Reviews

Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

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The adventure continues with Aven Green, a transplant to the Valley of the Sun, as she enters 9th grade.
Having already established friendships the previous year, she is ready to take on high school. However, life has a few momentous events that send Aven wondering why her parents moved to a place where “a couple of minutes [outside] feels like hours when you’re walking on the surface of the sun”. The author’s humor is sprinkled throughout the book with Aven having a wonderful imagination and a llama named Spaghetti. On the serious side, Aven must deal with bullying, liking a boy (and does he like her?), learning that being white (with arms or without) is different than being African American, and what to dress up as for Comicon.
Enjoy others books: “Forget Me Not” by Ellie Terry, “Rain Reign” by Ann M. Martin, “The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl” by Stacy McAnulty. -Dana S.

cinderblox_'s review

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emotional funny inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I thought i wouldnt like the sequel as much as the first book but i thought this was even better! This is a solid middle grade book. Dedinitely has an older feel than the first. Deals with bullying, finding self confidence, found family, and friendships. I also loved each chapter had a little punk quote from the bands they liked. Very cute

Content Warnings

alicia1's review

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

mmbell's review

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to love this novel as much as the first, but Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus fell flat. I found Zion to be so intensely dislikable as a side character that many of his interactions with Aven were hard for me to read. I guess that's the reality of writing middle school and high school characters; sometimes they aren't the best versions of themselves!

This novel is a great starting point for discussions about bullying, and it could be a powerful read for many kids!

annagonzalez26's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

allieeveryday's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved the first one, so was eager to jump back into Aven's world, this time as she enters high school and has to deal with big bullies, big crushes, big losses, and big questions about who she wants to be. This one definitely had a slightly older feel, with more early high-school emotions and that thing that High School Allie did too, which was start every blog post (or in this case, chapter heading) with song lyrics, and there was a thing about that I didn't particularly like

Spoiler

Kids from Alcatraz ended up being the punk band the friends created at the end of the book

. But in general, I still enjoyed this book and listened to the whole thing in one day, and it was great.