
Two troubled teenagers. One running from trouble, one recovering from a close friends death. A boarding, a head mistress, and add the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the 1960’s. Mixed all together you have the makings for a good story in Just Like That. Just so you know, I’ll be using affiliate links as I go through this review.

Details for Just Like That
Gary D. Schmidt wrote Just Like That. This professor at Calvin College is a Newberry Honor winner. This middle school read runs at 400 pages, with 40 chapters. Published by Clarion Books (a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), I am reviewing on behalf of Raincoast books.

You’ll find the font is comfortable for reading. There is no decoration or illustrations to be found. Just a good, comfortable in your hands book to read. I received an ARC soft-covered version, it comes in kindle, audio or hardcover so however you like to read you are covered. 🙂

What do I think?
I enjoyed this read. It is not as light-hearted as some middle school reads. Sometimes life hands you some hard-shakes and you need to figure out how to work your way through them. In Just Like That we are privileged to watch two teens work their way through.
Some really bad stuff happened with one teen but readers never witness to it, more like after the fact information. I did not read every word as I wanted to get this review out to you, but I didn’t run into anything that raised flags. I love watching growth happen in characters, to see them become more than. Don’t you?
You need to understand that Just Like That is set during the 1960’s so revolution and change were a big part of the history. Difficult things happened, peoples lives were changed dramatically and sometimes it was very difficult.
A friend commented that the cover looked scary and when you consider the time that the book is set in, it’s makes sense. It was scary in a lot of ways. Changing societal norms, war, protests, and so much change. It was scary. But that’s just the backdrop. It’s not the STORY. The story is two teens working through hard stuff and coming out in the end just like that. It’s a good story and needs to be read in light of what it going on in the world around them. Just as it should be.

Go out and get it. It’s a book well worth reading and will introduce your readers to some of the struggle of the 60’s.