docked a star because the author wayyyyy overused the word butt. seriously we read out loud to each other and it was shocking and honestly kinda weird how many times she said butt.

[Shannon Cullip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun story

Middle school is never a fun time, but it’s even worse when you are struck down by a spell gone wrong causing all sorts of embarrassing things to happen to you!

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025 Silver Birch Fiction Nominee

[Jenn Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought as a gift for my 9yo niece and I'm sure she's going to love it!

[Stephanie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me laugh out loud a couple of times. Poor Belinda. For a while I wondered if she was having a nightmare she would wake up from in the end!

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute middle grade book with a hint of magic.

[Stefanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

From all the Saskatchewan references (bunny hug!), to how adorable this entire book was, 5 stars all around.

[Kip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think many kids will relate to the pressure felt by Belinda in this book. Jackson knocked this one out of the park. Looking forward to further works by her.

[Kkharvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Read by Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cringy comedy.

[Ali Dumont · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was rlly good. That’s all

[Ellie oconer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is super boring in my opion when you get to chapter 12 I know kristy jackson is a good author but I hate this book so muh it has bullying in it so 2/10

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

YM magazine “say anything” columns [or the equivalent in whatever teen magazine you were reading] meets Brene Brown’s warm embrace, set in Saskatchewan.

A great debut for middle-grade readers.

[Ren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable story, and I loved Belinda so much! She's interesting, and there's so much heart here that I can't deny that I had a lot of fun with this. Plus, I'll never turn down a good book about Saskatchewan, especially a strong middle grade one.

My one issue is with the graphic novel excerpts at the beginning of each chapter; I wish the author had either committed to making this a graphic novel, or used them as illustrations throughout, as some of them spoil the beginning portion of the chapter, some chapters are short enough that it spoils the entire thing. This isn't a glaring issue, but it's something that made me start skipping them so I didn't know what was about to happen. They're interesting, and the art is very well done, but I didn't find that they added much.

[Veld · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great, short (mis)adventure for kids! Magic, school drama, and a pretty relatable character in Belinda.
It would be a 5-star read, but I found the comics before the chapters to be a little repetitive. The exact scene in the comic would take place in the first few pages of the book with a bit more detail in the story itself. I found a few places I’d kind of skim over the book after reading the comic, searching for new information.
I think it COULD be a good transition for kids that are just reading comics, tho? Just not an element that I particularly enjoyed. That being said, the art was beautiful in greyscale. I would love to see a colour rendition of these pages if a future edition were to be released.

Overall, definitely recommend it. The book kept me turning the pages faster, loving the progression of the plot, characters, and action.