Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Roaring Brook Press (2016), 240 pages
Description
"An outcast teen girl explores the mysteries of friendship, family, faith, and phenomena, including the greatest mystery of all--herself"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member bucketofrhymes
I freaking love Saving Montgomery Sole. Let's start with that.
I've already tried writing a review of this three times, and every time, it just descends into one big list of everything I love about it. And that fine, but it felt like I was giving away too much of the amazingness.
So, instead, I'm
IF...
- you are looking for an awesome book that captures being a teenage girl perfectly (the intensity, the loneliness, the enthusiasm, the anger, the speech patterns)
- you like queer representation
- you want to read a book where a character is angry and that anger is justified -- no big lesson about how you should sit back and be calm about horrible things
- you enjoy reading conflict that involves bigoted, fundamentalist versions of Christianity (that seems like a weird thing to say, but hey, I like books that address that, so, uh)
- you enjoy reading about awesome friend groups and family dynamics that feel so true-to-life
- and you want to read something where those friend and family relationships are so important to the story (as opposed to, say, romance)
- you enjoy frozen yogurt
...then you should read Saving Montgomery Sole. It is phenomenal, and you won't regret it.
I've already tried writing a review of this three times, and every time, it just descends into one big list of everything I love about it. And that fine, but it felt like I was giving away too much of the amazingness.
So, instead, I'm
Show More
going to say this.IF...
- you are looking for an awesome book that captures being a teenage girl perfectly (the intensity, the loneliness, the enthusiasm, the anger, the speech patterns)
- you like queer representation
- you want to read a book where a character is angry and that anger is justified -- no big lesson about how you should sit back and be calm about horrible things
- you enjoy reading conflict that involves bigoted, fundamentalist versions of Christianity (that seems like a weird thing to say, but hey, I like books that address that, so, uh)
- you enjoy reading about awesome friend groups and family dynamics that feel so true-to-life
- and you want to read something where those friend and family relationships are so important to the story (as opposed to, say, romance)
- you enjoy frozen yogurt
...then you should read Saving Montgomery Sole. It is phenomenal, and you won't regret it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member acargile
I listened to this novel after downloading it from Audiobook Sync this past summer. It’s realistic fiction.
Monty Sole is angry, bitter, and unhappy. She has two best friends--Thomas and Naoki--with whom she sponsors a club for the three of them: Mystery Club. They rotate to allow each member to
As the novel progresses, Monty only sees judgement from others but fails to see her own. She absolutely hates Christians, which is rooted in her childhood with family members. A famous preacher arrives in town, and his son attends Monty’s school. She knows that he is responsible for the crosses that have appeared all over the school, including her locker. Her bitterness and anger escalate to the point that she cannot communicate. At some point, Monty will have to “deal” with her feelings or she will forget finding joy.
Every summary you see talks about Monty purchasing the “Eye of Know” which causes odd things to happen to the people with whom Monty is angry. I didn’t mention it before because that happens about half-way through the book. I constantly thought, “When is the novel going to start?” Nothing seemed to happen. Monty annoyed me greatly. She is selfish and unable to see herself--she does have an epiphany, but it’s thrown in at the end to have a conclusion. I found the novel painful to read because Monty is just mean and judgemental. I liked Naoki--she was much more interesting and could have been developed a lot more.
Monty Sole is angry, bitter, and unhappy. She has two best friends--Thomas and Naoki--with whom she sponsors a club for the three of them: Mystery Club. They rotate to allow each member to
Show More
experiment or to discuss something he or she would like to know more about, such as hypnosis or being able to concentrate and know what it in a box. Thomas is gay and has a healthy view of how to handle life, including people who are homophobic. Naoki seems spacey, but she’s someone who is ruled by her gut instincts. She’s kind and is comfortable with herself. Monty lacks their peace. She feels that her fellow students and the town itself are holier than thou judgemental Christians who are ruining her life. As a daughter of two moms, Monty especially dislikes homophobic comments.As the novel progresses, Monty only sees judgement from others but fails to see her own. She absolutely hates Christians, which is rooted in her childhood with family members. A famous preacher arrives in town, and his son attends Monty’s school. She knows that he is responsible for the crosses that have appeared all over the school, including her locker. Her bitterness and anger escalate to the point that she cannot communicate. At some point, Monty will have to “deal” with her feelings or she will forget finding joy.
Every summary you see talks about Monty purchasing the “Eye of Know” which causes odd things to happen to the people with whom Monty is angry. I didn’t mention it before because that happens about half-way through the book. I constantly thought, “When is the novel going to start?” Nothing seemed to happen. Monty annoyed me greatly. She is selfish and unable to see herself--she does have an epiphany, but it’s thrown in at the end to have a conclusion. I found the novel painful to read because Monty is just mean and judgemental. I liked Naoki--she was much more interesting and could have been developed a lot more.
Show Less
LibraryThing member benuathanasia
So...I know the quality of a book shouldn't be predicated on how well you like the characters, but when a character is THAT *painfully* unpleasant (and judgmental, and cruel, and bossy) it's hard to enjoy the plot.
LibraryThing member christinegrabowski
This author got it right with teenage angst. Montgomery was a bitter teen who didn't fit in with her small town high school. She blamed it on her lesbian mothers and the fact that her family was "different". But a lot of this turned out to be all in her head. She also didn't appreciate the friends
Show More
around her and took her anger out on them. Other readers may relate better to Monty that I did. But since this book was mostly in her head, rather than plot driven, and the fact that I listened to her monotone voice rather than reading it, I found myself getting depressed rather then inspired like I do in many other YA books. However, I really did enjoy learning about her family and the characters were well developed. I am an adult so a teen may enjoy her "voice" better than I did. Show Less
LibraryThing member atreic
Montgomery Sole is a teenage girl living in California, with her younger sister, her two mums, her misfit friends, and a desire to understand Mysteries, from ESP to ouiji. The book sees her wrestle with her own fears about being judged for who her parents are, when an evangelical preacher moves
Sweet growing up story, populated with a diverse cast of snarky characters. The plot is pretty gentle.
My only hesitation for recommending this is that some of Monty's experience of having two mums is so cruel - locker graffiti like 'your mums have AIDs', random teenagers going 'gross, they're going to rape us' when her mums kiss at a soccer game, and the story of how one set of grandparents keep trying to Save their grandchildren and make them live with them, until one of Monty's mums gets very depressed, and they cut off all contact. So if you want a positive 'here is a story about someone with two mums and it's totally fine to have two mums', then this isn't all fluff - but then maybe real life isn't all fluff either.
Show More
into town and runs a campaign to Save The American Family, while watching her learn about not judging others because of who their parents are.Sweet growing up story, populated with a diverse cast of snarky characters. The plot is pretty gentle.
My only hesitation for recommending this is that some of Monty's experience of having two mums is so cruel - locker graffiti like 'your mums have AIDs', random teenagers going 'gross, they're going to rape us' when her mums kiss at a soccer game, and the story of how one set of grandparents keep trying to Save their grandchildren and make them live with them, until one of Monty's mums gets very depressed, and they cut off all contact. So if you want a positive 'here is a story about someone with two mums and it's totally fine to have two mums', then this isn't all fluff - but then maybe real life isn't all fluff either.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
A book about teenage angst, Montgomery Sole has a whole lot of it. Set in small town, California, two moms and their two daughters is the set up that gives Montgomery her chip on the shoulder, her not fitting in, her defensiveness. The story is not much more than that. I did not really enjoy it
Show More
much. Show Less
LibraryThing member reader1009
middlegrade/teen fiction (curiosity in supernatural phenomena dealing with homophobic teasing in small town CA high school)
Monty, age 16/11th grade, has two moms and younger sister, age 11, who is asking questions about why their family doesn't go to church like the other families (a particularly
That is the plot, so far, as of page 126 of 228. I am stopping here because it's pretty slow (perhaps better suited to a graphic novel?) and I'm not finding the characters all that intriguing (and they all seem more like 6th-7th graders than upperclassmen, notwithstanding Thomas' dating practices), but I do appreciate the diversity included wherein.
Monty, age 16/11th grade, has two moms and younger sister, age 11, who is asking questions about why their family doesn't go to church like the other families (a particularly
Show More
sore point for one of their moms, whose religious family doesn't accept her being gay). Monty's best friends are Thomas (12th grade, gay, dates older men--probably for lack of options at his school, is also involved in the Dramedy Club, and seems unperturbed by other students' verbal jabs at his sexuality) and Naoki (Cree/Japanese-Canadian roots); together the three make up their school's Mystery Club, in which they explore and experiment with unexplained phenomena, mostly without success). Monty has bought a mysterious talisman, the "Eye of Know" from an online vendor and thinks it may have manifested her thoughts to push a mean, teasing highschooler off of the bleachers. Naoki wants to invite new student (and son of anti-gay celebrity preacher) to join Mystery Club, despite Monty's (and possibly Thomas') reservations--but I'm betting that Kenneth is actually not at all like his dad since he hasn't teased anyone.That is the plot, so far, as of page 126 of 228. I am stopping here because it's pretty slow (perhaps better suited to a graphic novel?) and I'm not finding the characters all that intriguing (and they all seem more like 6th-7th graders than upperclassmen, notwithstanding Thomas' dating practices), but I do appreciate the diversity included wherein.
Show Less
Awards
Arkansas Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2018)
ALA Rainbow Book List (Selection — Young Adult Fiction — 2017)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2016-04-19
Physical description
240 p.
ISBN
1626722714 / 9781626722712
Local notes
young readers