Book overview
Saving Montgomery Sole is a beautiful and offbeat novel from Mariko Tamaki, co-creator of the bestselling Printz Honor and Caldecott Honor Book This One Summer.
Montgomery Sole is a square peg in a small town, forced to go to a school full of jocks and girls who don't even know what irony is. It would all be impossible if it weren't for her best friends, Thomas and Naoki. The three are also the only members of Jefferson High's Mystery Club, dedicated to exploring the weird and unexplained, from ESP and astrology to super powers and mysterious objects.
Then there's the Eye of Know, the possibly powerful crystal amulet Monty bought online. Will it help her predict the future or fight back against the ignorant jerks who make fun of Thomas for being gay or Monty for having two moms? Maybe the Eye is here just in time, because the newest resident of their small town is scarier than mothmen, poltergeists, or, you know, gym.
Thoughtful, funny, and painfully honest, Montgomery Sole is someone you'll want to laugh and cry with over a big cup of frozen yogurt with extra toppings.
Praise for Saving Montgomery Sole:
"As with Montgomery Sole, my life is made bearable and glorious by a Mystery Club--a group of authors who tell the truth with wit and verve and style. Mariko Tamaki is in this club. . . . She's the coolest member." --Daniel Handler, author of Why We Broke Up
"Saving Montgomery Sole is a beautiful and eloquent book that perfectly captures the yearning for a mystery larger than ourselves." --Holly Black, author of The Darkest Part of the Forest
"A deeply satisfying, smart, and necessary kind of book. Tamaki takes a classic high school narrative and infuses it with magic, queerness, and compelling complexity." --Kate Schatz, author of Rad American Women A-Z
"Mysticism and emotion live side by side for Montgomery Sole, a teen girl who is trying to unravel both the mysteries of the universe and of other people. I gobbled this book up in one sitting." --Kate Scelsa, author of Fans of the Impossible Life
"Mariko Tamaki treasures and tears apart the quirky, confounding, and awkwardly beautiful parts of being a teenager, lending her unique talent and authentic voice to a cast of oddballs who also happen to be our neighbors, friends, and family." --Corey Silverberg, author of Sex Is a Funny Word
"Mariko Tamaki's writing is my comfort food! Try saving Montgomery Sole, end up saving yourself." --Raziel Reid, author of When Everything Feels Like the Movies
"A quietly assured story . . . Montgomery's slow confrontation with reality creates a realistic, satisfying arc, and Tamaki's economical storytelling results in dimensional characters whose struggles feel viscerally real." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Tamaki balances the story's lighter and more intense moments through Monty's smart, forthright first-person narration . . . Meanwhile, the well-developed and likable supporting cast raises the novel's emotional stakes . . . Offbeat and authentic--an uncommon treat." --Kirkus Reviews
"The characters are refreshingly diverse for YA literature, in both sexuality and race, and the conversations around religion, homophobia, and society are written as if they are a norm of Montgomery's life--never straying into preachy or didactic territory . . . A strong addition to most school or public library YA collections." --School Library Journal
