Pity Party

by Kathleen Lane

Discover an "absurd, funny, and thought-provoking" book perfect for "anyone who has ever felt socially awkward or inadequate" (Louis Sachar, author of Holes and the Wayside School series).

Dear weird toes, crooked nose, stressed out, left out, freaked out

Dear missing parts, broken hearts, picked-on, passed up, misunderstood,

Dear everyone, y ou are cordially invited, come as you are, this party's for you

Welcome to Pity Party , where the social anxieties that plague us all are twisted into funny, deeply resonant, and ultimately reassuring psychological thrills.

There's a story about a mood ring that tells the absolute truth. One about social media followers who literally follow you around. And one about a kid whose wish for a new, improved self is answered when a mysterious box arrives in the mail. There's also a personality test, a fortune teller, a letter from the Department of Insecurity, and an interactive Choose Your Own Catastrophe.

Come to the party for a grab bag of delightfully dark stories that ultimately offers a life-affirming reminder that there is hope and humor to be found amid our misery.

Genres: Middle Grade, Short Stories, Humor, Fiction, Young Adult, Mental Health, Realistic Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 19, 2021

About the author

Kathleen Lane lives in Portland, Oregon, where she writes, teaches, and cohosts the art and literary event series SHARE.

Reviews

[DaNae · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was either genius or tedious. A couple of the vignettes toward the end were glorious. I am not sure if the target audience is self-aware enough to read into the parable nature of the stories.

[Abby Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really unique and fun! Reminds me of Wayside School for current times.

[Theresa Grissom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book!! Unique, extremely clever and definitely funny... like laugh-out-loud funny. I really needed this book at the moment. I am very curious what students will think of this one. Upper elementary, middle school, even high school students should enjoy this. This was a breath of fresh air from my recent books. This went on my favorites shelf!

[Sharon Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a weird one. It is a really quick read that is almost experimental, with short stories in the form of ads, Choose your Own Adventures, quizzes and little surreal episodes in kids lives.
I think in the right hands this book could absolutely help a kid feel less alone, and help them see a little outside of their own (seemingly) massive experience.

[Abbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So...some parts I loved, and some parts were tedious. Honestly, this is a short book, and I was ready to be finished before the end. I definitely think this is a great resource to have available in any library that serves middle and high school students, but I don't know that it works well for general reading enjoyment.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the Twilight Zone were a kid's book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh no I am experiencing emotions

[Stephan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathleen Lane’s Pity Party is a pure joy to read. Again and again, I found myself wishing this book had existed when I was a middle schooler — which is exactly how I felt when reading Lane’s first book, The Best Worst Thing. The stories in Pity Party contain elements of satire, but instead of leading the reader to indulge in cynicism, they inspire courage and sensitivity. Lane turns the gimlet eye on the most universal adolescent fears and boldly proclaims that while the feelings are real, their power over us is a sham. All in all, Pity Party reads like a deeply humane and compassionate Black Mirror — or a self-help book for misfits of all ages, masquerading as page-turning middle grade fiction.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to wonder if this is over the heads of the intended audience, or if they are self aware enough to recognize these things in themselves. I think it's great and I could totally relate (now and could see myself in middle/high school in the stories). I think this whole set-up, if just a bit edgier, would be well received by teens.

[Matt Glaviano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of loved this book.

One of my frames of reference for a middle school book is when I want to hand it to my kid. And that was one of the main streams of thought here - what would Harper think of this? Would they love it? Would they - as I did - laugh out loud? Would they be moved?

Would it feel authentic?

Because it did to me. It reflected how junior high felt for me. It captured my (let's just call it middle grade and say it ended then, can we, pretty please?) anxiety and my imposter syndrome.

What I liked best is how it worked (for me!) as one narrative even through its fractured lens. All at the same school. Beginning with a firm root in not feeling like yourself but ending in a place where it felt like... you could be. And that it was OK to be whatever you found yourself to be.

Listened to - largely at 1.5 speed - on a blustery first day of spring morning. The clouds were spring even it the wind and temperature were against it. I found myself intrigued, engrossed, and surprisingly moved.

Mild M.T. Anderson vibes (which, for me, is a lot).

[Jenny Ashby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book but several days after finishing it, I'm still not sure what I think about how it will be received by my teen readers. It's definitely not going to be a blockbuster, easy sell, but I think it might be loved by a few who are sarcastic and mature enough to get what the stories are really saying. The only section I question in the overall theme of the book is the "Choose Your Own Catastrophe" parts. That didn't seem to fit with everything else. Then again, the catastrophes were odd and quirky and maybe that IS how it fit since so is the rest of the book.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this for Emmett at the library. He refuseD to read it, but Willa chose it as her read-aloud-before-bedtime book. IT IS SO GOOD. Willa enjoyed it, but I'm sure Jeff and I loved it more. A very dark, very weird, often absurd, and sometimes vaguely magical look at how no one makes it out of middle school alive and intact. Would kids get the humor here? Yes, at least mostly. Will kids recognize the structural stuff and metafictional moves she is executing? Probably not, but I as an adult am HERE FOR IT.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

That is a terrific cover! I grabbed this one after seeing it on several best of the year and mock Newbery lists. It is a compilation of short stories based on how terrible the teen years are. It is weird, funny, sad, and self-deprecating. And weird. But I liked it. As in most short story collections, there are strong stories and some duds. I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw a great review on here that said "this is either genius or tedious" and I love that. I read about half and skimmed the rest. It's a slightly older version of a Wayside school book and could have appeal for those readers, but the print is huge and it looks like a book for young readers that may get lost in our YA section.

[mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read the ARC a while ago, so my memory is hazy on the exact details of the book. i remember thinking this one was fine. nothing astounding but not terrible.

[Gigi Little · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my, I love this book. Filled with fabulous, darkly funny short stories and deliciously quirky imaginative pieces (like the hilarious "Personality Test" and the equally hilarious "Choose Your Own Catastrophe"), Pity Party is a droll, insightful take on the twisted-up, stomach-churning, anxiety-ridden ball that is kidhood.

[Dest · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is creative, unexpected, and interesting. It definitely feels more middle school (ages 11+) than upper elementary, though my library has it in the children's section. This is something to hand to reluctant readers who aren't very interested in more typical books. This will keep them on their toes.

[Leonard Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for me. This felt a little like a Twilight Zone anthology, which again was never my show. Might be an interesting discussion pair with Selznick’s Kaleidoscope.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this unique collection of writing that captured so many of the insecurities and triumphs of being young and growing up.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminds me of the Wayside school books a bit, but this is written for older kids and each story has a moral or lesson.

[Pattie Babbitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book defies expectation. Part choose your own adventure, part short story, etc...it is unique in it's format but important in it's message. The Chapter/story titled "Behaviorally Challenged" unfortunately seems like this school year. The multiple choice quiz part of the book was hysterical, fun to do, and weirdly accurate for me. This just might make a great VRC option.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very accurate accounts of anxiety in young adults/middle-schoolers. (Although I’m almost 50, and I identified with quite a few episodes.)
Easy to pick up and read a couple of pages at a time, but then come back to. Also had layers to sink into and think about.

[Stephanie Lucianovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had written this.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky good.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining and also a little strange.

[V Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book but please read it with an air of innocence. Pity Party has the potential to help some overcome some types of depression and in light of all the new diagnosis of depression in children due to Covid-19, this is a good form of inexpensive therapy.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC from Edelweiss+

Short stories about anxiety, depression, and so many fears faced by students at Bridger Middle School fill this book.

The Voice is the main story found in this book with other stories interjected throughout. As Katya tries to handle being a kid, her efforts are hindered by "The Voice"- giving her more worry and concern than anyone should be dealing with.

Each short story features another student as they deal with something as real as OCD and things as far -fetched as a mood ring that tells you not your mood, but instead the hard truth.

Mixed into all of it are odd advertisements by Happy Head and a Choose Your Own Catastrophe thread.

Overall, it was a bit messy. I found myself wishing that the author would have chosen either all realistic or all fantastic stories. The mixture felt unbalanced. I also feel as though my middle school students would largely be confused by the Happy Head ads. While they were amusing to me as an adult, they were filled with observations about life that I don't think many 12-14 year-old readers will identify with yet.

I would hesitate to recommend this book to many of my readers.

[Josephine Sorrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katya is a nervous middle schooler with an imagination that totally works against her. The voice in her head tells her that the Halloween candy she is about to eat is poisoned. Can she break free of her fears and banish the voice?

Then there is Julian with his severe phobia about odd numbers, Kiera with her imposter syndrome, Gio who gets a new personality delivered in a box and Alice who feels so invisible she fears she’s a ghost.

This wasn’t for me, maybe too cerebral. I found it surreal, jokey, strange, goofy, mordant, and at times poetic. I didn’t get the “Choose Your Own Catastrophe” game. The teen-magazine-style quizzes were kinda fun. There was the weird saga of Marta, who wished for a different life and gets stuck being a tree or maybe a wooden chair.

As a former middle schoolteacher I realize the author was putting together a weirdly moving portrait of middle-school-age insecurities, anxieties, awkwardness, and interpersonal dynamics.

I don’t really know what the audience will be for this very unusual book, but I know there is one out there.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What starts out as a fairly familiar trope of the bullied, misunderstood middle-schoolers quickly evolves into an engaging and really cleverly constructed series of vignettes (if you can call a series of misjudgments, mishaps, and misgivings a vignette) of a wide swath of sympathetic, if seemingly hapless, protagonists. It is a joy to see each distinct one of these multidimensional, introspective kids face their critical inner Voices (as well as setbacks administered by flesh-and-blood naysayers and worse) with an increasing level of bravery (and success) as the plot unfolds. A welcome lightness is added to the proceedings with the tongue-in-cheek quizzes interspersed throughout the book ("What Makes You Happy?", "Personality Test," and more). The triumphant final chapter, "Farewell to The Voice," says it all.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooray for short stories! Especially for short stories as inventive, sly, weird, fun, and totally plugged in to the middle school experience as these short stories are! Do you feel like you don't fit in? Worry about mean people? Wish for a different life? Feel invisible? Deal with bullies? Well, join the pity party! My favorite story: Behaviorally Challenged. Can't wait to see which ones resonate with my students!

Don't miss this great interview with Kathleen Lane: https://soundcloud.com/user-419678114...