every day at the school gates Melissa Banner (Style Queen)
is surrounded by girls
like a fan club
every day she brings
something new to show off –
a hair clip
a magazine
lip gloss
All the girls in Dawn’s class want to be style queens – except Dawn. She suspects she’s really an alien and sometimes she wishes the ship would come back and pick her up. But as her life starts to change, being (or not being) a style queen is the least of her worries.
Sixth Grade Style Queen (not) is an outstanding verse novel for upper primary aged readers which explores peer pressure and friendship, as well as family dynamics and marriage breakdowns. Dawn shares her story through a progression of free verse poems, a form which allows both intimate insight and humour. The reader is transported into the thought-processes of the narrator in a believable way. The text is accessible, and the form allows for brevity which will be attractive to reluctant readers.
Sherryl Clark knows what makes kids tick.
Sixth Grade Style Queen (not!), by Sherryl Clark
Puffin, 2007