Review: the littlest bigfoot by jennifer weiner

From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner comes a laugh-out-loud funny and painstakingly real tale of friendship, furry creatures, and finding the place where you belong.

Alice Mayfair, twelve years old, slips through the world unseen and unnoticed. Ignored by her family and shipped off to her eighth boarding school, Alice would like a friend. And when she rescues Millie Maximus from drowning in a lake one day, she finds one.

But Millie is a Bigfoot, part of a clan who dwells deep in the woods. Most Bigfoots believe that people—NoFurs, as they call them—are dangerous, yet Millie is fascinated with the No-Fur world. She is convinced that humans will appreciate all the things about her that her Bigfoot tribe does not: her fearless nature, her lovely singing voice, and her desire to be a star.

Alice swears to protect Millie’s secret. But a league of Bigfoot hunters is on their trail, led by a lonely kid named Jeremy. And in order to survive, Alice and Millie have to put their trust in each other—and have faith in themselves—above all else. ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC received by publisher at ALA16

Review:

The Littlest Bigfoot is a very cute mid-grade book with sweet characters, great intentions and a positive message about body image.

Alice is 12, overweight, and a constant source of frustration to her perfect, high powered, parents. After failing to fit in at several schools, they send Alice to a new age-ish sounding boarding school located in the woods as a last ditch effort to *fix* her.

While swimming in the woods alone, Alice meets Millie, another young girl who feels like an outsider with her own family. You see…Millie is a Bigfoot. Instead of being big, brown and hairy – Millie is small and delicate with white fur.

Bigfoot’s believe that humans are scary creatures out to harm them. Yet Millie is obsessed with all things human and longs to be in their world and compete on a singing show.

It was nice to read about Millie and Alice's blooming friendship and the misconceptions that Millie had about humans – especially Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy. Let’s just say the Bigfoot version of both is pretty scary!

There’s a third POV of a boy named Jeremy who believes he’s seen a Bigfoot and is on a mission to track one down. Which of course puts Millie and her family in danger.

I do wish the story was tad more tightly plotted. The three pov's, while interesting, take a while to come together and then the story suddenly ends on a cliffhanger (not a horrible one). It’s something that younger readers probably wouldn’t even notice though and that’s the intended age group.

I recommend this to readers - especially if you've never quite fit in or feel ignored by your parents (that was particularly heartbreaking to read – just love your kids people!).