Nicole Melleby

Eleven-year-old Joey navigates family, friendships, and her first crush, while looking for answers to why she feels so angry sometimes and by searching for the donor her moms chose.

The Science of Being Angry

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this arc and finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Science of Being Angry

Author: Nicole Melleby

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: 2 moms, f/f romances, IVF and anonymous donor MC and siblings, Queer MC

Recommended For...: middle grade readers, contemporary, LGBT, mental health, family

Publication Date: May 10, 2022

Genre: MG Contemporary

Age Relevance: 9+ (violence, slight romance)

Explanation of Above: There is some light violence in this book, with our MC who pushes and shoves people. Sometimes stuff is thrown too. There is also a very slight romance.

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

Pages: 276

Synopsis: Eleven-year-old Joey is angry. All the time. And she doesn’t understand why. She has two loving moms, a supportive older half brother, and, as a triplet, she’s never without company. Her life is good. But sometimes she loses her temper and lashes out, like the time she threw a soccer ball—hard—at a boy in gym class and bruised his collarbone. Or when jealousy made her push her (former) best friend (and crush), Layla, a little bit too roughly.

After a meltdown at Joey’s apartment building leads to her family’s eviction, Joey is desperate to figure out why she’s so mad. A new unit in science class makes her wonder if the reason is genetics. Does she lose control because of something she inherited from the donor her mothers chose?

Review: I really REALLY loved this book. It was such a good book in showing how sometimes kids are angry because of genetics or things outside of the (very wrong) assumption that “they’re just bad kids”. The MC has good intentions, but sometimes she just gets mad because of things outside of her control. I loved that the root of the anger was discussed at the end and that the whole family apologized to each other for the way they all contributed to the MC’s anger. I especially loved how it showed the family having fights and showing that it was ok to fight or disagree sometimes with each other. The book also did so good in discussing ancestry and genetics, but also discussed how “non-traditional” families in several different forms. The explanation of IVF and the anonymous donor was very well done and very well explained for children to understand the basic concept. The book also did well to show how well this family in the book works, which sets the example for how families do and can look like. I also thought the romance was so sweet and adorable. The character development was well done, the world building was well done, the writing was amazing, and the book just draws you in and refuses to let you go. I highly suggest tissues when you read this.

The only issue I had with the book is that I wish the diagnosis was shared to the audience, but I did love that many different things were thrown out there and several coping mechanisms discussed so other kids who are also dealing with this could see their own mental health journey in this book.

Verdict: Highly recommend!


The Science of Being Angry

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