Minnie McClary Speaks Her Mind (review)

There’s a new sixth-grade language arts teacher, and Minnie is amazed and thrilled by her: the unconventional Miss Marks wears jeans and message tees and encourages her class to freewrite and ask important questions. The orderly and well-behaved Minnie is startled to realize that she actually does have a lot of questions. Is her uncle, returned from Iraq and now living in the basement, really crazy? Why do people give Minnie’s classmate and friend Amira a hard time about her headscarf? And why is the school board trying to remove Miss Marks, Minnie’s favorite teacher ever? There’s definitely a purposive streak to the story, and Miss Marks is fairly hackneyed as an idealistic young teacher; on the other hand, starry-eyed young professionals often are rather hackneyed, and she’s pretty plausible, both in her rebellions and in her star appeal to her class. The heart of this story, however, lies with Minnie, young perfectionist whose constant concern about being judged often keeps her silent. Her gradual understanding that adulthood doesn’t unlock all the answers and her growing confidence in the significance of her own questions are thoughtfully explored but never overdrawn; her growth is believable in its spurts and reversals. Fans of Claudia Mills’ thoughtful and sometimes anxious protagonists will definitely take to Minnie and appreciate her widening understanding.