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Just Like That
Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students from wealthy backgrounds. In a parallel story, Matt Coffin has wound up on the Maine coast near St. Elene's with a pillowcase full of money lifted from the leader of a criminal gang, fearing the gang's relentless, destructive pursuit. Both young people gradually dispel their loneliness, finding a way to be hopeful and also finding each other.
387 pages, Hardcover
First published January 5, 2021
236 people are currently reading
4062 people want to read
About the author
Gary D. Schmidt
75 books2,168 followersGary D. Schmidt is an American children's writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels, including two Newbery Honor books. He lives on a farm in Alto, Michigan,with his wife and six children, where he splits wood, plants gardens, writes, feeds the wild cats that drop by and wishes that sometimes the sea breeze came that far inland. He is a Professor of English at Calvin College.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 838 reviews
February 18, 2021
Once I was able to forgive the first chapter, Gary Schmidt reminded me why he on my favorites list.
October 31, 2021
“Good books have questions for us to ponder. That is what all good art does."
Just Like That is a kind of vaguely familiar English catch-phrase. It reminds me of Grace Paley’s title Enormous Changes at the Last Minute: Boom, and just like that, they fell in love, or just like that, he died.
Just Like That is the third in the loosely connected wonderful middle grades trilogy by Gary Schmidt, after Wednesday Wars and Okay For Now. All of them balance lighthearted fun with kids dealing with serious issues. I was alerted to this book being published by friend Kristen, and immediately got it and began reading. Schmidt’s wife Anne died eight years ago, leaving him to continue raising their six (!) children. When I was done I texted K that I read the whole book as Schmidt working through his own grief through the character of Meryl Lee Kowalski and she said she thought ALL of the books written after his wife’s death were essentially about his dealing with his grief. What do they say about great minds, again?
Meryl Lee has lost a friend to death, and faces “The Blank,”missing him so much. What is The Blank like?:
"It was if Absence had moved into the room and taken up all of the air.”
Her parents send her from Long Island to a posh private girls’ boarding school in Maine where she encounters the stuffy elitism of rich girls and stiff schoolmarms focused on what one teacher talks about, speaking in all caps to the girls: Resolution and Overcoming Obstacles and Accomplishment. She also meets a kid named Matt, homeless, carrying a pillowcase of money, moving north, trying to escape some people. Two tough pasts to come to terms with. Isolation in trauma. How can they recover? The answer is making connections with people: Good people Matt meets on his way north, some of whom are the same people Meryl Lee meets.
The book takes place as do the others in the late sixties, when racial and economic and gender inequities get faced, at the time of the Vietnam War. Glad those struggles are finally over? Have you been reading the paper (or, I mean, social media feeds)? This is a girl’s school, so there is a focus on women in literature and history, but there is an increasingly feminist focus that Meryl Lee brings to the school as she challenges the treatment of servants there as less than fully human.
“We’re going to watch for ways to change the world”--Meryl Lee
As is the case in every book I have read by the Calvin University English Prof Schmidt, reading matters. Meryl Lee is discouraged from reading John Steinbeck’s "lewd" Grapes of Wrath, with its focus on economic justice. (that great book was taken out of my high school curriculum on that basis! I wonder f Schmidt heard that story from a mutual friend?!). Meryl Lee is asked instead to read about Mary, Queen of Scots. But the key text here for her is L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. Matt, who learns about lobster fishing, reads The Old Man and the Sea, but also Treasure Island and (of the orphan) Oliver Twist. You can learn from literature, is the point, it can be a life guide. Matt and Meryl Lee, living (sorta) parallel lives, each with a dead friend and parents (largely) gone. “It stinks for both of us.” So what else do you do to cope, beside reading? You make alliances, you make family out of the people around you, especially if you lack a reliable family.
So what will Meryl Lee’s Accomplishment be? It has to do with (mild spoiler) her working “across the aisle” with people she does not like in the least, and finding common ground with them. She has problems at home, too. Matt’s Accomplishment, in the face of his own Obstacles, is in part to find a Home and stop running, to trust that people can help him so he can stop being a kind of refugee. But in this book there are both awful, even violent people (Schmidt might refer to them as “not yet” good, but he might also identify them as just plain bad) and protectors, such as Captain Hurd, and Mrs. MacKnockater. The idea is to bind together with good people and fight injustice and try your best to reach out to others who are “not yet.”
“So, Miss Kowalski, in the face of that dilemma, what options do we have?”
“We could pretend that the ideal could exist.”
Yes! Believe that the world and all people are worth saving, and then take steps to work with others to Accomplish that. You pick yourselves up when you are in a dilemma and you start over.
I like Schmidt’s balance of humor with his serious attention to grief and real world suffering--lost lives in Vietnam, divorce, bullying, the threat of violence. I like his use of disrupting chronology in telling the two kids’s stories. I like his use of repeating themes and images. I love this trilogy. Okay For Now is still my favorite, but all three of these are great books. The fact that this is a book that takes place at a girl’s school and has Meryl Lee as its emerging activist lead character with guidance from teacher Nora MacKnockater I think makes it an inspirational feminist text, and maybe a tribute to Schmidt’s own wife.
(spoiler?) “You are the Tin Woodsman, who lost your heart, and despite the Obstacles, found it again in the only way you can find it: By giving it away”--Nora MacKnockater, to Meryl Lee
Just like that.
Just Like That is a kind of vaguely familiar English catch-phrase. It reminds me of Grace Paley’s title Enormous Changes at the Last Minute: Boom, and just like that, they fell in love, or just like that, he died.
Just Like That is the third in the loosely connected wonderful middle grades trilogy by Gary Schmidt, after Wednesday Wars and Okay For Now. All of them balance lighthearted fun with kids dealing with serious issues. I was alerted to this book being published by friend Kristen, and immediately got it and began reading. Schmidt’s wife Anne died eight years ago, leaving him to continue raising their six (!) children. When I was done I texted K that I read the whole book as Schmidt working through his own grief through the character of Meryl Lee Kowalski and she said she thought ALL of the books written after his wife’s death were essentially about his dealing with his grief. What do they say about great minds, again?
Meryl Lee has lost a friend to death, and faces “The Blank,”missing him so much. What is The Blank like?:
"It was if Absence had moved into the room and taken up all of the air.”
Her parents send her from Long Island to a posh private girls’ boarding school in Maine where she encounters the stuffy elitism of rich girls and stiff schoolmarms focused on what one teacher talks about, speaking in all caps to the girls: Resolution and Overcoming Obstacles and Accomplishment. She also meets a kid named Matt, homeless, carrying a pillowcase of money, moving north, trying to escape some people. Two tough pasts to come to terms with. Isolation in trauma. How can they recover? The answer is making connections with people: Good people Matt meets on his way north, some of whom are the same people Meryl Lee meets.
The book takes place as do the others in the late sixties, when racial and economic and gender inequities get faced, at the time of the Vietnam War. Glad those struggles are finally over? Have you been reading the paper (or, I mean, social media feeds)? This is a girl’s school, so there is a focus on women in literature and history, but there is an increasingly feminist focus that Meryl Lee brings to the school as she challenges the treatment of servants there as less than fully human.
“We’re going to watch for ways to change the world”--Meryl Lee
As is the case in every book I have read by the Calvin University English Prof Schmidt, reading matters. Meryl Lee is discouraged from reading John Steinbeck’s "lewd" Grapes of Wrath, with its focus on economic justice. (that great book was taken out of my high school curriculum on that basis! I wonder f Schmidt heard that story from a mutual friend?!). Meryl Lee is asked instead to read about Mary, Queen of Scots. But the key text here for her is L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. Matt, who learns about lobster fishing, reads The Old Man and the Sea, but also Treasure Island and (of the orphan) Oliver Twist. You can learn from literature, is the point, it can be a life guide. Matt and Meryl Lee, living (sorta) parallel lives, each with a dead friend and parents (largely) gone. “It stinks for both of us.” So what else do you do to cope, beside reading? You make alliances, you make family out of the people around you, especially if you lack a reliable family.
So what will Meryl Lee’s Accomplishment be? It has to do with (mild spoiler) her working “across the aisle” with people she does not like in the least, and finding common ground with them. She has problems at home, too. Matt’s Accomplishment, in the face of his own Obstacles, is in part to find a Home and stop running, to trust that people can help him so he can stop being a kind of refugee. But in this book there are both awful, even violent people (Schmidt might refer to them as “not yet” good, but he might also identify them as just plain bad) and protectors, such as Captain Hurd, and Mrs. MacKnockater. The idea is to bind together with good people and fight injustice and try your best to reach out to others who are “not yet.”
“So, Miss Kowalski, in the face of that dilemma, what options do we have?”
“We could pretend that the ideal could exist.”
Yes! Believe that the world and all people are worth saving, and then take steps to work with others to Accomplish that. You pick yourselves up when you are in a dilemma and you start over.
I like Schmidt’s balance of humor with his serious attention to grief and real world suffering--lost lives in Vietnam, divorce, bullying, the threat of violence. I like his use of disrupting chronology in telling the two kids’s stories. I like his use of repeating themes and images. I love this trilogy. Okay For Now is still my favorite, but all three of these are great books. The fact that this is a book that takes place at a girl’s school and has Meryl Lee as its emerging activist lead character with guidance from teacher Nora MacKnockater I think makes it an inspirational feminist text, and maybe a tribute to Schmidt’s own wife.
(spoiler?) “You are the Tin Woodsman, who lost your heart, and despite the Obstacles, found it again in the only way you can find it: By giving it away”--Nora MacKnockater, to Meryl Lee
Just like that.
July 30, 2024
This had better be a darn good book if it's going to even come close to making up for killing off . What an absolute gut-punch. 2020 is the worst.
Edit (29 July 2024):
Okay, so I wrote the above when I first found out about this book in 2020. (Which is also when this review got 31-ish likes--oops, sorry about that, Gary.) And it took me around three and a half years to finally work myself up to actually reading this, simply because I wasn't ready to accept the premise of the very first chapter. But this summer I thought it was time, so here it is, the review no one has been waiting for. I will try to mark specific spoilers, but general vibes may get spoiled. But, like, I feel like you probably already know what the general vibes will be, right?
In short, this is a darn good book, good enough that it--well, my original review was stupid. You can never "make up for" death. You can only grow around it. And this book definitely has that kind of growth--tears and laughter, both.
In long, there's a lot I could say. But I definitely want to cover three points. Here they are.
First, with tons of love and respect in my heart, I think some of the Matt-related plotline here was just a little bit weak, most especially the character of Leonidas Shug. (Not his name, though. Spectacular name.) I was willing to go with it for a while, despite the fact that he's literally the second coming of But I was increasingly confused, and then unconvinced, by, assuming I'm understanding correctly, the fact that I was so baffled by this that I actually got mildly annoyed with Gary's signature understatement and habit of letting the reader draw their own conclusions, and wished he would just tell me what was actually happening. I think I read it right, but I'm still not 100% sure, because it just doesn't make sense. I am willing to overlook this, though, because of the other two major points...
Second, I have fully jumped on the Gary bandwagon (as you've probably guessed based on the fact that I keep calling him "Gary"), and, as such, was delighted by the MANY Easter eggs, tie-ins, and recurring characters that appear in this book. For those familiar with the Gary-verse (GDSEU?), the reading experience is even richer and more rewarding. For once, I did not spoil the ending of this book for myself, and so the tie-in on the second-to-last page took me Out . (I still have some lingering questions about how these characters tie in with the familiar names that appear in Orbiting Jupiter, but I sadly suspect that Gary will keep his own counsel on that, as is his right.) Anyway, not to overstate my case too much, but Gary Schmidt is writing the kind of multi-generational family sagas that authors of "literary fiction" stuff into one nine-hundred page book along with tons of graphic sex and violence. But Gary does it with subtlety and beauty and compassion, and blows all the rest of those bums out of the water. Never change, Gary.
Third, and possibly most important (and kind of connected to the second point, and also: expect vague and general unmarked spoilers from here on out), my #1 concern about this book has always been my fear that it would undercut the spectacular ending of The Wednesday Wars. The Wednesday Wars was the first Schmidt book I read, and has been a huge favorite of mine ever since, especially because, even with the serious issues it deals with, it's one of his funniest, lightest books, and has a beautiful ending. Hence my two-line review of Just Like That from back in 2020. The passage that I kept coming back to was this one from the second-to-last page of Wednesday Wars:
No matter what happened in Just Like That, I was very concerned that in this book would necessarily invalidate that beautiful passage. But I think there may be a way in which this passage, read in light of Just Like That is deeply sad, but not utterly void. Holling loved and was loved even in Wednesday Wars. You can argue that that part of Mrs. Baker's prophecy was already fulfilled. And as for the first part, about peace and wisdom... in Just Like That, . In The Labors of Hercules Beal, Holling did what Mrs. Baker said he would, . And, yes, I cried when I figured this out, too.
And this, by the way, is when all the tie-ins and Easter eggs and shared names become not just a fun treasure hunt for true believers, but a really profound way of seeing the world. Schmidt's books are funny and beautiful, but they also talk about really horrible tragedies. People die, even young people who don't "deserve" it. But even their brief lives can have effects that ripple on through later generations. You may die, but the good you do lives. Nothing is wasted in God's economy. "'Willis,' he said. And he told him about the whales."
P.S. Two further thoughts on Leonidas Shug, both spoiler-y.
Edit (29 July 2024):
Okay, so I wrote the above when I first found out about this book in 2020. (Which is also when this review got 31-ish likes--oops, sorry about that, Gary.) And it took me around three and a half years to finally work myself up to actually reading this, simply because I wasn't ready to accept the premise of the very first chapter. But this summer I thought it was time, so here it is, the review no one has been waiting for. I will try to mark specific spoilers, but general vibes may get spoiled. But, like, I feel like you probably already know what the general vibes will be, right?
In short, this is a darn good book, good enough that it--well, my original review was stupid. You can never "make up for" death. You can only grow around it. And this book definitely has that kind of growth--tears and laughter, both.
In long, there's a lot I could say. But I definitely want to cover three points. Here they are.
First, with tons of love and respect in my heart, I think some of the Matt-related plotline here was just a little bit weak, most especially the character of Leonidas Shug. (Not his name, though. Spectacular name.) I was willing to go with it for a while, despite the fact that he's literally the second coming of But I was increasingly confused, and then unconvinced, by, assuming I'm understanding correctly, the fact that I was so baffled by this that I actually got mildly annoyed with Gary's signature understatement and habit of letting the reader draw their own conclusions, and wished he would just tell me what was actually happening. I think I read it right, but I'm still not 100% sure, because it just doesn't make sense. I am willing to overlook this, though, because of the other two major points...
Second, I have fully jumped on the Gary bandwagon (as you've probably guessed based on the fact that I keep calling him "Gary"), and, as such, was delighted by the MANY Easter eggs, tie-ins, and recurring characters that appear in this book. For those familiar with the Gary-verse (GDSEU?), the reading experience is even richer and more rewarding. For once, I did not spoil the ending of this book for myself, and so the tie-in on the second-to-last page took me Out . (I still have some lingering questions about how these characters tie in with the familiar names that appear in Orbiting Jupiter, but I sadly suspect that Gary will keep his own counsel on that, as is his right.) Anyway, not to overstate my case too much, but Gary Schmidt is writing the kind of multi-generational family sagas that authors of "literary fiction" stuff into one nine-hundred page book along with tons of graphic sex and violence. But Gary does it with subtlety and beauty and compassion, and blows all the rest of those bums out of the water. Never change, Gary.
Third, and possibly most important (and kind of connected to the second point, and also: expect vague and general unmarked spoilers from here on out), my #1 concern about this book has always been my fear that it would undercut the spectacular ending of The Wednesday Wars. The Wednesday Wars was the first Schmidt book I read, and has been a huge favorite of mine ever since, especially because, even with the serious issues it deals with, it's one of his funniest, lightest books, and has a beautiful ending. Hence my two-line review of Just Like That from back in 2020. The passage that I kept coming back to was this one from the second-to-last page of Wednesday Wars:
"So you think Don Pedro ended up all right," I said.
"I think he became a man who brought peace and wisdom to his world, because he knew about war and folly. I think that he loved greatly, because he had seen what lost love is. And I think he came to know, too, that he was loved greatly." She looked at the strawberry in her hands. "But I thought you didn't want me to tell you your future."
No matter what happened in Just Like That, I was very concerned that in this book would necessarily invalidate that beautiful passage. But I think there may be a way in which this passage, read in light of Just Like That is deeply sad, but not utterly void. Holling loved and was loved even in Wednesday Wars. You can argue that that part of Mrs. Baker's prophecy was already fulfilled. And as for the first part, about peace and wisdom... in Just Like That, . In The Labors of Hercules Beal, Holling did what Mrs. Baker said he would, . And, yes, I cried when I figured this out, too.
And this, by the way, is when all the tie-ins and Easter eggs and shared names become not just a fun treasure hunt for true believers, but a really profound way of seeing the world. Schmidt's books are funny and beautiful, but they also talk about really horrible tragedies. People die, even young people who don't "deserve" it. But even their brief lives can have effects that ripple on through later generations. You may die, but the good you do lives. Nothing is wasted in God's economy. "'Willis,' he said. And he told him about the whales."
P.S. Two further thoughts on Leonidas Shug, both spoiler-y.
April 22, 2021
I'm coming to see patterns in Gary D. Schmidt's writing, patterns that in a lesser writer would make for very tired and sameish writing. There are children in transition and adults who help or hinder them. There are moments of profound happiness and terrible tragedy. And, perhaps strangest of all for children's fiction, there is the underlying theme of bad things happening at random and for no reason to ordinary people. And yet I don't have the feeling that Schmidt intends to preach a message; it feels, every time, as if his stories simply represent what happens when life proceeds, one day at a time.
I admit to being a little uncertain about the foundation of this book, and I don't know that I've ever needed a spoiler so early in a review: Speaking more generally, however, Meryl Lee's grief over the loss of a friend is not an unusual way to ground a story, but Schmidt turns it into a running theme of all kinds of loss as experienced by the other characters as well. In fact, her grief never feels trite or common, and I liked that.
Matt's story is more complex almost to the point of being unbelievable, and again, I think Schmidt's gift for seeing to the heart of young people and their suffering is what keeps it from falling over the edge into melodrama. He's older than his years because of what he's experienced, and yet he's still barely past childhood, and that combination works really well. There's one moment that stuck with me where he is ready to attack someone to defend a person he cares about, and his desperation and yet determination to act struck me as the perfect representation of his character: he is himself in need of protection, and yet he can't not put himself in danger for the sake of the ones he loves.
I think it's clear by now that Schmidt loves teachers and what they represent, while still acknowledging that not all of them care about their students the way they should. Both Meryl Lee and Matt bump up against the educational system in their different ways, and I loved how very realistic their experiences were. I also appreciated the historical fiction aspect of the story, in which the Vietnam War is a present threat and everyone reacts in their own way to political issues.
Meryl Lee's "Accomplishment" (the emphasis of her school on its young ladies being Accomplished) was beautifully satisfying to watch unfold, even though I didn't know what it would be for most of the book. I am a sucker for stories in which people turn out differently than you expect and I think Schmidt played this perfectly, as one by one Meryl Lee discovers her classmates (and other girls in the school) aren't what she thought. Even the lone holdout is a realistic outcome to the story:
Just Like That inhabits the weird twilight zone, as most of Schmidt's books do, of novels that are not quite middle grade and not quite young adult (such as Hilary McKay's Casson Family novels and the Penderwick books by Jeanne Birdsall). Since those age classifications are sometimes sticks to beat readers with, I'm not dissatisfied, but I do think this one should be given to older readers as well as younger ones. Readers of different ages will find different meanings in the story, which I consider a remarkable achievement. I am extremely disappointed in the cover art, however. It's representative of the story, but its cartoonish quality makes it seem the book is frivolous or humorous or even goofy, and it does the book no favors. I'm hoping later editions will remedy this flaw.
I didn't really need the impetus after Okay for Now, but Just Like That has confirmed my decision to put Gary D. Schmidt on my list of auto-buy authors. I intend to recommend this one to many people, particularly teachers, who I think will see in Schmidt's books a celebration of what they do.
I admit to being a little uncertain about the foundation of this book, and I don't know that I've ever needed a spoiler so early in a review: Speaking more generally, however, Meryl Lee's grief over the loss of a friend is not an unusual way to ground a story, but Schmidt turns it into a running theme of all kinds of loss as experienced by the other characters as well. In fact, her grief never feels trite or common, and I liked that.
Matt's story is more complex almost to the point of being unbelievable, and again, I think Schmidt's gift for seeing to the heart of young people and their suffering is what keeps it from falling over the edge into melodrama. He's older than his years because of what he's experienced, and yet he's still barely past childhood, and that combination works really well. There's one moment that stuck with me where he is ready to attack someone to defend a person he cares about, and his desperation and yet determination to act struck me as the perfect representation of his character: he is himself in need of protection, and yet he can't not put himself in danger for the sake of the ones he loves.
I think it's clear by now that Schmidt loves teachers and what they represent, while still acknowledging that not all of them care about their students the way they should. Both Meryl Lee and Matt bump up against the educational system in their different ways, and I loved how very realistic their experiences were. I also appreciated the historical fiction aspect of the story, in which the Vietnam War is a present threat and everyone reacts in their own way to political issues.
Meryl Lee's "Accomplishment" (the emphasis of her school on its young ladies being Accomplished) was beautifully satisfying to watch unfold, even though I didn't know what it would be for most of the book. I am a sucker for stories in which people turn out differently than you expect and I think Schmidt played this perfectly, as one by one Meryl Lee discovers her classmates (and other girls in the school) aren't what she thought. Even the lone holdout is a realistic outcome to the story:
Just Like That inhabits the weird twilight zone, as most of Schmidt's books do, of novels that are not quite middle grade and not quite young adult (such as Hilary McKay's Casson Family novels and the Penderwick books by Jeanne Birdsall). Since those age classifications are sometimes sticks to beat readers with, I'm not dissatisfied, but I do think this one should be given to older readers as well as younger ones. Readers of different ages will find different meanings in the story, which I consider a remarkable achievement. I am extremely disappointed in the cover art, however. It's representative of the story, but its cartoonish quality makes it seem the book is frivolous or humorous or even goofy, and it does the book no favors. I'm hoping later editions will remedy this flaw.
I didn't really need the impetus after Okay for Now, but Just Like That has confirmed my decision to put Gary D. Schmidt on my list of auto-buy authors. I intend to recommend this one to many people, particularly teachers, who I think will see in Schmidt's books a celebration of what they do.
January 12, 2021
You know it's a good book when it seamlessly references and ties in other pieces of great literature. Gary Schmidt delivers once again.
Whether it's the 1960's or present day, he really brings out the beauty in the every day. Now, here I am, just trying to string a few sentences together as well as he does for an entire novel and ..... probably just going to end this by saying that yes, it deserves all 5 stars.
(The Wednesday Wars is still my favorite of the Schmidt novels, but that set the bar so high that this still earns 5 stars)
Whether it's the 1960's or present day, he really brings out the beauty in the every day. Now, here I am, just trying to string a few sentences together as well as he does for an entire novel and ..... probably just going to end this by saying that yes, it deserves all 5 stars.
(The Wednesday Wars is still my favorite of the Schmidt novels, but that set the bar so high that this still earns 5 stars)
February 3, 2021
That hurt.
But in the best way. It hurt, then broke your heart, then pulled all the little pieces together, and handed it back to you, and you were better from it.
But in the best way. It hurt, then broke your heart, then pulled all the little pieces together, and handed it back to you, and you were better from it.
December 30, 2021
More beautiful writing by the talented Gary D. Schmidt. Two teens, Meryl Lee and Matt, whose worlds collide when the first is sent away to boarding school and the latter is seeking refuge in a coastal Maine town. Chapters alternate between the two characters. Meryl Lee's are are fairly serious as she deals with life changing moments throughout her eighth grade year at St. Elene's while Matt's story is more of an adventure/thriller as we learn the real reason he is seeking refuge.
Fans of Schmidt's other works (The Wednesday Wars, Okay for Now) from this era will want to read this as will fans of Cynthia Voigt's writing and characters in the Tillerman Cycle will also enjoy this.
Fans of Schmidt's other works (The Wednesday Wars, Okay for Now) from this era will want to read this as will fans of Cynthia Voigt's writing and characters in the Tillerman Cycle will also enjoy this.
March 5, 2021
Gary D. Schmidt, I would say I hate your guts. Except that might make me cry.
This was excellent. Except for the fact that it made me cry.
All the references to the Wednesday Wars were great. Except for the fact that they made me cry.
I love Meryl Lee. And Matt. And Bagheera. Except...yeah. You probably know the drill.
Fifth book I've ever cried about in my life. And it was a good one.
Four stars. I thought about taking one off for all the crying, but then decided that I should probably do the opposite...so I'm compromising.
This was excellent. Except for the fact that it made me cry.
All the references to the Wednesday Wars were great. Except for the fact that they made me cry.
I love Meryl Lee. And Matt. And Bagheera. Except...yeah. You probably know the drill.
Fifth book I've ever cried about in my life. And it was a good one.
Four stars. I thought about taking one off for all the crying, but then decided that I should probably do the opposite...so I'm compromising.
February 1, 2021
Damn. Near. Perfect. At Reading Rants: http://www.readingrants.org/2021/02/0...
January 16, 2021
There are just some authors that you know, when you open their books, you are in for a read that will touch your heart. Schmidt is one of those authors - his books acquaint you with characters that will change your life for the good. This is no exception. This is the story of Meryl Lee as she is sent off to boarding school because, for one, she can’t seem to cope with the loss of her best friend, and two, because her parents are going to divorce and don’t want her to see any of it happening. But Meryl Lee is a force for good and even though she doesn’t want to be at the school - she plants herself and makes a difference. I know it’s not an adult read - that’s good. Read it - it has so much we need more of in our world today!
October 18, 2024
Once again, Gary Schmidt proves to me why he’s the best in the biz. At once heartbreaking and healing, heavy and full of hope, this book made me weep, made me chuckle, made me angry, and made me delight in a good story well told. I loved it so much and it may be my favorite so far in this universe of Gary’s creation. (I’ve heard Hercules Beale is even better…hard for me to believe!)
(But that first chapter, man. Why? For the love of God why?)
(But that first chapter, man. Why? For the love of God why?)
January 25, 2022
The only reason this isn’t five stars is because of Okay For Now. (This isn’t as perfect as Okay For Now, which is practically perfect in every way, with the exception of that last chapter. I haven’t reread it in years and I still think about it. It is fabulous.)
Just Like That is fabulous, too. It’s also messier. It shifts between two characters. It creates jarring contrasts.
This starts as the story of Meryl Lee, who can’t face going back to her Long Island public school after her best friend dies in a car accident, and so her parents enroll her in a boarding school. In Maine. That’s... unexpected.
She arrives to find out there are strong class distinctions in place, enforced even by the staff, while Meryl Lee (who went to public school, remember?) is unexpectedly successful as an activist. It’s simplistic - how entrenched can those delineations be, if an eighth-grader can upend them? - but successful, too. It’s folded so neatly into the criticism of the Vietnam War, and the changing American society, and the more specific bullying you’d expect in a school story, and the friends Meryl Lee makes.
And the book also tells Matt’s story - backwards, to begin with, and simply. There are moments where suspension of disbelief is required, which is not quite in keeping with the quiet horror (), but even those are folded in neatly. They’re too intertwined to be picked out.
The narration changes in tone when it switches between Meryl Lee and Matt - and yet the more emotionally astute character has more simplistic writing, and the less astute character has a starker approach, and something about the mismatch is jarring. It feels a little sloppy, but it’s probably deliberate: the entire book features mismatches, in the story it tells, in the people it puts together.
Meryl Lee’s narration is almost childish compared to Matt’s. She talks about the Blank and Obstacles and Resolution and Accomplishments and Charlotte from Charlotte. But then Schmidt takes those repeated terms and applies them in other places, to other losses. There are moments when the narration just - resonates. There are even moments of decent in-story poetry. Sometimes Schmidt clarifies too much (like when he explains his Scarecrow joke), but he also writes sentences like “Me either,” said Meryl Lee, and trusts that you’ll catch that.
Ultimately, this is a pretty basic storyline. It’s made complex by the way it plays personalities off each other, by the way it gives people a chance. In a way that itself is simplistic: wouldn’t you expect to find a heart of gold beneath the curmudgeon in a story? Yet Schmidt makes these people live. They have neighbors. They have sons. Does he go too far? Are elements overdrawn? Is Marian too much of a slapstick character? Are the names hyperbolic? Should he have recycled E. B. White’s math problem joke?
Have I made a coherent point somewhere? I’m not sure. This book makes me wave my hands and spout gibberish, because I loved the experience of reading it. I have questions and bones to pick - but I finished and flipped right back to the beginning. Read this.
Just Like That is fabulous, too. It’s also messier. It shifts between two characters. It creates jarring contrasts.
This starts as the story of Meryl Lee, who can’t face going back to her Long Island public school after her best friend dies in a car accident, and so her parents enroll her in a boarding school. In Maine. That’s... unexpected.
She arrives to find out there are strong class distinctions in place, enforced even by the staff, while Meryl Lee (who went to public school, remember?) is unexpectedly successful as an activist. It’s simplistic - how entrenched can those delineations be, if an eighth-grader can upend them? - but successful, too. It’s folded so neatly into the criticism of the Vietnam War, and the changing American society, and the more specific bullying you’d expect in a school story, and the friends Meryl Lee makes.
She said, “Thank you, Mrs. Mott. I would like to consider what trading with the Mets for Tom Seaver might mean to the possibility of the New York Yankees winning another World Series by the end of the decade.”These are contrasts, and they’re purposely out of place - but they work almost everywhere, because Just Like That is about finding a place, and finding your footing as you get there. The contrasts showcase the growing pains.
Everyone looked at her as if she had upchucked next to the splattered biscuit on the antique Persian carpet from Mashhad.
And Mrs. Mott said, “I wonder, Miss Kowalski, why you might find this to be of interest in a conversation about national and international events.”
And the book also tells Matt’s story - backwards, to begin with, and simply. There are moments where suspension of disbelief is required, which is not quite in keeping with the quiet horror (), but even those are folded in neatly. They’re too intertwined to be picked out.
The narration changes in tone when it switches between Meryl Lee and Matt - and yet the more emotionally astute character has more simplistic writing, and the less astute character has a starker approach, and something about the mismatch is jarring. It feels a little sloppy, but it’s probably deliberate: the entire book features mismatches, in the story it tells, in the people it puts together.
Meryl Lee’s narration is almost childish compared to Matt’s. She talks about the Blank and Obstacles and Resolution and Accomplishments and Charlotte from Charlotte. But then Schmidt takes those repeated terms and applies them in other places, to other losses. There are moments when the narration just - resonates. There are even moments of decent in-story poetry. Sometimes Schmidt clarifies too much (like when he explains his Scarecrow joke), but he also writes sentences like “Me either,” said Meryl Lee, and trusts that you’ll catch that.
Ultimately, this is a pretty basic storyline. It’s made complex by the way it plays personalities off each other, by the way it gives people a chance. In a way that itself is simplistic: wouldn’t you expect to find a heart of gold beneath the curmudgeon in a story? Yet Schmidt makes these people live. They have neighbors. They have sons. Does he go too far? Are elements overdrawn? Is Marian too much of a slapstick character? Are the names hyperbolic? Should he have recycled E. B. White’s math problem joke?
Have I made a coherent point somewhere? I’m not sure. This book makes me wave my hands and spout gibberish, because I loved the experience of reading it. I have questions and bones to pick - but I finished and flipped right back to the beginning. Read this.
November 15, 2021
There's no way I can write a coherent review for this book. Every bit of it hurt me, but like the hurt of looking at sunlight reflecting on fresh fallen snow. I'm gonna have some words for Gary.
My mother deserved to read this book, and that hurts nearly as much as the rest of this beautiful book.
My mother deserved to read this book, and that hurts nearly as much as the rest of this beautiful book.
Read
May 16, 2025I will never quite forgive Gary D. Schmidt for what he did in this book. I also admire him a lot for what he did in this book.
Go read it. (But read The Wednesday Wars first if you haven't.) Then come back here so we can cry together.
Go read it. (But read The Wednesday Wars first if you haven't.) Then come back here so we can cry together.
July 2, 2022
Just Like That definitely made me feel emotions that I wasn't planning on actually feeling. I will also admit that I was a little confused to some of the references mentioned but after reading some of the reviews it all makes sense. My confusion that is. So, I will need to quickly redeem myself and jump into a certain book to hopefully make everything right in my world again.
Other than that, I really enjoyed getting to know the characters throughout this. Meryl just continued to tug my heart strings. I felt so bad for her at times because of what she was going through. It's one thing to be shipped off to boarding school and it's a whole other thing to deal with your parents divorcing. Now I've never been to boarding school bug my parents did divorce when I was pretty young.
I think that's why I really enjoyed her story and felt certain things. Well, certain emotions. That being said, I will need to jump into another one of Gary's books stat!
Other than that, I really enjoyed getting to know the characters throughout this. Meryl just continued to tug my heart strings. I felt so bad for her at times because of what she was going through. It's one thing to be shipped off to boarding school and it's a whole other thing to deal with your parents divorcing. Now I've never been to boarding school bug my parents did divorce when I was pretty young.
I think that's why I really enjoyed her story and felt certain things. Well, certain emotions. That being said, I will need to jump into another one of Gary's books stat!
February 5, 2021
After Meryl Lee’s best friend dies in an accident, she is sent to a private boarding school for a change of scenery. Every girl at St. Elene’s is expected to demonstrate Accomplishment, but Meryl Lee cannot get past The Blank that’s been with her since Holling’s death.
Matt is a new arrival to town, but he never stays in one place for too long. Once he meets Headmaster Mrs. MacKnockater and Meryl Lee, though, he might just stick around.
I loved so many things about this book.
The story takes place over the 1968 -1969 school year, against the backdrop of the Viet Nam War and the election of Richard Nixon, which sets the stage for Meryl Lee’s nascent activism. Despite her grief, Meryl Lee starts to notice injustices closer to home, and begins to find her voice. Although there are teachers at the school who are resistant to change, there is no shortage of allies for Meryl Lee.
There are lots of literary references. Themes from Meryl Lee’s school assignments on Mary, Queen of Scots and The Wizard of Oz are interwoven throughout the book as Meryl Lee struggles to find her Accomplishment. Teachers and students rotate through the library to read The Grapes of Wrath for “the lewd parts,” which no one can seem to find. A teacher starts a Literary Society that studies the writings of Shakespeare.
Schmidt creates situations that bring unlikely pairs together, and over time, a tight band of friends forms. The girls express their camaraderie with the phrase “sticks up” (inspired by the school field hockey team), which is their shorthand for “man up,” “good luck,” “good job.”
There is usually a despicable character in Schmidt’s books, and Just Like That is no exception. While Meryl Lee is fighting ideas at St. Elene’s, Matt is fighting a battle with his past demons. Even while Matt is settling in, Schmidt never lets the reader forget that trouble is on the way.
Without giving away the ending, this was a humorous, moving, satisfying read.
Thank you Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group, Clarion Books, and Netgalley for an Advanced Readers Arc of this book.
Matt is a new arrival to town, but he never stays in one place for too long. Once he meets Headmaster Mrs. MacKnockater and Meryl Lee, though, he might just stick around.
I loved so many things about this book.
The story takes place over the 1968 -1969 school year, against the backdrop of the Viet Nam War and the election of Richard Nixon, which sets the stage for Meryl Lee’s nascent activism. Despite her grief, Meryl Lee starts to notice injustices closer to home, and begins to find her voice. Although there are teachers at the school who are resistant to change, there is no shortage of allies for Meryl Lee.
There are lots of literary references. Themes from Meryl Lee’s school assignments on Mary, Queen of Scots and The Wizard of Oz are interwoven throughout the book as Meryl Lee struggles to find her Accomplishment. Teachers and students rotate through the library to read The Grapes of Wrath for “the lewd parts,” which no one can seem to find. A teacher starts a Literary Society that studies the writings of Shakespeare.
Schmidt creates situations that bring unlikely pairs together, and over time, a tight band of friends forms. The girls express their camaraderie with the phrase “sticks up” (inspired by the school field hockey team), which is their shorthand for “man up,” “good luck,” “good job.”
There is usually a despicable character in Schmidt’s books, and Just Like That is no exception. While Meryl Lee is fighting ideas at St. Elene’s, Matt is fighting a battle with his past demons. Even while Matt is settling in, Schmidt never lets the reader forget that trouble is on the way.
Without giving away the ending, this was a humorous, moving, satisfying read.
Thank you Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group, Clarion Books, and Netgalley for an Advanced Readers Arc of this book.
January 2, 2022
5 stars, but as the book went on, I wasn't sure whether this was really a 5 star book or Schmidt was just fooling me and the book doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. Like some of his other "realistic" books, a great deal of suspension of disbelief is needed, and in the end this should be read as escapist or perhaps even moreso, a morality play -- there aren't a lot of shades of gray here.
March 27, 2021
I liked this, but it wasn't at all on the same level as Wednesday Wars or Okay for Now for me.
February 18, 2021
Richie’s Picks: JUST LIKE THAT by Gary D. Schmidt, Clarion, January 2021, 400p., ISBN: 978-0-544-08477-3
“‘All the same,’ said the Scarecrow, ‘I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one.’
‘I shall take the heart,’ returned the Tin Woodsman, ‘for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.’
Dorothy did not say anything, for she was puzzled to know which of her two friends was right.”
-- L. Frank Baum, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ (1900)
“Little birdie, little birdie
Come sing to me your song
I’ve a short while to be here
And a long time to be gone”
-- Pete Seeger, from “Concert at Town Hall” (1963)
I read for entertainment, for knowledge, and for finding meaning in life. For me, Gary D. Schmidt’s tales are particularly entertaining and meaningful. JUST LIKE THAT, his latest work of historical fiction, is a near-perfect story that brings together characters from several of Schmidt’s previous works.
In the same way that it feels to reunite with old friends after a long hiatus, it was an emotional experience to connect again with the characters Schmidt had introduced me to over the years. Not every amazing book stretches out into a long, multi-book series like HOMECOMING, ROLL OF THUNDER, and HARRY POTTER (some of my favorite series), but I hadn’t yet had enough of these characters. It was exciting that Gary Schmidt continued the story lines from THE WEDNESDAY WARS and OKAY FOR NOW. And it really blew my mind to have him bring us back to the land of LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY.
The characters of THE WEDNESDAY WARS would be memorable to any reader, but I was especially connected because the story was set in my childhood stomping grounds, and Holling Hoodhood, Doug Swieteck, and Meryl Lee Kowalski were in seventh grade during the 1967-68 school year, just like me. I imagine myself crossing paths with these kids at some point in my early years.
That’s why I cried within a minute of starting this book. We last saw Holling on page 12 of OKAY FOR NOW. Doug, the central character in that book, was about to move upstate. Holling came by to say goodbye and give Doug his precious Yankees warmup jacket autographed by Joe Pepitone.
Now, at the end of the summer. Holling has befallen a terrible fate, and “just like that,” is dead and buried. Meryl Lee is beyond devastated. The new story is set in the 1968-69 school year, and features Meryl Lee and a new character, Matt Coffin. After Holling’s demise, Meryl Lee’s parents decide that she should not return to Camillo Junior HIgh. Instead, she is sent far away, to St. Elene’s Preparatory Academy in Maine. There, one of the old locals she will get to know is Willis Hurd, previously seen in LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY. In that story, set in 1912, Willis was a kid. Now he’s a grizzled, old, bayman. And he’s still friends with Turner Buckminster!
Captain Willis Hurd takes Matt Coffin on as his crew. Matt, a mysterious boy with a good heart and strong work ethic, seems to have spent his life parentless and on the run. He doesn't know his birthday or exactly how old he is. In a backstory right out of OLIVER TWIST, Matt spent time as a captive in a child slave gang managed by Leonidas Shug. Matt was compelled to pickpocket in exchange for protection. (It’s intriguing to subsequently see Matt reading OLIVER TWIST, unable to put it down.) But when Shug murders Matt’s best friend Georgie, Matt grabs a pillowcase filled with Shug’s stash of hundred dollar bills and leaves town, running to escape Shug’s vengeance.
In Maine, Matt also meets Dr. Nora MacKnockater, the headmistress of St. Elene’s and a friend of Captain Hurd. Dr. MacKnockater offers Matt a place to live and homeschools him, beginning with reading lessons.
Meanwhile, at St. Elene’s, Meryl Lee is trying to adjust to her new surroundings. In a school full of snooty rich kids, Meryl Lee befriends a pair of young servant girls, whom many of the rich girls treat badly. Her kindness antagonizes Mrs. Connolly, a teacher who also objects to Meryl Lee’s desire to use Steinbeck’s THE GRAPES OF WRATH for a term project. Mrs. Connolly considers Steinbeck a Communist and a valueless, lewd writer.
Through Dr. MacKnockater, Meryl Lee gets to know Matt, and these struggling, damaged young people form a strong connection. As Meryl Lee and Matt get closer, the story takes a dramatic turn as Shug, ever present in the background, relentlessly tracks Matt. As readers, we root for the young couple on multiple levels.
Like THE WEDNESDAY WARS, JUST LIKE THAT illustrates the polarization and culture wars of another era, reminding us that the good old days had their challenges. It takes place at the height of the Vietnam War, when the wealthy were using deferments to keep their sons out of service, while poor and minority kids were being drafted and becoming casualties. During the time that the story takes place, more than half a million young Americans were in uniform. The War becomes personal for several of the story’s characters
Historical fiction set during an important time, characters one cares about, ethical questions, the salvation of an abused kid, adolescents taking care of each other, and a suspenseful chase--it all comes together in a story I couldn’t put down. I’d give this one ten stars out of five.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
https://twitter.com/richiespicks
richiepartington@gmail.com
“‘All the same,’ said the Scarecrow, ‘I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one.’
‘I shall take the heart,’ returned the Tin Woodsman, ‘for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.’
Dorothy did not say anything, for she was puzzled to know which of her two friends was right.”
-- L. Frank Baum, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ (1900)
“Little birdie, little birdie
Come sing to me your song
I’ve a short while to be here
And a long time to be gone”
-- Pete Seeger, from “Concert at Town Hall” (1963)
I read for entertainment, for knowledge, and for finding meaning in life. For me, Gary D. Schmidt’s tales are particularly entertaining and meaningful. JUST LIKE THAT, his latest work of historical fiction, is a near-perfect story that brings together characters from several of Schmidt’s previous works.
In the same way that it feels to reunite with old friends after a long hiatus, it was an emotional experience to connect again with the characters Schmidt had introduced me to over the years. Not every amazing book stretches out into a long, multi-book series like HOMECOMING, ROLL OF THUNDER, and HARRY POTTER (some of my favorite series), but I hadn’t yet had enough of these characters. It was exciting that Gary Schmidt continued the story lines from THE WEDNESDAY WARS and OKAY FOR NOW. And it really blew my mind to have him bring us back to the land of LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY.
The characters of THE WEDNESDAY WARS would be memorable to any reader, but I was especially connected because the story was set in my childhood stomping grounds, and Holling Hoodhood, Doug Swieteck, and Meryl Lee Kowalski were in seventh grade during the 1967-68 school year, just like me. I imagine myself crossing paths with these kids at some point in my early years.
That’s why I cried within a minute of starting this book. We last saw Holling on page 12 of OKAY FOR NOW. Doug, the central character in that book, was about to move upstate. Holling came by to say goodbye and give Doug his precious Yankees warmup jacket autographed by Joe Pepitone.
Now, at the end of the summer. Holling has befallen a terrible fate, and “just like that,” is dead and buried. Meryl Lee is beyond devastated. The new story is set in the 1968-69 school year, and features Meryl Lee and a new character, Matt Coffin. After Holling’s demise, Meryl Lee’s parents decide that she should not return to Camillo Junior HIgh. Instead, she is sent far away, to St. Elene’s Preparatory Academy in Maine. There, one of the old locals she will get to know is Willis Hurd, previously seen in LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY. In that story, set in 1912, Willis was a kid. Now he’s a grizzled, old, bayman. And he’s still friends with Turner Buckminster!
Captain Willis Hurd takes Matt Coffin on as his crew. Matt, a mysterious boy with a good heart and strong work ethic, seems to have spent his life parentless and on the run. He doesn't know his birthday or exactly how old he is. In a backstory right out of OLIVER TWIST, Matt spent time as a captive in a child slave gang managed by Leonidas Shug. Matt was compelled to pickpocket in exchange for protection. (It’s intriguing to subsequently see Matt reading OLIVER TWIST, unable to put it down.) But when Shug murders Matt’s best friend Georgie, Matt grabs a pillowcase filled with Shug’s stash of hundred dollar bills and leaves town, running to escape Shug’s vengeance.
In Maine, Matt also meets Dr. Nora MacKnockater, the headmistress of St. Elene’s and a friend of Captain Hurd. Dr. MacKnockater offers Matt a place to live and homeschools him, beginning with reading lessons.
Meanwhile, at St. Elene’s, Meryl Lee is trying to adjust to her new surroundings. In a school full of snooty rich kids, Meryl Lee befriends a pair of young servant girls, whom many of the rich girls treat badly. Her kindness antagonizes Mrs. Connolly, a teacher who also objects to Meryl Lee’s desire to use Steinbeck’s THE GRAPES OF WRATH for a term project. Mrs. Connolly considers Steinbeck a Communist and a valueless, lewd writer.
Through Dr. MacKnockater, Meryl Lee gets to know Matt, and these struggling, damaged young people form a strong connection. As Meryl Lee and Matt get closer, the story takes a dramatic turn as Shug, ever present in the background, relentlessly tracks Matt. As readers, we root for the young couple on multiple levels.
Like THE WEDNESDAY WARS, JUST LIKE THAT illustrates the polarization and culture wars of another era, reminding us that the good old days had their challenges. It takes place at the height of the Vietnam War, when the wealthy were using deferments to keep their sons out of service, while poor and minority kids were being drafted and becoming casualties. During the time that the story takes place, more than half a million young Americans were in uniform. The War becomes personal for several of the story’s characters
Historical fiction set during an important time, characters one cares about, ethical questions, the salvation of an abused kid, adolescents taking care of each other, and a suspenseful chase--it all comes together in a story I couldn’t put down. I’d give this one ten stars out of five.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
https://twitter.com/richiespicks
richiepartington@gmail.com
January 9, 2025
Gary D. Schmidt has done it again; he got me crying in the first chapter. I hadn't read a description of the book before I started listening to it, so I was caught completely unprepared for the devastating death that drives Meryl Lee's journey in this book. While I enjoyed reading this, it didn't pack the same punch as some other Gary D. Schmidt books have done. But I so loved Nora MacKnockater. I would follow her anywhere!
December 17, 2021
I don't think I've read a middle-grade book since I was ... middle-grade, but my husband's little sister texted me that Just Like That is "beautiful" and made her cry multiple times and that she's recommend it to me because "there is romance action and lots of plot twists and the wording is great."
And I agree! It does have all those things. Meryl Lee's struggles are ones that feel very real for nerdy middle school girls: new school, divorced parents, mean girls, gym class. But then there's Matt escaping gang violence and homelessness. And multiple characters dealing with sons and brothers being drafted into the Vietnam War. AND COULD THEY ALL FINALLY FEEL AT HOME? HERE? ON THE DRAMATIC MAINE COAST? JUST... LIKE... THAT?
Spoiler: Yes, they can. And it's darling.
And I agree! It does have all those things. Meryl Lee's struggles are ones that feel very real for nerdy middle school girls: new school, divorced parents, mean girls, gym class. But then there's Matt escaping gang violence and homelessness. And multiple characters dealing with sons and brothers being drafted into the Vietnam War. AND COULD THEY ALL FINALLY FEEL AT HOME? HERE? ON THE DRAMATIC MAINE COAST? JUST... LIKE... THAT?
Spoiler: Yes, they can. And it's darling.
May 4, 2021
Things that are wrong with this book: Pages 1-2. The wildly incongruous cover art. (Look it up in Funk and Wagnalls.)
Things that are right: All the rest of the pages. Everything else. With one minor exception, which I’ll get to.
Basically, this is the more I’ve been wanting since I finished Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now. Schmidt is a great writer and I’ve liked his other work. But the world he created for these three books is something special.
Meryl Lee Kowalski won’t be returning to Camillo Junior High. Her new school, St. Elene’s Preparatory Academy, is hundreds of miles away, on the Maine coast.
Meryl Lee arrives in a downpour to be greeted by a cluster of girls in “regulation green and gold school uniforms.” “They smiled in the rain as if they were the happiest girls in the world, and they waved as if Meryl Lee were a long-lost friend finally come home.”
Except she isn’t anyone’s friend. And no one is hers.
Dr. MacKnockater is trying to help Matt understand the role of a headmistress.
“I ensure that the school is run properly,” she tells him. “How do you do that?” “With guile,” she says.
I love her! She assembles an unlikely group of guests for Thanksgiving dinner at her home and her prayer is so beautiful that I think I will need to say it sometimes myself: “Bless us in the Unexpected.”
Meryl Lee’s whole year fits into that category. Schmidt is so good with understatement and suggestion. I loved how he described a tough conversation with her father, both of them chattering about school and weather and nothing: “They talked so they didn’t have to.”
Which reminds me: The cover is awful. It has nothing to do with the book itself except that some of the items in the illustration are mentioned in the story. It screams: Zany. Fun-loving. Silly. Not one of those comes close to capturing any moment in this book.
My other small beef: Matt’s story is so intense that a few moments were a little hard to believe. Everything else is so grounded, so achingly real, that the very edges of his story felt slightly cartoonish.
But it’s a minor complaint. Because you’re going to love him. And Captain Hurd and Heidi and everyone, really.
“Things can be different, in the bright darkness, in the deep snow, at night, everything looking new. Things can be different, in the close and deep cold, alone together, hand in hand. Things can be different.”
You should absolutely read this book. (But not until after you’ve read Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now. Which you should read as soon as possible.)
Things that are right: All the rest of the pages. Everything else. With one minor exception, which I’ll get to.
Basically, this is the more I’ve been wanting since I finished Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now. Schmidt is a great writer and I’ve liked his other work. But the world he created for these three books is something special.
Meryl Lee Kowalski won’t be returning to Camillo Junior High. Her new school, St. Elene’s Preparatory Academy, is hundreds of miles away, on the Maine coast.
Meryl Lee arrives in a downpour to be greeted by a cluster of girls in “regulation green and gold school uniforms.” “They smiled in the rain as if they were the happiest girls in the world, and they waved as if Meryl Lee were a long-lost friend finally come home.”
Except she isn’t anyone’s friend. And no one is hers.
Dr. MacKnockater is trying to help Matt understand the role of a headmistress.
“I ensure that the school is run properly,” she tells him. “How do you do that?” “With guile,” she says.
I love her! She assembles an unlikely group of guests for Thanksgiving dinner at her home and her prayer is so beautiful that I think I will need to say it sometimes myself: “Bless us in the Unexpected.”
Meryl Lee’s whole year fits into that category. Schmidt is so good with understatement and suggestion. I loved how he described a tough conversation with her father, both of them chattering about school and weather and nothing: “They talked so they didn’t have to.”
Which reminds me: The cover is awful. It has nothing to do with the book itself except that some of the items in the illustration are mentioned in the story. It screams: Zany. Fun-loving. Silly. Not one of those comes close to capturing any moment in this book.
My other small beef: Matt’s story is so intense that a few moments were a little hard to believe. Everything else is so grounded, so achingly real, that the very edges of his story felt slightly cartoonish.
But it’s a minor complaint. Because you’re going to love him. And Captain Hurd and Heidi and everyone, really.
“Things can be different, in the bright darkness, in the deep snow, at night, everything looking new. Things can be different, in the close and deep cold, alone together, hand in hand. Things can be different.”
You should absolutely read this book. (But not until after you’ve read Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now. Which you should read as soon as possible.)
September 18, 2024
Reread 2024: still 5 stars.
First read 2021:
There are some authors who take life- the messy and the ordinary bits- and describe it in words that stay with you long after you finish reading the last page. Gary D. Schmidt does it "just like that."
Some fans have heard of the heartbreaking loss we learn about in the first pages of this book concerning a beloved character from The Wednesday Wars. Uprooted from all that is comfortable, Meryl Lee Kowalski's faces her deep grief in a new boarding school in Maine. Surrounded by the unknown, Meryl Lee is challenged by the headmistress to be "Accomplished" during the opening address to the students:
"She spoke about Obstacles that come to everyone in life. She spoke about the Resolution we need to face Obstacles. She spoke about how Resolution leads to Accomplishments."
Obstacles. Resolution. Accomplishment.
Three repeating words that can haunt or guide Meryl Lee through the year. She must decide.
This post is already longer than my normal post and I haven't told you anything about the other characters in the book! Matt Coffin with his past that won't stay behind him; strong and supportive Dr. MacKnocker who earns the nickname "Bagheera" 💓; Bettye Buckminister a relative from another of GDS's books; and many schoolmates who are also navigating through trials of their own.
Now this post is extremely long and I haven't chatted about GDS's quirks I've come to love in his books: character cameos from his past works, connections to quality literature, and always added humor for relief during heavy topics covered.
Please, please, please read his books! 😁💛
First read 2021:
There are some authors who take life- the messy and the ordinary bits- and describe it in words that stay with you long after you finish reading the last page. Gary D. Schmidt does it "just like that."
Some fans have heard of the heartbreaking loss we learn about in the first pages of this book concerning a beloved character from The Wednesday Wars. Uprooted from all that is comfortable, Meryl Lee Kowalski's faces her deep grief in a new boarding school in Maine. Surrounded by the unknown, Meryl Lee is challenged by the headmistress to be "Accomplished" during the opening address to the students:
"She spoke about Obstacles that come to everyone in life. She spoke about the Resolution we need to face Obstacles. She spoke about how Resolution leads to Accomplishments."
Obstacles. Resolution. Accomplishment.
Three repeating words that can haunt or guide Meryl Lee through the year. She must decide.
This post is already longer than my normal post and I haven't told you anything about the other characters in the book! Matt Coffin with his past that won't stay behind him; strong and supportive Dr. MacKnocker who earns the nickname "Bagheera" 💓; Bettye Buckminister a relative from another of GDS's books; and many schoolmates who are also navigating through trials of their own.
Now this post is extremely long and I haven't chatted about GDS's quirks I've come to love in his books: character cameos from his past works, connections to quality literature, and always added humor for relief during heavy topics covered.
Please, please, please read his books! 😁💛
February 12, 2021
This book was extremely wholesome. It explored themes like the Vietnam War, found family, and standing up for what you believe in. The only thing that brought the book down was Matt's storyline, especially the ending. There were parts where the reader got a lot of information about him and then parts where he seemed just thrown in there just to make the book longer. I loved the message that just because you don't immediately get along with someone doesn't mean that you can't be nice to them and try to be in their shoes. When the main character did that, it was so wholesome to see all the character development. I also enjoyed seeing the impact the Vietnam War had on American families and how the author covered grief. Overall while not my favorite of this author's books, I still really liked it. 4.5 stars out of 5. Also the headmistress reminds me of one the best teachers I have ever had so that’s always awesome to read!
January 17, 2022
Back in 2015 I spilled coffee all over a friend’s signed book, and Gary Schmidt let me come out to his house in the woods to meet him and get a new one signed. 10/10 guy. This, just like all his books, will make you laugh, cry, and want to hug the people around you. It’s YA for everybody.
March 9, 2022
Gary Schmidt does it again- his work leaves me wordless and heart-struck every time.
January 9, 2021
Meryl Lee Kowalski is devastated when, between seventh and eighth grades, her close friend, a beloved character from The Wednesday Wars (2007), is killed in a tragic accident. Unable to stand the thought of returning to Camillo Junior High School, she enrolls in a girls' boarding school where Mrs. MacKnockater is the headmistress. Mrs. MacKnockater is sympathetic to the boarding school students and also to a young man named Matt who is on the run from danger but has sought refuge at Mrs. MacKnockater's house. As Meryl Lee and Matt both face their individual fears and forms of pain, they also turn toward each other in friendship and perhaps a bit more.
I have to admit that, after Schmidt killed one of my favorite middle grade characters of all time in the first chapter of this book, I was almost not going to read the rest of the story. As a one-time creative writing student, I admire his willingness to take a risk, but as a reader who counts The Wednesday Wars in her top 10 children's books of the last 20 years, I felt like this was a cruel way to open the book, and though the rest of the story turns out to be wonderful, I still think the character in question died in vain. Schmidt could have had Meryl Lee mourn almost any loss; I would love to hear the author's thinking behind his decision.
All that aside, however, because Schmidt is an author whose books I consistently love, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. The book was so engrossing that I wound up reading it all in one night, staying up until after 2 a.m. to finish, and I couldn't bring myself to give it fewer than five stars. The writing in this book is amazingly vivid. It's not flowery, but the descriptions are almost deceptively evocative. Without realizing it was happening, I built up images in my mind of Meryl Lee's school, her dormitory, Mrs. MacKnockater's house, and all the people and places Matt remembers from his previous life. Schmidt also does a nice job of balancing tension and hope. There are lots of very difficult moments for each of the characters, but there is never sense that they are insurmountable. Gary Schmidt really effectively infuses this story with heart, and it becomes impossible not to love the characters. Were he to kill one of these characters, I would be just as devastated as I was over the death that occurs in Chapter One of this book.
My recommendation to Schmidt fans is to stick with the book. It's definitely reasonable to be angry over a death that may seem gratuitous, but it would be a shame to miss the rest of this wonderful story because of that. If you've never read The Wednesday Wars, my suggestion would be to read that first, and then read Okay for Now (2011), and only then pick up Just Like That. Reading this book immediately after The Wednesday Wars would be kind of emotionally torturous, I think, as would reading Just Like That first. But do read them all. Schmidt is a brilliant writer even if I don't think his big writing risk has quite paid off.
Thanks to Clarion Books and Edelweiss+ for the digital review copy.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
I have to admit that, after Schmidt killed one of my favorite middle grade characters of all time in the first chapter of this book, I was almost not going to read the rest of the story. As a one-time creative writing student, I admire his willingness to take a risk, but as a reader who counts The Wednesday Wars in her top 10 children's books of the last 20 years, I felt like this was a cruel way to open the book, and though the rest of the story turns out to be wonderful, I still think the character in question died in vain. Schmidt could have had Meryl Lee mourn almost any loss; I would love to hear the author's thinking behind his decision.
All that aside, however, because Schmidt is an author whose books I consistently love, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. The book was so engrossing that I wound up reading it all in one night, staying up until after 2 a.m. to finish, and I couldn't bring myself to give it fewer than five stars. The writing in this book is amazingly vivid. It's not flowery, but the descriptions are almost deceptively evocative. Without realizing it was happening, I built up images in my mind of Meryl Lee's school, her dormitory, Mrs. MacKnockater's house, and all the people and places Matt remembers from his previous life. Schmidt also does a nice job of balancing tension and hope. There are lots of very difficult moments for each of the characters, but there is never sense that they are insurmountable. Gary Schmidt really effectively infuses this story with heart, and it becomes impossible not to love the characters. Were he to kill one of these characters, I would be just as devastated as I was over the death that occurs in Chapter One of this book.
My recommendation to Schmidt fans is to stick with the book. It's definitely reasonable to be angry over a death that may seem gratuitous, but it would be a shame to miss the rest of this wonderful story because of that. If you've never read The Wednesday Wars, my suggestion would be to read that first, and then read Okay for Now (2011), and only then pick up Just Like That. Reading this book immediately after The Wednesday Wars would be kind of emotionally torturous, I think, as would reading Just Like That first. But do read them all. Schmidt is a brilliant writer even if I don't think his big writing risk has quite paid off.
Thanks to Clarion Books and Edelweiss+ for the digital review copy.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
April 9, 2021
“There are times when words can’t do what you want them to do, no matter how much you wish they could.”Love Gary Schmidt and how he can put some words together and get you in the gut. He is my new favorite middle grade author.
This book for me was a little bit sadder and darker than the other ones of his I have read. But along with that sadness and darkness there is more light and hope. I wasn't sure at first where it was going to go and little by little he leads us to hope and light just like that. He is bold and courageous and so are his characters.
It's the story of a junior high girl (Meryl Lee- who we have seen before) dealing with grief, loss, family problem, and social problems. It's the story of a Matt Coffin dealing with a deep loss, and a violent past. It's these two worlds colliding and being kind to each. It includes a cast of characters- from adults who make a point to change someone's life to snobby Junior High kids who hurt people because- hurt people hurt people. All of this taking place during the Vietnam War, when the world is in a turmoil.
I love how he includes and weaves other literary works into his books. He is a genius at human emotion and pairing those emotions with literary characters. I wouldn't give this book to my junior highers- maybe highs schoolers.
This book for me was a little bit sadder and darker than the other ones of his I have read. But along with that sadness and darkness there is more light and hope. I wasn't sure at first where it was going to go and little by little he leads us to hope and light just like that. He is bold and courageous and so are his characters.
It's the story of a junior high girl (Meryl Lee- who we have seen before) dealing with grief, loss, family problem, and social problems. It's the story of a Matt Coffin dealing with a deep loss, and a violent past. It's these two worlds colliding and being kind to each. It includes a cast of characters- from adults who make a point to change someone's life to snobby Junior High kids who hurt people because- hurt people hurt people. All of this taking place during the Vietnam War, when the world is in a turmoil.
I love how he includes and weaves other literary works into his books. He is a genius at human emotion and pairing those emotions with literary characters. I wouldn't give this book to my junior highers- maybe highs schoolers.
November 23, 2020
I just love Gary Schmidt. His books are as profound for adults as they are for kids, and I hope he wins another Newbery for this. Scroll down to find out why (spoiler alert!) I didn't give it 5 stars.
*Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
I had to deduct a point for killing off a beloved character.
*Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
I had to deduct a point for killing off a beloved character.
September 21, 2023
A sadder, more serious book than my favorites of his. Whereas Wednesday Wars was fun with a touch of serious, this one was more serious with a touch of fun. My chest felt heavy listening to this one but not necessarily in a bad way.
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