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The Blue Dress
For fans of Jasmine Warga and Starfish, an Iranian American girl navigates complicated relationships with her mother, her best friend, and her body image in this unflinching and ultimately uplifting middle-grade debut.
Sometimes Yasmin feels like her body isn’t hers. And it’s not just because puberty has mounted a full-on alien invasion, or that emigrating from Iran a year-and-a-half ago has meant one change after another. It’s also because her mother constantly pushes her to lose weight, like sewing Yasmin a beautiful blue dress for Persian New Year that is too tight on purpose.
At school, it doesn’t help that Yasmin’s best friend, Carmen, is petite and close to her own mother, or that popular-girl Zoe always has a mean comment to spare. Yasmin is sure her crush, Jack, won’t ever like her the way she is, either.
With the pressure to fit in closing in on all sides, Yasmin starts taking desperate measures. But if being thin is supposed to make her happier, then why does losing weight feel like losing parts of herself, too?
From debut author Rebecca Morrison comes The Blue Dress, a heart-rending, funny, and hopeful book inspired by her own life, relatable to anyone who has ever needed to break away from someone else’s vision of how they should look in order to embrace their true self.
Sometimes Yasmin feels like her body isn’t hers. And it’s not just because puberty has mounted a full-on alien invasion, or that emigrating from Iran a year-and-a-half ago has meant one change after another. It’s also because her mother constantly pushes her to lose weight, like sewing Yasmin a beautiful blue dress for Persian New Year that is too tight on purpose.
At school, it doesn’t help that Yasmin’s best friend, Carmen, is petite and close to her own mother, or that popular-girl Zoe always has a mean comment to spare. Yasmin is sure her crush, Jack, won’t ever like her the way she is, either.
With the pressure to fit in closing in on all sides, Yasmin starts taking desperate measures. But if being thin is supposed to make her happier, then why does losing weight feel like losing parts of herself, too?
From debut author Rebecca Morrison comes The Blue Dress, a heart-rending, funny, and hopeful book inspired by her own life, relatable to anyone who has ever needed to break away from someone else’s vision of how they should look in order to embrace their true self.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 24, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
April 7, 2026
Who told Rebecca Morrison that she was allowed to give me all the feels in the world!?
What Worked: EVERYTHING. The Blue Dress is not only a book perfect for middle grade readers who are struggling with self-confidence, friendships, body image, first crushes, and more; it's also a book for parents and caregivers that reminds us of the impact we make on our children. I'm a mother who grew up with a mother similar to Yamin's. However, unlike Yasmin, there wasn't an eventual intervention that put my mother's behavior into check. There wasn't a moment where she had an epiphany of how her behavior impacted me and my self-esteem. To this day, I struggle with my body image, weight, and self-esteem. Though I related to this book as an adult, Morrison crafted a narrative that will ultimately be relatable to a plethora of middle grade readers. It's a love letter to Persian culture and story that reminds younger readers of how to be comfortable in their skin. This is easily one of my favorite middle grade reads of 2026.
What Worked: EVERYTHING. The Blue Dress is not only a book perfect for middle grade readers who are struggling with self-confidence, friendships, body image, first crushes, and more; it's also a book for parents and caregivers that reminds us of the impact we make on our children. I'm a mother who grew up with a mother similar to Yamin's. However, unlike Yasmin, there wasn't an eventual intervention that put my mother's behavior into check. There wasn't a moment where she had an epiphany of how her behavior impacted me and my self-esteem. To this day, I struggle with my body image, weight, and self-esteem. Though I related to this book as an adult, Morrison crafted a narrative that will ultimately be relatable to a plethora of middle grade readers. It's a love letter to Persian culture and story that reminds younger readers of how to be comfortable in their skin. This is easily one of my favorite middle grade reads of 2026.
March 8, 2026
This author is spot on in addressing issues we all face starting at a young age. I hope someday a man writes a similar book for boys and men. Trying to fit in and loving ourselves for who we are. The story starts out with Yasmin’s Mother making her a special dress. Because her Mother feels Yasmin is overweight, she intentionally makes the dress too small. I found this book put me on a roller coaster of emotions. This is a very powerful story and has a message for all girls and women. Outstanding narration. Highly recommend.
I was blessed with an Audible ARC. Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media. The opinions expressed are my own and unbiased.
I was blessed with an Audible ARC. Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media. The opinions expressed are my own and unbiased.
June 29, 2025
When you write a semi-autobiographical book, you tear your heart out and place it for the world to see, but sometimes that is the best way to get your story across. In this debut novel, the author takes a bit of her own adolescence and combines it into this fictional middle grade story of a girl trying to please her mother by losing weight.
Yasmin has gained weight since reaching puberty, and her mother, who was mocked for being too fat, and starved herself as a young woman, in Iran, doesn’t want to have this happen to her daughter. She must be thin, and beautiful, so she can have the same happy life that she has had. Yasmin doesn’t know any of this, just that her mother is happiest when she loses weight, and she wants to please her mother.
The blue dress, that this book is named for, is a dress that her mother sewed for Yasmin, but purposely made a size to small to encourage her to lose weight. It is the most beautiful dress that Yasmin has ever seen, but she simply can’t lose enough weight to fit into it, no matter how hard she tries. She skips meals. She throws up if she feels she has eaten too much. And she is miserable. On ttop of that, some white girls are making fun of her unibrow, and her curly hair.
Yasmin thinks if she can be thin and have straight hair, and wear makeup, that she can be like the cool girls, and life will be easier. And you can see this coming a mile away, that that isn't how life works. And the girls she thinks she has made friends with, the cool girls, are still mean to her, in the name of “just joking”, until the jokes hurt too much to be ignored.
This book had me in tears. There are mothers out there that think making their daughters thin will solve all their problems. They do it out of a warped sense of love.
Very down to earth, well written book. You can tell the author went through what her main character did, because it is so true to life, all the way down to hiding snacks under the bed, so that she can eat in private.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is being published the 24th of March 2026.
Yasmin has gained weight since reaching puberty, and her mother, who was mocked for being too fat, and starved herself as a young woman, in Iran, doesn’t want to have this happen to her daughter. She must be thin, and beautiful, so she can have the same happy life that she has had. Yasmin doesn’t know any of this, just that her mother is happiest when she loses weight, and she wants to please her mother.
The blue dress, that this book is named for, is a dress that her mother sewed for Yasmin, but purposely made a size to small to encourage her to lose weight. It is the most beautiful dress that Yasmin has ever seen, but she simply can’t lose enough weight to fit into it, no matter how hard she tries. She skips meals. She throws up if she feels she has eaten too much. And she is miserable. On ttop of that, some white girls are making fun of her unibrow, and her curly hair.
Yasmin thinks if she can be thin and have straight hair, and wear makeup, that she can be like the cool girls, and life will be easier. And you can see this coming a mile away, that that isn't how life works. And the girls she thinks she has made friends with, the cool girls, are still mean to her, in the name of “just joking”, until the jokes hurt too much to be ignored.
This book had me in tears. There are mothers out there that think making their daughters thin will solve all their problems. They do it out of a warped sense of love.
Very down to earth, well written book. You can tell the author went through what her main character did, because it is so true to life, all the way down to hiding snacks under the bed, so that she can eat in private.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is being published the 24th of March 2026.
November 14, 2025
Damn I do not have the words to describe how good this book was. It made me cry in an airport terminal because the author's raw portrayal of disordered eating, critical mothers, and immigrant discrimination was so palpable. Puberty is already such a difficult time but being different in any way (in this case not white and not skinny) exacerbates all the natural self-consciousness that crops up during this developmental stage. Yasmin's need to please her mother was deeply relatable. Her worries that she was "too hairy" were so painful to read about as well as her struggle to reconcile her love for Iran with the reason why her family left. This book was so raw but I adored every second of it. It is going to stick with me for a while.
Thanks to the publisher for the eARC!
Thanks to the publisher for the eARC!
March 25, 2026
This book had me laughing and crying but ultimately feeling like a big sister who just wanted to give this girl a hug.
Touching on themes of body image, confidence, insecurities, eating disorders, identity, race, religion, bullying and cultural stereotypes and expectations, this book felt so important and relevant to todays world. Yasmin is a young girl who is constantly berated for her size within her own home struggling to meet expectations her mum has set upon her while also struggling with her identity in school and although she is super close to her best friend she cant help but feel as though Carmen (her best friend) is not only perfect in terms of her image, being smaller than Yasmin but also has a closer relationship with Yasmin's mother. There is this constant battle in Yasmin's head and Rebecca Morrison did a fantastic job at putting us in the head of this young girl. I could feel her insecurities, her worries and anxieties and I wanted to jump into this book and give her a hug and tell her she is beautiful. I think there are so many young girls and women who can relate to this story and character; Yasmin at times loses herself and whats important to her in the efforts to become everyone's idea of perfect and this book really takes a look at what can happen if we chose to not love ourselves as we are.
As an audiobook this was a quick listen with the narrator bringing to life this character and the very important story being told.
Touching on themes of body image, confidence, insecurities, eating disorders, identity, race, religion, bullying and cultural stereotypes and expectations, this book felt so important and relevant to todays world. Yasmin is a young girl who is constantly berated for her size within her own home struggling to meet expectations her mum has set upon her while also struggling with her identity in school and although she is super close to her best friend she cant help but feel as though Carmen (her best friend) is not only perfect in terms of her image, being smaller than Yasmin but also has a closer relationship with Yasmin's mother. There is this constant battle in Yasmin's head and Rebecca Morrison did a fantastic job at putting us in the head of this young girl. I could feel her insecurities, her worries and anxieties and I wanted to jump into this book and give her a hug and tell her she is beautiful. I think there are so many young girls and women who can relate to this story and character; Yasmin at times loses herself and whats important to her in the efforts to become everyone's idea of perfect and this book really takes a look at what can happen if we chose to not love ourselves as we are.
As an audiobook this was a quick listen with the narrator bringing to life this character and the very important story being told.
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March 7, 2026Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy
The Blue Dress by Rebecca Morrison is a first person-POV middle grade contemporary discussing immigration, complex mother-daughter relationships, and body image. Eleven-year-old Yasmin has been gaining weight and instead of receiving empathy from her mother, she instead receives criticism and is told she has to lose weight. Between this and her insecurities about her eyebrows and curly hair, Yasmin starts to change herself rapidly, alienating herself from her best friend and the people who care about her.
Unfortunately, so many tweens and teens develop body image issues and even eating disorders because of how their mothers talk about their bodies. When Yasmin developed eating habits that equate feeling good to eating sugary, fatty foods, I felt that. A lot of people have to go on a journey of unlearning all of that and it's not easy when eating turns into a coping mechanism. Hopefully this book being on shelves will help young people feel seen and maybe convince them to talk to someone sooner rather than later and, ideally, their mothers will change how they speak about food and weight.
Because we are so deep in Yasmin's head, we see all the ways she thinks negatively about herself, from her body to her curly hair to her eyebrows and all the things she does to change it. I believe that young people have a right to experiment with their hair, and this includes their eyebrows, as well as with clothes and make-up, because that is the perfect time for them to exercise self-expression and learn how they want to present themselves to the world, but it is also sad when they feel they have to make these changes in order to fit in. That Yasmin’s mother pushed the weight thing so much but also resisted Yasmin straightening her hair or plucking her unibrow made a lot of sense to me. The weight is separate from the hair and eyebrows because fatphobia is said by her mother to be present in Iran while Yasmin getting rid of her natural hair and eyebrows could be more seen as assimilating into American beauty standards. I can see how their wires are getting crossed there because, from Yasmin's POV, it's all the same and her mom is being weird about these things specifically, but from her mom's POV, they aren't the same at all.
While this book is for young readers (and I hope many read it and get the help they need), it was also very healing as an adult. It's the kind of book I would probably hand to my adult friends who are still struggling with how they feel with their bodies so we can cry and heal together.
Content warning for body shaming, depictions of eating disorders and anti-SWANA racism
I would recommend this book to young people, of course, but I very strongly recommend it for parents of young girls as a reminder of all the inner turmoil that comes with puberty and so they can examine their own patterns of behavior when talking about their children's bodies.
The Blue Dress by Rebecca Morrison is a first person-POV middle grade contemporary discussing immigration, complex mother-daughter relationships, and body image. Eleven-year-old Yasmin has been gaining weight and instead of receiving empathy from her mother, she instead receives criticism and is told she has to lose weight. Between this and her insecurities about her eyebrows and curly hair, Yasmin starts to change herself rapidly, alienating herself from her best friend and the people who care about her.
Unfortunately, so many tweens and teens develop body image issues and even eating disorders because of how their mothers talk about their bodies. When Yasmin developed eating habits that equate feeling good to eating sugary, fatty foods, I felt that. A lot of people have to go on a journey of unlearning all of that and it's not easy when eating turns into a coping mechanism. Hopefully this book being on shelves will help young people feel seen and maybe convince them to talk to someone sooner rather than later and, ideally, their mothers will change how they speak about food and weight.
Because we are so deep in Yasmin's head, we see all the ways she thinks negatively about herself, from her body to her curly hair to her eyebrows and all the things she does to change it. I believe that young people have a right to experiment with their hair, and this includes their eyebrows, as well as with clothes and make-up, because that is the perfect time for them to exercise self-expression and learn how they want to present themselves to the world, but it is also sad when they feel they have to make these changes in order to fit in. That Yasmin’s mother pushed the weight thing so much but also resisted Yasmin straightening her hair or plucking her unibrow made a lot of sense to me. The weight is separate from the hair and eyebrows because fatphobia is said by her mother to be present in Iran while Yasmin getting rid of her natural hair and eyebrows could be more seen as assimilating into American beauty standards. I can see how their wires are getting crossed there because, from Yasmin's POV, it's all the same and her mom is being weird about these things specifically, but from her mom's POV, they aren't the same at all.
While this book is for young readers (and I hope many read it and get the help they need), it was also very healing as an adult. It's the kind of book I would probably hand to my adult friends who are still struggling with how they feel with their bodies so we can cry and heal together.
Content warning for body shaming, depictions of eating disorders and anti-SWANA racism
I would recommend this book to young people, of course, but I very strongly recommend it for parents of young girls as a reminder of all the inner turmoil that comes with puberty and so they can examine their own patterns of behavior when talking about their children's bodies.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A comforting cultural rep of Iranian traditions. This story revolves around the Iranian American girl Jasmine. Who faces stages of body changes and apprearences while going through her puberty. And gets bullied against her cultural and racist jokes against her Country and people.
Definitely made me fall in love with the story. Its so nostalgic giving the 2000s high school movies like "Mean Girls". I love how the story revolves around love, friendship and family moments. Read a cozy book after a long time!
The only thing that made me truly upset was her mother's body shaming towards Jasmine and gender biased favoritism of her mother. Also, the bullying against her Country did trigger me. Because I absolutely HATE bullying and racism.
"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆'𝒔 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝑰𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒆."
Definitely made me fall in love with the story. Its so nostalgic giving the 2000s high school movies like "Mean Girls". I love how the story revolves around love, friendship and family moments. Read a cozy book after a long time!
The only thing that made me truly upset was her mother's body shaming towards Jasmine and gender biased favoritism of her mother. Also, the bullying against her Country did trigger me. Because I absolutely HATE bullying and racism.
"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆'𝒔 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝑰𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒆."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2025
When the main character moves from Iran to the United States, she faces the challenges of adolescence, cultural identity, and body image all at once. As she begins to gain weight, her mother’s constant pressure to lose it grows unbearable. Finding comfort in her best friend Carmen’s home, she feels seen and safe until her desperate attempts to fit in attracts the attention of the popular girl at school. Suddenly, she’s torn between popularity and true friendship. Along the way, cruel stereotypes about her heritage and painful family secrets force her to confront who she really wants to be.
This was such a good book. Rebecca Morrison captures disordered eating with heartbreaking honesty. The story shines a light on the impossible standards so many young girls face, especially those balancing two cultures. Hearing classmates call her dad a “terrorist” because she’s from Iran was gut-wrenching, yet sadly realistic. When the truth behind her mother’s obsession with weight is revealed, it brings empathy and healing to both characters.
Rebecca Morrison’s writing is vivid and emotionally raw. Her prose isn’t flowery, but it carries a quiet power that is honest, vulnerable, and full of sensory detail. The narrative voice feels deeply personal, as though you’re reading the character’s inner thoughts in real time. The pacing balances introspection with tension, especially during moments when disordered eating and cultural shame intersect. Morrison doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable, but she handles it with empathy and restraint.
The portrayal of disordered eating is what will stay with me. Morrison captures the obsessive thoughts, secrecy, and exhaustion of it with heartbreaking precision. It’s written in a way that both teens and adults will recognize as truthful and important.
The Blue Dress is an honest and necessary book about growing up between cultures and learning to make peace with your body and your past. It deserves a place in every middle and high school library. The immigrant experience is central — not only through prejudice and stereotypes, but also through the quiet longing to belong without erasing yourself. The conflict between external validation (popularity) and internal peace (self-worth) will resonate with many teen readers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Farrah, Straus and Giroux, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was such a good book. Rebecca Morrison captures disordered eating with heartbreaking honesty. The story shines a light on the impossible standards so many young girls face, especially those balancing two cultures. Hearing classmates call her dad a “terrorist” because she’s from Iran was gut-wrenching, yet sadly realistic. When the truth behind her mother’s obsession with weight is revealed, it brings empathy and healing to both characters.
Rebecca Morrison’s writing is vivid and emotionally raw. Her prose isn’t flowery, but it carries a quiet power that is honest, vulnerable, and full of sensory detail. The narrative voice feels deeply personal, as though you’re reading the character’s inner thoughts in real time. The pacing balances introspection with tension, especially during moments when disordered eating and cultural shame intersect. Morrison doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable, but she handles it with empathy and restraint.
The portrayal of disordered eating is what will stay with me. Morrison captures the obsessive thoughts, secrecy, and exhaustion of it with heartbreaking precision. It’s written in a way that both teens and adults will recognize as truthful and important.
The Blue Dress is an honest and necessary book about growing up between cultures and learning to make peace with your body and your past. It deserves a place in every middle and high school library. The immigrant experience is central — not only through prejudice and stereotypes, but also through the quiet longing to belong without erasing yourself. The conflict between external validation (popularity) and internal peace (self-worth) will resonate with many teen readers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Farrah, Straus and Giroux, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 6, 2026
this was a real tough read
the generational trauma, the introduction of an eating disorder to a young girl via her mother because of her own self doubts. this book starts with a blue dress and ends with a blue dress
I do appreciate that this book was hopeful in places, but the hopefulness was brought around after a very belittled girl has to visit a school counsellor because her mum is praising her for skipping dinners.
maybe i didn’t like it because of my own troubles, but this doesn’t feel like a book that needs to be shown to young adults.
sorry :(
the generational trauma, the introduction of an eating disorder to a young girl via her mother because of her own self doubts. this book starts with a blue dress and ends with a blue dress
I do appreciate that this book was hopeful in places, but the hopefulness was brought around after a very belittled girl has to visit a school counsellor because her mum is praising her for skipping dinners.
maybe i didn’t like it because of my own troubles, but this doesn’t feel like a book that needs to be shown to young adults.
sorry :(
April 6, 2026
The Blue Dress is a heartfelt, honest middle-grade novel about growing up, feeling different, and learning how to trust yourself. Yasmin’s story is painful at times, but it’s also funny and relatable. I especially appreciated the way Rebecca Morrison captures the pressures of family, friendship, and body image without ever losing sight of hope. A moving debut that stays with you.
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January 25, 2026Rebecca Morrison’s debut middle grade novel, The Blue Dress, explores the angst of a thirteen-year-old girl who had emigrated from Iran with her parents and younger brother a year and a half earlier. Yazmin’s innate sense of being different—with different cultural values and traditions, different skin tone, and different hair—is eclipsed by a single overarching pressure—her mother’s need for her to exist in a smaller body.
With Morrison’s nuanced handling of a difficult topic, readers will not only empathize with Yazmin but eventually come to understand the motivations of those around her. This includes her mother, whom she loves dearly but whose focus on weight has brought Yazmin such pain.
Middle school readers and others will find—in accessible, propulsive prose—an open-hearted story of friendship, the struggle to fit in with those who’ve had vastly different life experiences, and ultimately how love can help bridge divides that seem, at times, unbridgeable.
As someone who was thrust alone, at age twelve, into a completely new environment, I related to many aspects of Morrison’s story. She captures beautifully the need to fit in and all of the ways a young girl can feel compelled to twist herself to fit into the space that was made for her. Ultimately, The Blue Dress centers dual needs—empathy and belonging—topics relatable for all of us.
Middle school readers and others will find—in accessible, propulsive prose—an open-hearted story of friendship, the struggle to fit in with those who’ve had vastly different life experiences, and ultimately how love can help bridge divides that seem, at times, unbridgeable.
As someone who was thrust alone, at age twelve, into a completely new environment, I related to many aspects of Morrison’s story. She captures beautifully the need to fit in and all of the ways a young girl can feel compelled to twist herself to fit into the space that was made for her. Ultimately, The Blue Dress centers dual needs—empathy and belonging—topics relatable for all of us.
September 4, 2025
Rebecca Morrison's heartbreaking debut brings all the pain of adolescence and the beauty of finding your support system and your voice. Yasmin is a first generation Iranian-American struggling with all the typical adversity of middle school along with a significantly unhealthy relationship with her mother that leads to a dangerous habit of self-harm and self-loathing. CW/TW for emotional abuse by a parent and graphic on-page ED. The honest depiction of intergenerational trauma and a toxically defensive parent was so upsetting to read, even though I know how common these dynamics are in families of every background. Many readers will identify with the thoughts and feelings Yasmin expresses as she deals with not just the bullies at school but the smiling bully at home telling her that she loves her and at the same time telling her that her love is dependent on Yasmin losing weight. I am so thankful for the inclusion of helpful adults that Yasmin can turn to for help, and for the compassion and love of her best friend even after the inevitable difficulties all 7th graders go through with friends. The ending is hopeful, and young readers can take away that even the worst bullies are usually people who are dealing with their own painful circumstances, and that we can't make their hurtful words into our own self talk. Finding a support system and getting help for mental and physical health concerns is prioritized and encouraged. I'll keep this book and Yasmin's story in my mind to recommend carefully to young readers. E-ARC provided by NetGalley
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Yasmin Safavi is twelve years old, and her family has moved from Iran to Ashbury Falls, Virginia. It was a difficult transition, but her father loves his engineering job with Boeing, and Yasmin has worked hard to rid herself of her Persian accent. Her mother misses her sisters, but dedicates her time to Yasmin and her younger brother Ali. As Nowruz (Persian New Year) approaches, Yasmin's mother makes her a beautiful dress to wear, but purposefully makes it too tight so that Yasmin will lose weight. She doesn't, and is very frustrated. Her mother frequently makes comments about her weight, and pressures her to eat lunches that include just carrots and a dry turkey sandwich on whole wheat. Yasmin's best friend, Carmen, has a different family dynamic, with a warm and supportive mother who offers Yasmin hugs as well as delicious meals. School is also stressful, since popular girl Zoe and her minions Olivia and Hannah constantly berate Yasmin for her curly hair and bushy eyebrows. Yasmin has a crush on the popular Jack, who seems to return her attention, perhaps because he is also the target of some of Zoe's comments, especially about his love of Dungeons and Dragons. Yasmin's mother is so overbearing that she often buys packs of Oreos at the neighborhood CVS and eats them in secret; after one such snack food binge, she makes herself throw up. She also starts skipping dinner, with her mother's approval, although her father frequently voices concerns. Seeing Zoe crying in the bathroom, Yasmin offers support, and finds out that Zoe's busy parents are always fighting. The two bond, and Yasmin realizes Zoe isn't all bad, but her relationship causes problems with Carmen. It doesn't help that Yasmin is straightening her hair, plucking her eyebrows, attempting to wear makeup, and spending ridiculous amounts of money on a Lululemon jacket. On a class trip to a museum, classmate Peyton is verbally abusive, calling Yasmin a terrorist and saying that Iranians "hate Americans". No one stands up for her. When Yasmin makes herself throw up at Carmen's house after the two reconcile, Carmen tells a teacher at school, who makes Yasmin talk to a school counselor. The counselor in turn alerts her parents, has them meet, and recommends a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. Yasmin's mother balks, because she has been pleased with Yasmin's weight loss and claims that the family can handle the issue themselves, but the father overrides her and Yasmin gets help. Unspoken details about the mother's family dynamics with her brother are revealed, and the family works to help Yasmin. At a end of year party, Jack asks Yasmin if they can play chess over the summer, and says he is glad to see her return to wearing her hair curly.
Strengths: It's been a while since I've seen a middle grade book about eating disorders; Willis's 2023 graphic novel Smaller Sister might be the most recent. This is a topic of constant concern, and one where updated information is critical. The fact that this book was able to intertwine eating disorders with cultural identity, friend drama, and even a little light romance makes it one that will appeal to many readers. Because eating disorders are usually connected to problems with family dynamics, they are especially difficult, and the mother's backstory and the father's support of Yasmin are well portrayed. The best part of the book was Carmen telling her trusted art teacher about Yasmin's problems, and the swift response from the school support system. While it might not always happen this way in real life, I do like to see best practices used in fiction!
Weaknesses: Yasmin's mother advises Carmen that she can buy patterns at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Sadly, Jo-Ann's closed down in May of 2025. I still haven't recovered. It would have been helpful to have a list of resources for getting help with eating disorders at the back of the book; perhaps the finished version will include these. My students may be a bit confused about Yasmin's wearing of dresses (and from Talbot's?) since all they seem to wear are pajama pants and hoodies, but this is most likely a function of the differences between Iranian and US cultural expectations.
What I really think: It's essential to update middle grade eating disorder books, as treatments and societal norms change. If you still have Levenkron's 1979 The Best Little Girl in the World on your shelves, please weed it. I just deaccessioned Lytton's 2009 Jane in Bloom and may need to reread Anderson's Wintergirls from the same year. Replace these aged titles with The Blue Dress, Toalsen's The Unforgettable Leta "Lightning" Laurel (2025), Dee's Everything I Know About You (2018), Petro-Roy's Good Enough (2019), and Gerber's Taking Up Space (2021).
Yasmin Safavi is twelve years old, and her family has moved from Iran to Ashbury Falls, Virginia. It was a difficult transition, but her father loves his engineering job with Boeing, and Yasmin has worked hard to rid herself of her Persian accent. Her mother misses her sisters, but dedicates her time to Yasmin and her younger brother Ali. As Nowruz (Persian New Year) approaches, Yasmin's mother makes her a beautiful dress to wear, but purposefully makes it too tight so that Yasmin will lose weight. She doesn't, and is very frustrated. Her mother frequently makes comments about her weight, and pressures her to eat lunches that include just carrots and a dry turkey sandwich on whole wheat. Yasmin's best friend, Carmen, has a different family dynamic, with a warm and supportive mother who offers Yasmin hugs as well as delicious meals. School is also stressful, since popular girl Zoe and her minions Olivia and Hannah constantly berate Yasmin for her curly hair and bushy eyebrows. Yasmin has a crush on the popular Jack, who seems to return her attention, perhaps because he is also the target of some of Zoe's comments, especially about his love of Dungeons and Dragons. Yasmin's mother is so overbearing that she often buys packs of Oreos at the neighborhood CVS and eats them in secret; after one such snack food binge, she makes herself throw up. She also starts skipping dinner, with her mother's approval, although her father frequently voices concerns. Seeing Zoe crying in the bathroom, Yasmin offers support, and finds out that Zoe's busy parents are always fighting. The two bond, and Yasmin realizes Zoe isn't all bad, but her relationship causes problems with Carmen. It doesn't help that Yasmin is straightening her hair, plucking her eyebrows, attempting to wear makeup, and spending ridiculous amounts of money on a Lululemon jacket. On a class trip to a museum, classmate Peyton is verbally abusive, calling Yasmin a terrorist and saying that Iranians "hate Americans". No one stands up for her. When Yasmin makes herself throw up at Carmen's house after the two reconcile, Carmen tells a teacher at school, who makes Yasmin talk to a school counselor. The counselor in turn alerts her parents, has them meet, and recommends a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. Yasmin's mother balks, because she has been pleased with Yasmin's weight loss and claims that the family can handle the issue themselves, but the father overrides her and Yasmin gets help. Unspoken details about the mother's family dynamics with her brother are revealed, and the family works to help Yasmin. At a end of year party, Jack asks Yasmin if they can play chess over the summer, and says he is glad to see her return to wearing her hair curly.
Strengths: It's been a while since I've seen a middle grade book about eating disorders; Willis's 2023 graphic novel Smaller Sister might be the most recent. This is a topic of constant concern, and one where updated information is critical. The fact that this book was able to intertwine eating disorders with cultural identity, friend drama, and even a little light romance makes it one that will appeal to many readers. Because eating disorders are usually connected to problems with family dynamics, they are especially difficult, and the mother's backstory and the father's support of Yasmin are well portrayed. The best part of the book was Carmen telling her trusted art teacher about Yasmin's problems, and the swift response from the school support system. While it might not always happen this way in real life, I do like to see best practices used in fiction!
Weaknesses: Yasmin's mother advises Carmen that she can buy patterns at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Sadly, Jo-Ann's closed down in May of 2025. I still haven't recovered. It would have been helpful to have a list of resources for getting help with eating disorders at the back of the book; perhaps the finished version will include these. My students may be a bit confused about Yasmin's wearing of dresses (and from Talbot's?) since all they seem to wear are pajama pants and hoodies, but this is most likely a function of the differences between Iranian and US cultural expectations.
What I really think: It's essential to update middle grade eating disorder books, as treatments and societal norms change. If you still have Levenkron's 1979 The Best Little Girl in the World on your shelves, please weed it. I just deaccessioned Lytton's 2009 Jane in Bloom and may need to reread Anderson's Wintergirls from the same year. Replace these aged titles with The Blue Dress, Toalsen's The Unforgettable Leta "Lightning" Laurel (2025), Dee's Everything I Know About You (2018), Petro-Roy's Good Enough (2019), and Gerber's Taking Up Space (2021).
Review of advance copy received from Author
I just finished The Blue Dress by Rebecca Morrison, and it is one of those middle grade books that sits with you after you close it. The story takes place in Ashbury Falls and follows Yasmin at the beginning of the teen years, when everything feels like it is changing all at once. She is trying to figure out who she is, how she wants to be seen, and how to get through a school year that suddenly feels full of unspoken rules.
What struck me is how real the middle school world feels. Not the exaggerated version, but the everyday version. The tension of walking into a room and wondering if people are looking at you. The way one comment can replay in your head until you believe it. This book brought back memories for me, because I remember that age so clearly. You are still a kid, but you are expected to act older. You want to fit in, but you also do not want to lose yourself trying.
Yasmin is also navigating life as a Persian immigrant, and the book does not treat that like a side detail. Some kids at school say ignorant, stereotyped things about her Persian roots, and the story shows how those moments land. They are not just quick insults you shrug off. They stick, and they pile onto everything else she is already carrying. I appreciated that the book treats these moments seriously without making them the whole story.
Friendship is another big thread, and it felt painfully accurate. Yasmin is trying to hold onto connection while everything around her keeps shifting. She wants to be loyal, she wants to be liked, and she wants to feel safe. Sometimes those wants pull against each other. The book understands that friendship stress at this age is not small. It can feel like your whole world is at stake. Yasmin has to figure out when to speak up, when to apologize, and when to step back because a friendship does not feel as steady as it used to. It reminded me that middle school friendships can break and mend fast. There are also moments where she realizes that being included is not the same as being cared for, and that lesson hits hard because it is true.
The book explores body image and disordered eating themes, and I am glad it is handled thoughtfully. It does not feel sensationalized, and it does not feel like it is trying to scare the reader. Instead, it shows how pressure can build quietly, especially when a kid is already carrying a lot. Yasmin is not only reacting to what other people say. She is also dealing with the pressure inside herself, the voice that compares, measures, and demands. You can see how control can start to feel like relief when everything else feels uncertain, and how easy it is for self criticism to become something you live with every day. What I appreciated is that the book handles body image and disordered eating themes with compassion, and it does not gloss over the hurtful stereotypes Yasmin faces at school. It treats those moments with seriousness, but it never feels exploitative or preachy.
The mother and daughter relationship adds another emotional layer, and it is complicated in a way that feels real. Love is present, but it is tangled with fear, criticism, and mixed messages. At times it feels like Yasmin is trying to earn peace by being perfect, or by being quiet, or by being whatever will not set off a new wave of pressure. The book does not excuse hurtful behavior, but it also does not flatten her mom into a simple villain.
Without spoiling anything, there is also a thread of family secrets that Yasmin begins to learn. Those discoveries shift how she understands her family and how she understands herself, and it adds depth because it reminds you that what is happening in the present has roots.
Even with heavy themes, the book does not leave you in darkness. There is forward motion, not the kind that pretends everything is fixed, but the kind that feels earned. You can feel Yasmin learning, slowly, how to be gentler with herself.
Overall, I recommend The Blue Dress for readers who love realistic middle grade with heart. It is honest, compassionate, and it gives language to feelings that a lot of kids carry silently. It also reminded me how intense those early teen years can be, and how much a kid needs at least one place, and one person, where they feel safe being exactly who they are.
What struck me is how real the middle school world feels. Not the exaggerated version, but the everyday version. The tension of walking into a room and wondering if people are looking at you. The way one comment can replay in your head until you believe it. This book brought back memories for me, because I remember that age so clearly. You are still a kid, but you are expected to act older. You want to fit in, but you also do not want to lose yourself trying.
Yasmin is also navigating life as a Persian immigrant, and the book does not treat that like a side detail. Some kids at school say ignorant, stereotyped things about her Persian roots, and the story shows how those moments land. They are not just quick insults you shrug off. They stick, and they pile onto everything else she is already carrying. I appreciated that the book treats these moments seriously without making them the whole story.
Friendship is another big thread, and it felt painfully accurate. Yasmin is trying to hold onto connection while everything around her keeps shifting. She wants to be loyal, she wants to be liked, and she wants to feel safe. Sometimes those wants pull against each other. The book understands that friendship stress at this age is not small. It can feel like your whole world is at stake. Yasmin has to figure out when to speak up, when to apologize, and when to step back because a friendship does not feel as steady as it used to. It reminded me that middle school friendships can break and mend fast. There are also moments where she realizes that being included is not the same as being cared for, and that lesson hits hard because it is true.
The book explores body image and disordered eating themes, and I am glad it is handled thoughtfully. It does not feel sensationalized, and it does not feel like it is trying to scare the reader. Instead, it shows how pressure can build quietly, especially when a kid is already carrying a lot. Yasmin is not only reacting to what other people say. She is also dealing with the pressure inside herself, the voice that compares, measures, and demands. You can see how control can start to feel like relief when everything else feels uncertain, and how easy it is for self criticism to become something you live with every day. What I appreciated is that the book handles body image and disordered eating themes with compassion, and it does not gloss over the hurtful stereotypes Yasmin faces at school. It treats those moments with seriousness, but it never feels exploitative or preachy.
The mother and daughter relationship adds another emotional layer, and it is complicated in a way that feels real. Love is present, but it is tangled with fear, criticism, and mixed messages. At times it feels like Yasmin is trying to earn peace by being perfect, or by being quiet, or by being whatever will not set off a new wave of pressure. The book does not excuse hurtful behavior, but it also does not flatten her mom into a simple villain.
Without spoiling anything, there is also a thread of family secrets that Yasmin begins to learn. Those discoveries shift how she understands her family and how she understands herself, and it adds depth because it reminds you that what is happening in the present has roots.
Even with heavy themes, the book does not leave you in darkness. There is forward motion, not the kind that pretends everything is fixed, but the kind that feels earned. You can feel Yasmin learning, slowly, how to be gentler with herself.
Overall, I recommend The Blue Dress for readers who love realistic middle grade with heart. It is honest, compassionate, and it gives language to feelings that a lot of kids carry silently. It also reminded me how intense those early teen years can be, and how much a kid needs at least one place, and one person, where they feel safe being exactly who they are.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Some novels feel imagined. Others feel lived. The Blue Dress unmistakably belongs to the latter. In her debut, Rebecca Morrison channels what reads like deeply personal experience into a moving middle grade story about a girl caught between cultures, expectations, and the quiet war she wages against her own body.
Yasmin’s world shifts dramatically after her family relocates from Iran to the United States. As if navigating a new country and a new language weren’t enough, puberty brings changes to her body that draw sharp attention at home and at school. Her mother—shaped by her own painful history of being shamed for her weight as a young woman in Iran—becomes determined that her daughter will never endure the same ridicule. To her, thinness equals safety, beauty, and opportunity. Yasmin doesn’t understand the roots of this fear; she only knows that approval at home seems to depend on the number on a scale.
The titular blue dress becomes the story’s quiet symbol of this pressure. Carefully sewn by her mother yet intentionally made too small, it dangles like a promise: fit into this, and everything will fall into place. Yasmin longs to wear it. She skips meals, hides food, and punishes herself when she believes she has eaten “too much.” Instead of pride, she finds only isolation and exhaustion.
School offers no refuge. Classmates mock her thick eyebrows and curls. Some whisper cruel stereotypes about her heritage, even labeling her father a “terrorist.” The sting of these comments feels painfully authentic. Desperate to reinvent herself, Yasmin imagines that straighter hair, makeup, and a thinner frame might grant her entry into the orbit of the popular crowd. When the admired girls finally notice her, the attention feels intoxicating—until their teasing, disguised as humor, cuts too deeply to ignore.
Amid this turmoil, Carmen’s home provides warmth and steadiness, reminding Yasmin what genuine friendship looks like. The tension between chasing popularity and holding onto real connection becomes one of the novel’s most resonant threads. Morrison skillfully portrays that tug-of-war between external validation and inner contentment—a struggle many young readers will recognize immediately.
What lingers most is the portrayal of disordered eating. Morrison writes the intrusive thoughts, secrecy, bargaining, and physical toll with startling clarity. There is nothing sensationalized here. Instead, the narrative unfolds with compassion, showing how such behaviors often grow from fear, love, and generational trauma rather than vanity. When long-buried truths about Yasmin’s mother come to light, the story shifts toward understanding, offering space for empathy on both sides.
Stylistically, Morrison’s prose is direct yet evocative. She avoids ornate language, choosing instead to immerse readers in sensory detail and emotional honesty. The pacing balances reflective moments with sharp emotional beats, particularly when issues of body image intersect with cultural shame and belonging. The immigrant experience is woven throughout—not just through overt prejudice, but through the quieter ache of wanting to fit in without erasing where you came from.
The audiobook performance by Samara Naeymi adds another layer of depth. Her narration captures Yasmin’s vulnerability and longing with nuance, amplifying the emotional weight of key scenes.
Ultimately, The Blue Dress is a tender yet unflinching exploration of adolescence, identity, and the complicated ways parents try to protect their children. It speaks to anyone who has ever felt split between two cultures, two versions of themselves, or two definitions of worth. This is the kind of story that belongs on school library shelves—not only for its relevance, but for its courage.
Yasmin’s world shifts dramatically after her family relocates from Iran to the United States. As if navigating a new country and a new language weren’t enough, puberty brings changes to her body that draw sharp attention at home and at school. Her mother—shaped by her own painful history of being shamed for her weight as a young woman in Iran—becomes determined that her daughter will never endure the same ridicule. To her, thinness equals safety, beauty, and opportunity. Yasmin doesn’t understand the roots of this fear; she only knows that approval at home seems to depend on the number on a scale.
The titular blue dress becomes the story’s quiet symbol of this pressure. Carefully sewn by her mother yet intentionally made too small, it dangles like a promise: fit into this, and everything will fall into place. Yasmin longs to wear it. She skips meals, hides food, and punishes herself when she believes she has eaten “too much.” Instead of pride, she finds only isolation and exhaustion.
School offers no refuge. Classmates mock her thick eyebrows and curls. Some whisper cruel stereotypes about her heritage, even labeling her father a “terrorist.” The sting of these comments feels painfully authentic. Desperate to reinvent herself, Yasmin imagines that straighter hair, makeup, and a thinner frame might grant her entry into the orbit of the popular crowd. When the admired girls finally notice her, the attention feels intoxicating—until their teasing, disguised as humor, cuts too deeply to ignore.
Amid this turmoil, Carmen’s home provides warmth and steadiness, reminding Yasmin what genuine friendship looks like. The tension between chasing popularity and holding onto real connection becomes one of the novel’s most resonant threads. Morrison skillfully portrays that tug-of-war between external validation and inner contentment—a struggle many young readers will recognize immediately.
What lingers most is the portrayal of disordered eating. Morrison writes the intrusive thoughts, secrecy, bargaining, and physical toll with startling clarity. There is nothing sensationalized here. Instead, the narrative unfolds with compassion, showing how such behaviors often grow from fear, love, and generational trauma rather than vanity. When long-buried truths about Yasmin’s mother come to light, the story shifts toward understanding, offering space for empathy on both sides.
Stylistically, Morrison’s prose is direct yet evocative. She avoids ornate language, choosing instead to immerse readers in sensory detail and emotional honesty. The pacing balances reflective moments with sharp emotional beats, particularly when issues of body image intersect with cultural shame and belonging. The immigrant experience is woven throughout—not just through overt prejudice, but through the quieter ache of wanting to fit in without erasing where you came from.
The audiobook performance by Samara Naeymi adds another layer of depth. Her narration captures Yasmin’s vulnerability and longing with nuance, amplifying the emotional weight of key scenes.
Ultimately, The Blue Dress is a tender yet unflinching exploration of adolescence, identity, and the complicated ways parents try to protect their children. It speaks to anyone who has ever felt split between two cultures, two versions of themselves, or two definitions of worth. This is the kind of story that belongs on school library shelves—not only for its relevance, but for its courage.
Review of advance copy received from Author
“Once I taste the crumbly sweetness of the cookie, I decide to have another. I feel the panic rise up in my body. Three cookies! I’ve messed everything up. My brain says stop but I can’t. Something inside me has to keep going. I’ll be better tomorrow, I tell myself. I’ve already been bad, so I might as well eat whatever I want today.” (28)
According to research, approximately 6-8% of adolescents have an eating disorder. In addition, a survey found an incredible 90% of teenagers have some level of body image concern, with more than one in three (38%) very or extremely concerned; females, gender-diverse youth and those in the LGBTQIA+ community reported the highest levels of body dissatisfaction. These statistics show this is a vital topic be addressed with students. One of the most effective ways is through reading novels in which characters experience these issues. It is easier for students to examine how characters handle or mishandle challenges than to discuss their own behaviors. Through novels, readers not only can see their lives reflected, but they can understand challenges faced by their peers and, thereby, acquire empathy for others.
The world of friendship and social status can complex and difficult for adolescents to navigate. THE BLUE DRESS presents many of the challenges that middle-school girls face on a daily basis: friendships, popularity, mean girls and bullying, mother-daughter relationships, body image, and, more frequently now, disordered eating (which is affected adolescent males in increasing numbers).
Yasmin moved from Iran—where everyone looked like her and she was surrounded by friends and supportive relatives—to the United States a year and a half before. She was friendless until Carmen moved from Mexico, and the two became best friends. Both are bullied by kids at their middle school, Yasmin even more because they see her as the enemy and even a “terrorist.” The popular, mean girls make fun of her clothes, her curly hair, and her bushy eyebrows. “I sometimes think about what it would be like to not have to wonder if people in my school or in my neighborhood are staring at me because I’m from an enemy country. How amazing it would be to know this was your place and no one could question you about where you’re from and what you’re doing here. No one could make you feel like you were somehow an intruder in their land.” (111)
In addition, puberty has caused Yasmin’s body to change and, as she gets larger, her mother becomes obsessed with her weight. It seems to culminate when she sews Yasmin a beautiful blue dress for the Persian New Year, a dress she knows will not fit unless Yasmin loses weight. Maman subjects Yasmin to weekly weigh-ins and packs lunches of celery sticks and turkey sandwiches, and, when Yasmin starts skipping dinner to try harder to lose weight, her mother actually is proud of her. Her dieting backfires when she is alone with snacks or at Carmen’s house where Carmen’s loving mother encourages eating.
To become accepted by the popular Zoe, Yasmin thins her eyebrows, straightens her hair, and really tries to lose weight, even throwing up when she feels she overeats. When she dumps Carmen for Zoe—and a chance at popularity, she finds out that Zoe may not be only another mother-daughter relationship victim and even though they seem to have become friends, Zoe will not stand up for her.
Despite how she was treated, when Carmen finds out that Yasmin is self-harming, she tells their beloved art teacher who involves the school counselor, and family secrets emerge.
This is an essential novel for today’s adolescents to read and discuss, possibly in small groups that provide the safety for sensitive conversations about fitting in and fulfilling expectations.
According to research, approximately 6-8% of adolescents have an eating disorder. In addition, a survey found an incredible 90% of teenagers have some level of body image concern, with more than one in three (38%) very or extremely concerned; females, gender-diverse youth and those in the LGBTQIA+ community reported the highest levels of body dissatisfaction. These statistics show this is a vital topic be addressed with students. One of the most effective ways is through reading novels in which characters experience these issues. It is easier for students to examine how characters handle or mishandle challenges than to discuss their own behaviors. Through novels, readers not only can see their lives reflected, but they can understand challenges faced by their peers and, thereby, acquire empathy for others.
The world of friendship and social status can complex and difficult for adolescents to navigate. THE BLUE DRESS presents many of the challenges that middle-school girls face on a daily basis: friendships, popularity, mean girls and bullying, mother-daughter relationships, body image, and, more frequently now, disordered eating (which is affected adolescent males in increasing numbers).
Yasmin moved from Iran—where everyone looked like her and she was surrounded by friends and supportive relatives—to the United States a year and a half before. She was friendless until Carmen moved from Mexico, and the two became best friends. Both are bullied by kids at their middle school, Yasmin even more because they see her as the enemy and even a “terrorist.” The popular, mean girls make fun of her clothes, her curly hair, and her bushy eyebrows. “I sometimes think about what it would be like to not have to wonder if people in my school or in my neighborhood are staring at me because I’m from an enemy country. How amazing it would be to know this was your place and no one could question you about where you’re from and what you’re doing here. No one could make you feel like you were somehow an intruder in their land.” (111)
In addition, puberty has caused Yasmin’s body to change and, as she gets larger, her mother becomes obsessed with her weight. It seems to culminate when she sews Yasmin a beautiful blue dress for the Persian New Year, a dress she knows will not fit unless Yasmin loses weight. Maman subjects Yasmin to weekly weigh-ins and packs lunches of celery sticks and turkey sandwiches, and, when Yasmin starts skipping dinner to try harder to lose weight, her mother actually is proud of her. Her dieting backfires when she is alone with snacks or at Carmen’s house where Carmen’s loving mother encourages eating.
To become accepted by the popular Zoe, Yasmin thins her eyebrows, straightens her hair, and really tries to lose weight, even throwing up when she feels she overeats. When she dumps Carmen for Zoe—and a chance at popularity, she finds out that Zoe may not be only another mother-daughter relationship victim and even though they seem to have become friends, Zoe will not stand up for her.
Despite how she was treated, when Carmen finds out that Yasmin is self-harming, she tells their beloved art teacher who involves the school counselor, and family secrets emerge.
This is an essential novel for today’s adolescents to read and discuss, possibly in small groups that provide the safety for sensitive conversations about fitting in and fulfilling expectations.
October 5, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC, I’m so glad to have had a chance to read this very important book and I definitely need a copy of it in my school library. This was a really good book about very tough topics: eating disorders, body image, prejudice against immigrants and Iranians, parent child relationships, bullying from peers, even some physical abuse. But it’s done in a way that I feel was entirely appropriate for middle grade. I would probably recommend 10 years old and up if they don’t already have some introduction to some of these issues, but if you suspect a child is dealing with these issues already, and yeah it happens really young sometimes, then it would be completely appropriate for as young as 8- I don’t think younger would be able to handle something this intricate. I really appreciate that it pulled from the author’s actual life experiences, because it kind of irks me when people in this day and age write about people they aren’t instead of highlighting and elevating the authors and books that are written by the people who lived that life and can accurately portray it. This isn’t the 1950s, let immigrants and people of color and people with disabilities and mental health struggles write their own stories instead of developing your own biased narrative about it, ya know? Authenticity and accuracy is so important right now. So this book is really important, because it is authentic and accurate about multiple issues that today’s children in the USA and even in other countries, are facing. And it ultimately directs kids to solutions: talking to a trusted friend, teacher, school counselor. Not keeping things bottled up. Being authentically yourself and embracing and loving every part of yourself. It even has a few little tidbits about what healthy eating is, from a very sound modern view that is medically accurate and protective of mental health. But kids shouldn’t really notice any of that as they are reading this book, because the story will suck them in and those things are just woven in naturally throughout. Very impressed that this was a first novel. I do think that the language the girls used was a little too precise and unrealistic for current times, despite the sprinkling of “she’s such a b” about one of the characters, but also appreciate that to keep this a middle grade book they can’t have the characters speak how actual middle schoolers speak. Otherwise it would be labeled MA 🤦♀️🙄 Definitely recommend this to other elementary and middle school librarians, and anyone with a tween child in their house.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The Blue Dress is a debut book. It is a great start to hopefully will be a wonderful career. Additionally, the narrator was a perfect fit for this audiobook. Her voice was soft and friendly, with a clarity that made each character come alive. She handled accents smoothly and warmly, making listening really enjoyable.
Yasmin, a 7th grader, is trying to get used to middle school. Like lots of girls her age, she’s going through a lot. She’s an Iranian girl who just moved to the U.S., caught between two worlds. Her mom, who’s super worried about her looks—especially her weight—also shows her love and support in other ways. Yasmin's best friend, Carmin, accepts her just as she is and loves hanging out.
But Yasmin’s confidence takes a hit. She’s insecure about her weight, her long, frizzy hair, and her wish to change herself to be more popular. She thinks that losing weight by skipping dinners, straightening her hair, and wearing makeup will help her fit in. Sadly, these attempts make her drift away from friends who have always had her back.
Zoe, the school bully, and her crew are typical mean girls. They tease Yasmin’s eyebrows, hair, and clothes. After Yasmin changes her look, Zoe suddenly pays attention and tries to pull her into her group. But Yasmin soon realizes Zoe's friendship isn’t real, and she couldn't care less about her.
Yasmin is a great storyteller and shares feelings that many girls her age go through. She loves America but also misses her homeland, even with its strict rules and fewer freedoms for women. She tends to exaggerate, saying things like "a million dollars" or "a million years,“a million kinds of drinks.” Million appeared to be her hyperbole of choice.
The story touches on bullying, self-image, trust, respecting feelings, empathy, and forgiveness. Yasmin and Zoe even share a moment when they understand how hard their moms are on them, both saying they’re “pushing sad stuff down.”
I really enjoyed this book, and it’s a great pick for any school-aged girl. I have a granddaughter her age, and I can relate to what she’s going through. She recently got her braces off, and she said she feels like a fuggle—a little stuffed animal with big teeth. I think she's beautiful, just kike Yasmin's mom said about her
Yasmin, a 7th grader, is trying to get used to middle school. Like lots of girls her age, she’s going through a lot. She’s an Iranian girl who just moved to the U.S., caught between two worlds. Her mom, who’s super worried about her looks—especially her weight—also shows her love and support in other ways. Yasmin's best friend, Carmin, accepts her just as she is and loves hanging out.
But Yasmin’s confidence takes a hit. She’s insecure about her weight, her long, frizzy hair, and her wish to change herself to be more popular. She thinks that losing weight by skipping dinners, straightening her hair, and wearing makeup will help her fit in. Sadly, these attempts make her drift away from friends who have always had her back.
Zoe, the school bully, and her crew are typical mean girls. They tease Yasmin’s eyebrows, hair, and clothes. After Yasmin changes her look, Zoe suddenly pays attention and tries to pull her into her group. But Yasmin soon realizes Zoe's friendship isn’t real, and she couldn't care less about her.
Yasmin is a great storyteller and shares feelings that many girls her age go through. She loves America but also misses her homeland, even with its strict rules and fewer freedoms for women. She tends to exaggerate, saying things like "a million dollars" or "a million years,“a million kinds of drinks.” Million appeared to be her hyperbole of choice.
The story touches on bullying, self-image, trust, respecting feelings, empathy, and forgiveness. Yasmin and Zoe even share a moment when they understand how hard their moms are on them, both saying they’re “pushing sad stuff down.”
I really enjoyed this book, and it’s a great pick for any school-aged girl. I have a granddaughter her age, and I can relate to what she’s going through. She recently got her braces off, and she said she feels like a fuggle—a little stuffed animal with big teeth. I think she's beautiful, just kike Yasmin's mom said about her
Review of advance copy received from Author
I’m not sure what I expected from a middle grade book, having never read one, but what I found in Rebecca Morrison’s debut novel was a surprisingly relatable and deeply moving story that speaks to the teen who still lives in each of us, no matter our age. The protagonist of The Blue Dress, Yasmin, is a thirteen-year-old girl who came to America from Iran with her parents and her younger brother just a year and a half earlier, misses her home, and strains to adjust to a new culture while she faces the ordinary day to day hardships and headaches of life on the cusp of the so often terrible teen years. I was surprised by how completely I (so very, very far from my teen years) was drawn into her world, how relatable her experiences are, and how deeply invested I became in the outcome of her attempts to cope with the existential crises of adolescence.
Like all middle graders, she lives with a pressure to conform, a desire to be accepted, and a need to belong. But on top of the usual tortures of the early teen years, she’s also gutted by the intense pain of feeling different, being othered, and finding herself target of prejudice, not only toward her cultural differences but also her appearance. She’s taunted with accusations of being a terrorist and is ridiculed for her wild, curly hair, her prominent eyebrows, and her weight.
She struggles to please everyone—and, most desperately and painfully, her mother, who is laser-beam focused on Yasmin losing weight and who appears to withhold her love based on the numbers on the scale. Yasmin copes by eating; she stuffs her emotions down with purloined food and falls into a pattern of disordered eating. “As each piece fills my mouth, I think about how I’m so tired. Tired of trying to fit in, to belong, to be thin, to be a good daughter, a good friend, something for everyone. I’m just tired. I let go of the rules, the pressures, the stress, and … eat.”
Sharply written with pitch-perfect dialogue and a dynamic pace, The Blue Dress, ultimately, is about the strength it takes to become authentically oneself—a theme and a lesson every middle-grader needs.
Like all middle graders, she lives with a pressure to conform, a desire to be accepted, and a need to belong. But on top of the usual tortures of the early teen years, she’s also gutted by the intense pain of feeling different, being othered, and finding herself target of prejudice, not only toward her cultural differences but also her appearance. She’s taunted with accusations of being a terrorist and is ridiculed for her wild, curly hair, her prominent eyebrows, and her weight.
She struggles to please everyone—and, most desperately and painfully, her mother, who is laser-beam focused on Yasmin losing weight and who appears to withhold her love based on the numbers on the scale. Yasmin copes by eating; she stuffs her emotions down with purloined food and falls into a pattern of disordered eating. “As each piece fills my mouth, I think about how I’m so tired. Tired of trying to fit in, to belong, to be thin, to be a good daughter, a good friend, something for everyone. I’m just tired. I let go of the rules, the pressures, the stress, and … eat.”
Sharply written with pitch-perfect dialogue and a dynamic pace, The Blue Dress, ultimately, is about the strength it takes to become authentically oneself—a theme and a lesson every middle-grader needs.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the concept of this book by incorporating different cultures and body types and diversity.
Unfortunately, thats where ended for me, I am a teacher and mom to an almost middle school girl who I felt would enjoy this book because we both love "Are you there God its me Margaret?" I came into this book expecting a similar story but this just was depressing.
I realize these things might happen and even as a young girl once, I felt some of this but I don't recommend reading it to children who already have a healthy body image. This book might be best for an older middle school/high school girl who is struggling with body positivity and the changes that happen with puberty.
it also incorporates family conflict, racism and cultural differences that this poor little girl is carrying all of it.
Its like how much can one little girl take? and again why should a child be reading this when they do not already struggle with those thoughts.
Parents and teachers should be aware of the triggers and themes discussed before letting a child read this.
I think for a otherwise typical young girl who hasn't even thought of her weight or appearance being an issue, this book just planted a seed in their mind and causes them to question their appearance now. The main character is so obsessed with the way she looks that that it is all the book talks about. Majority of young girls do not think like that unless they're told to think like that. I also felt like it took too long to get to the positives and those themes were overshadowed by so much negative thinking that I didn't want any young girl to have to listen to it.
Also, the mother was insufferable and just added to the problem.
Again, these opinions are my own for my own child and students and I would not recommend it for young children, especially young girls who do not even think about their looks and body right now.
We have our whole lives to worry about that, having girls who are possibly 8 and 9 worrying about it is just sad.
I loved the concept of this book by incorporating different cultures and body types and diversity.
Unfortunately, thats where ended for me, I am a teacher and mom to an almost middle school girl who I felt would enjoy this book because we both love "Are you there God its me Margaret?" I came into this book expecting a similar story but this just was depressing.
I realize these things might happen and even as a young girl once, I felt some of this but I don't recommend reading it to children who already have a healthy body image. This book might be best for an older middle school/high school girl who is struggling with body positivity and the changes that happen with puberty.
it also incorporates family conflict, racism and cultural differences that this poor little girl is carrying all of it.
Its like how much can one little girl take? and again why should a child be reading this when they do not already struggle with those thoughts.
Parents and teachers should be aware of the triggers and themes discussed before letting a child read this.
I think for a otherwise typical young girl who hasn't even thought of her weight or appearance being an issue, this book just planted a seed in their mind and causes them to question their appearance now. The main character is so obsessed with the way she looks that that it is all the book talks about. Majority of young girls do not think like that unless they're told to think like that. I also felt like it took too long to get to the positives and those themes were overshadowed by so much negative thinking that I didn't want any young girl to have to listen to it.
Also, the mother was insufferable and just added to the problem.
Again, these opinions are my own for my own child and students and I would not recommend it for young children, especially young girls who do not even think about their looks and body right now.
We have our whole lives to worry about that, having girls who are possibly 8 and 9 worrying about it is just sad.
November 5, 2025
Thirteen-year-old Yasmin Safavi is under immense pressure to lose weight. Her mother purposely makes her Nowruz dress too small to encourage her, insisting that she’ll be more beautiful if she is thin. Yasmin dreads her weekly weigh-ins and often sneaks forbidden food like cookies, chips, and candy. She feels ashamed of herself when she eats the food her mother calls “garbage”, but she finds it hard to stop.
To make matters worse, some girls at school have started to criticize other aspects of Yasmin’s appearance, particularly her curly hair and thick brows. These comments affect Yasmin so badly that she makes a list of things she wants to change about herself, with weight loss being the most important. Her best friend Carmen is troubled by these changes, not understanding why Yasmin wants to fit in with the mean girls. While Yasmin’s mother objects to her straightening her hair and plucking her eyebrows, she’s pleased that Yasmin has started to lose weight- even though she takes drastic measures to do so.
The Blue Dress is a heartbreaking yet quietly powerful novel. As someone who has dealt with body insecurity my whole life, I understood just how uncomfortable and frustrated Yasmin felt looking in the mirror. Her mother’s toxicity is hard to read about, though she is eventually forced to confront her own insecurities and the damage she inflicted on her daughter. Once we learn about her history, it’s clear that her actions are the result of deep-seated intergenerational trauma. She and Yasmin are able to work on their relationship with the help of a good support system. Carmen is a wonderful best friend and speaks up for Yasmin when she needs it most. Adult characters like Mr. Caretti and Mr. Armstrong are also supportive and understanding.
I really appreciate the way the author drew on her own life experiences to write this book. Her prose is both vivid and vulnerable, and the story is told with unflinching honesty. She doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects, handling them with the sensitivity they deserve.
To make matters worse, some girls at school have started to criticize other aspects of Yasmin’s appearance, particularly her curly hair and thick brows. These comments affect Yasmin so badly that she makes a list of things she wants to change about herself, with weight loss being the most important. Her best friend Carmen is troubled by these changes, not understanding why Yasmin wants to fit in with the mean girls. While Yasmin’s mother objects to her straightening her hair and plucking her eyebrows, she’s pleased that Yasmin has started to lose weight- even though she takes drastic measures to do so.
The Blue Dress is a heartbreaking yet quietly powerful novel. As someone who has dealt with body insecurity my whole life, I understood just how uncomfortable and frustrated Yasmin felt looking in the mirror. Her mother’s toxicity is hard to read about, though she is eventually forced to confront her own insecurities and the damage she inflicted on her daughter. Once we learn about her history, it’s clear that her actions are the result of deep-seated intergenerational trauma. She and Yasmin are able to work on their relationship with the help of a good support system. Carmen is a wonderful best friend and speaks up for Yasmin when she needs it most. Adult characters like Mr. Caretti and Mr. Armstrong are also supportive and understanding.
I really appreciate the way the author drew on her own life experiences to write this book. Her prose is both vivid and vulnerable, and the story is told with unflinching honesty. She doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects, handling them with the sensitivity they deserve.
April 3, 2026
In this strong Own Voices debut, Rebecca Morrison offers a middle-grade novel that explores the dual pressures of body image and outsider, immigrant status. Since moving to the United States with her Iranian family a year and a half ago, Yasmine has been grappling with weight gain brought on by puberty. Her loving but slim and fashion-conscious mother is unsettled by the change, even sewing Yasmine a beautiful but intentionally too-small blue dress for the Persian New Year. Now Yasmine, facing weekly weigh-ins and her mother’s critical gaze, begins secretly bingeing on junk food and even makes herself throw up afterward. Carmen, Yasmine’s best friend and a herself recent immigrant from Mexico, cherishes Yasmine’s genuine, art-loving, chess-playing self. But as Yasmine starts skipping meals and gravitating toward the popular girls who once bullied her, she begins to push Carmen away. I applaud Morrison’s tender but honest look at Yasmine’s family. Her mother is no monster; instead, we find that she faces her own history of body issues, while her loving but work-consumed father struggles to establish himself in his new American career. The novel offers vivid depictions of Iranian food and culture, while also exploring the family’s broader adjustment to life in a new country, placing Yasmine’s personal struggles in a shared context. Luckily for Yasmine (and entirely appropriate for its middle grade audience), Carmen confides in a trusted art teacher about her friend’s struggles, prompting the teacher to involve a compassionate and experienced guidance counselor and paving the way for therapy for the entire family. Despite its focus on Yasmine’s eating disorder, the book never descends into melodrama and there are definitely bright spots: Carmen’s friendship and their ritual of watching The Office, a crush on a cute boy, and Yasmine’s investment in her art and schoolwork. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...
Review of advance copy
Middle school can be rough, especially when you're in any way different. Like, if you're from Iran, you have super-curly hair and a nascent unibrow, and you're not exactly the size of those mean girls with the shiny hair who make it their business to make everyone else feel like crap. So...yeah, life kind of stinks for Yasmin right now, but she does have a super-bestie Carmen, at least. But school is not the only place where Yasmin's life is bottoming out; at home, her mother is putting titanic pressure on her to lose weight, lose weight, lose weight. As an "encouragement," she made Yas a gorgeous dress that's a couple of sizes too small--and gave her two weeks to lose enough weight to fit into it. It didn't work. Neither did the weekly weigh-ins that Yas hates so much she sometimes hides in their crawlspace to avoid her mother. The pressure also leads her into disordered eating, bingeing in secret, then starving herself, etc. And when she finally does start losing weight, and flat-ironing her hair and wearing makeup, suddenly the friends she does have (and her little brother) are confused and upset. Yas just can't win...can she?
Ouch, this was painful. I am so not a fan of books that follow the theme of an interesting, quirky girl contorting herself to fit into the popular-girl shape and alienating her real friends either just through the changes, or by actually turning popular-girl mean. I've given up on books with that theme before because I just can't, and I'll admit I skipped over some of that here. You feel so much for Yas, though, what with that crushing pressure from her mother, and her father going along with it even though he disagrees. The author worked really hard to make everyone have believable motives and backstories, though--even the head mean girl. All the characters were memorable. Kids who loved 'Starfish' will love this one. Thanks to Libro.FM for a free educator copy of the audiobook.
Ouch, this was painful. I am so not a fan of books that follow the theme of an interesting, quirky girl contorting herself to fit into the popular-girl shape and alienating her real friends either just through the changes, or by actually turning popular-girl mean. I've given up on books with that theme before because I just can't, and I'll admit I skipped over some of that here. You feel so much for Yas, though, what with that crushing pressure from her mother, and her father going along with it even though he disagrees. The author worked really hard to make everyone have believable motives and backstories, though--even the head mean girl. All the characters were memorable. Kids who loved 'Starfish' will love this one. Thanks to Libro.FM for a free educator copy of the audiobook.
March 25, 2026
All the stars for windows into middle school life with mean girls, puberty, and assimilation.
A big thank you to my GR friend Rosh for posting this on her TBR. I immediately checked Edelweiss+ and was approved for a digital ARC. And I was happily able to read most of the book on Publication Day (March 24, 2026).
Here are some things I loved:
🧍♀️When girls hit puberty, body image can be a huge issue. The fashion magazines and the popular girls are thin and have clothes that fit perfectly. A girl like Yasmin finds she has outgrown her comfortable clothes and the sizes her mom wants her to wear are too small. It is tempting to starve yourself, skip meals, and even purge after a binge. We see all these in Yasmin and the hope she finds in talking about it with her best friend, school counselor, and parents.
👩🦱Yasmin recently immigrated from Iran. Even before this current military situation, there was much in the news about our differences with that country. When her curly, full hair and eyebrows make her stand out from her peers she also has to deal with jerks who have inappropriate questions and reactions.
👗I loved the sound of her dress and other clothing descriptions in the read. As a teen I sewed many of my own clothes and can appreciate the skill needed to construct the special occasion dresses highlighted.
👨👩👧👦Yasmin and family may be far from their roots in Iran and realize they need to work through the issues that are coming up. We realize quite early that Yasmin's mother has trauma from her teenage years to work through. What a great way for teens to be reminded that their parents have a past.
📚This is an impressive debut and some of my other GR friends have already given it rave reviews. I have added this to my Rosh-rec shelf and look forward to her thoughts on the read.
Thank you to Macmillan and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
A big thank you to my GR friend Rosh for posting this on her TBR. I immediately checked Edelweiss+ and was approved for a digital ARC. And I was happily able to read most of the book on Publication Day (March 24, 2026).
Here are some things I loved:
🧍♀️When girls hit puberty, body image can be a huge issue. The fashion magazines and the popular girls are thin and have clothes that fit perfectly. A girl like Yasmin finds she has outgrown her comfortable clothes and the sizes her mom wants her to wear are too small. It is tempting to starve yourself, skip meals, and even purge after a binge. We see all these in Yasmin and the hope she finds in talking about it with her best friend, school counselor, and parents.
👩🦱Yasmin recently immigrated from Iran. Even before this current military situation, there was much in the news about our differences with that country. When her curly, full hair and eyebrows make her stand out from her peers she also has to deal with jerks who have inappropriate questions and reactions.
👗I loved the sound of her dress and other clothing descriptions in the read. As a teen I sewed many of my own clothes and can appreciate the skill needed to construct the special occasion dresses highlighted.
👨👩👧👦Yasmin and family may be far from their roots in Iran and realize they need to work through the issues that are coming up. We realize quite early that Yasmin's mother has trauma from her teenage years to work through. What a great way for teens to be reminded that their parents have a past.
📚This is an impressive debut and some of my other GR friends have already given it rave reviews. I have added this to my Rosh-rec shelf and look forward to her thoughts on the read.
Thank you to Macmillan and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
"'Yasmin, your hair is beautiful, and you can be beautiful too, you just have to lose weight. I know you can do it.' There it is. She'll never love me the way I am. Not completely."
I just finished listening to The Blue Dress by Rebecca Morrison, narrated by Samara Naeymi, and this one really stayed with me.
This story follows Yasmin, a Persian immigrant trying to survive middle school while everything in her life feels like it’s shifting at once, her body, her friendships, her identity, and the pressure at home. Morrison captures that early teen stage so honestly that it almost hurts. The awkwardness. The overthinking. The way one comment can echo in your mind for days.
What makes this story especially powerful is how it handles body image and disordered eating. It’s not dramatic or sensationalized. It’s quiet, internal, and painfully real, the obsessive thoughts, the need for control, the exhaustion. Add to that the weight of cultural expectations and cruel stereotypes at school (including classmates calling her dad a “terrorist”), and you really feel how heavy Yasmin’s world becomes.
I also appreciated how layered the mother-daughter relationship is. It’s complicated, loving, hurtful, and deeply human. When family secrets start to surface, the story shifts from blame to understanding in a way that feels earned.
And the narration, Samara Naeymi brings so much emotional nuance to Yasmin’s voice. The tough moments feel heavy. The softer ones feel warm. It truly elevates the audiobook experience.
Honest. Compassionate. Necessary.
This is middle-grade fiction that speaks to both young readers and adults.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for allowing me to review this audiobook.
*Read full review on my blog (link in bio).
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
What happens when the pressure to fit in comes from both school and home?
Melissa @imaginationsoup sent me a link to read The Blue Dress by Rebecca Morrison on NetGalley, which was released just last week. The timing of this book feels especially meaningful right now.
This heartfelt middle grade novel follows Yasmin, a young girl who immigrated to the United States from Iran with her family. After more than a year at her American school, Yasmin is beginning to feel more confident, especially with her new best friend Carmen by her side. But there are parts of her life that Yasmin keeps hidden.
Since going through puberty, Yasmin’s body has been changing, and her mother worries that she is gaining too much weight. Determined to motivate her, Yasmin’s mother sews a beautiful blue dress for the Persian New Year—but intentionally makes it too small so Yasmin will have an incentive to lose weight.
At school, Yasmin also feels pressure to fit in. A group of girls—and even a few boys—tease her about her body. Feeling ashamed and desperate, Yasmin begins taking unhealthy measures to try to lose weight.
As Yasmin struggles with pressure at home and at school, she must learn what truly makes her happy and healthy before she risks losing herself—and the friendships that matter most.
If you enjoyed Starfish by Lisa Fipps, you will likely appreciate this emotional and thought-provoking story. The Blue Dress explores body image, friendship, family expectations, and the importance of self-acceptance, supportive relationships, and honest communication.
Thank you to Melissa @imaginationsoup, Rebecca Morrison @rebeccamorrisonwriter, and @NetGalley for the ARC of The Blue Dress. All opinions are my own.
Have you read any middle grade books that thoughtfully explore body image, friendship, or self-acceptance? I would love to hear your recommendations.
Melissa @imaginationsoup sent me a link to read The Blue Dress by Rebecca Morrison on NetGalley, which was released just last week. The timing of this book feels especially meaningful right now.
This heartfelt middle grade novel follows Yasmin, a young girl who immigrated to the United States from Iran with her family. After more than a year at her American school, Yasmin is beginning to feel more confident, especially with her new best friend Carmen by her side. But there are parts of her life that Yasmin keeps hidden.
Since going through puberty, Yasmin’s body has been changing, and her mother worries that she is gaining too much weight. Determined to motivate her, Yasmin’s mother sews a beautiful blue dress for the Persian New Year—but intentionally makes it too small so Yasmin will have an incentive to lose weight.
At school, Yasmin also feels pressure to fit in. A group of girls—and even a few boys—tease her about her body. Feeling ashamed and desperate, Yasmin begins taking unhealthy measures to try to lose weight.
As Yasmin struggles with pressure at home and at school, she must learn what truly makes her happy and healthy before she risks losing herself—and the friendships that matter most.
If you enjoyed Starfish by Lisa Fipps, you will likely appreciate this emotional and thought-provoking story. The Blue Dress explores body image, friendship, family expectations, and the importance of self-acceptance, supportive relationships, and honest communication.
Thank you to Melissa @imaginationsoup, Rebecca Morrison @rebeccamorrisonwriter, and @NetGalley for the ARC of The Blue Dress. All opinions are my own.
Have you read any middle grade books that thoughtfully explore body image, friendship, or self-acceptance? I would love to hear your recommendations.
April 2, 2026
I loved this book so much! It transported me back to my YA reading days in the 1980s when we weren't so distracted by screens and I could disappear into a good book for hours. Yasmin is a modern version of the girls in the books loved by authors like Judy Blume, Lois Lowry and Katherine Paterson. While she navigates the same challenge of trying to fit in AND staying true to herself, she's doing in the current world of social media posts and influencer-driven beauty standards. Her experience includes the added wrinkle of the stigma inherent to life as an immigrant from Iran. The author does a wonderful job of weaving in the details of Iranian culture, food and family life.
This is all a backdrop of course, for the story of Yasmin's complicated relationship with her mother and its effect on her body image and disordered eating. What really makes this book special is the multidimensionality of the characters. There are no heroes or villains - even the quintessential "mean girl" has some depth. While the story is told from Yasmin’s perspective, we also get glimpses of the feelings and experiences of her family members and friends. As a mother of three, I had a lot of empathy for Yasmin’s mom. I’m not sure I would have at age 13, but she is written with so much love that even a younger me would see how her actions stem from a fierce sense of protectiveness of her daughter. I loved how even the resolution of conflict wasn’t simplistic or overly sweet. It felt very real and relatable.
I haven’t read a young adult novel in a very long time and was surprised by how much I became invested in Yasmin’s story. As a protagonist, she is complex, relatable, vibrant and undeniably charming.
This is all a backdrop of course, for the story of Yasmin's complicated relationship with her mother and its effect on her body image and disordered eating. What really makes this book special is the multidimensionality of the characters. There are no heroes or villains - even the quintessential "mean girl" has some depth. While the story is told from Yasmin’s perspective, we also get glimpses of the feelings and experiences of her family members and friends. As a mother of three, I had a lot of empathy for Yasmin’s mom. I’m not sure I would have at age 13, but she is written with so much love that even a younger me would see how her actions stem from a fierce sense of protectiveness of her daughter. I loved how even the resolution of conflict wasn’t simplistic or overly sweet. It felt very real and relatable.
I haven’t read a young adult novel in a very long time and was surprised by how much I became invested in Yasmin’s story. As a protagonist, she is complex, relatable, vibrant and undeniably charming.
Review of advance copy
Ever since entering puberty, Yasmin’s body has changed in ways she has a hard time accepting. Since becoming rounder and heavier than she was as a child, Yasmin is faced with ridicule from the mean girls at school, which is intensified by the persistent judgement Yasmin faces from her mother at home. Yasmin wants her mom to be happy, but the stress and criticism lead Yasmin to find solace in disordered eating. With each passing week, Yasmin’s self worth declines, and she must learn to find ways to accept herself for who she is inside. This emotionally heavy middle grade novel focuses on a young girl who develops an eating disorder in response to extensive trauma inflicted upon her. A daughter of Iranian parents who immigrated to the United States, Yasmin straddles both cultures and feels the pressure her mother puts on her to be thin enough to attract a good husband. Her mother’s dialogue centers primarily around food and negative body image, which is difficult for both the reader and Yasmin as the frequency of these conversations increases. Yasmin tells the story, inviting readers into her mind as she battles the challenges she faces at home while comparing herself and her life to everyone in her vicinity. Brief chapters and a conversational tone make this book well suited to mature middle grade readers, particularly those who have ever struggled with disordered eating, depression, or living up to high parental expectations. This book can serve as a cautionary tale for young readers and their parents as the turbulent tween and teen years begin. It is a unique addition to contemporary fiction collections for upper middle grade readers.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Yasmin navigates life as an Iranian immigrant, daughter, friend, and mixed up thirteen year old. Every woman has been Yasmin in some way: struggling with teen relationships, uncomfortable in her own body/body dysmorphia, seeking the love of her mother, and engaging in some unhealthy habits. The Blue Dress is the story of Yasmin's journey through a single school year in which she clashes with her mother, her best friend Carmen, and her new friends.
The subject matter is difficult (as it should be) but is beautifully written and from the heart of a person who been in Yasmin's shoes and survived. Teen relationships are difficult for most kids, but add in being an immigrant, looking different from your peers, and cultural differences and you have a heart-wrenching story of self-exploration, understanding, and growth mingled in with all of the angst and tears of being a teen.
The Blue Dress is a story of hope and trust, sharing your problems with a trusting adult, and riding the wild waves of life only to come out on top of your world. All parents and their teens/preteens should be reading this book together to build better relationships and understanding.
The subject matter is difficult (as it should be) but is beautifully written and from the heart of a person who been in Yasmin's shoes and survived. Teen relationships are difficult for most kids, but add in being an immigrant, looking different from your peers, and cultural differences and you have a heart-wrenching story of self-exploration, understanding, and growth mingled in with all of the angst and tears of being a teen.
The Blue Dress is a story of hope and trust, sharing your problems with a trusting adult, and riding the wild waves of life only to come out on top of your world. All parents and their teens/preteens should be reading this book together to build better relationships and understanding.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Narrated in close first person with humor and vulnerability, the character of 13-year-old Yasmin is relatable and likable. Every young girl will see herself reflected in Yasmin’s triumphs and challenges, from dealing with a clique of “mean girls” at school to a complicated relationship with mom at home. That Yasmin is also a recent immigrant from Iran to the United States is very of the moment. Teachers and homeschoolers, take note—this book is a resource for a unit study.
The Blue Dress also tackles disordered eating that arises in the context of intergenerational trauma (from mother to daughter). Morrison handles the subject with care and empathy for all the characters.
As a parent and former psychotherapist, I recommend that adults, including parents, therapists, and teachers, read The Blue Dress too. In a world where so many are at risk of developing disordered eating, The Blue Dress is a tender yet urgent reminder of our collective responsibility as adults—to intervene when needed, and to get help for our own issues with body image so we don’t inadvertently project them onto our children.
The Blue Dress also tackles disordered eating that arises in the context of intergenerational trauma (from mother to daughter). Morrison handles the subject with care and empathy for all the characters.
As a parent and former psychotherapist, I recommend that adults, including parents, therapists, and teachers, read The Blue Dress too. In a world where so many are at risk of developing disordered eating, The Blue Dress is a tender yet urgent reminder of our collective responsibility as adults—to intervene when needed, and to get help for our own issues with body image so we don’t inadvertently project them onto our children.
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