Take It From The Top by Claire Swinarski || Book Review

I don't often read middle grade books but when I do, I'm always struck by how thoughtful they are.

Take It From The Top was a random pick to switch genres and vibes from my previous reads. I wanted something far away from detailed fantasies. This was exactly what I wanted and so much more.

what is Take It From The Top about?

Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they'd be friends forever.

Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her.

But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.

Well, maybe she does…

There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?

my review

Note: I got the audiobook as part of Libro.fm's ALC program.

the setting

I have to talk about the setting first. The entire book is set in a summer theatre camp. We jump between timelines to understand the whole story but most of it is at camp. There are mentions of other times outside of camp but it always comes back to what happened at camp.

It's cheesy and proud of it. Everyone at camp greet each other by singing a specific song, link hands while walking, and do a bunch of other "cheesy" stuff. The characters call out that it's all cheesy but they still do it and love it. I couldn't relate to the camp experience but throughout the book, I wished I had a camp like theirs.

I love that the book made something "nerdy" and "cringey" into something heartwarming and magical. It's easy to tell that every character absolutely enjoys theatre camp. They hang out with their people, share niche passions, and have fun. They spend an entire summer working on a show and are excited to perform it at the end. They wouldn't be anywhere else and it shows.

None of the characters face bullying, shame, or embarrassment due to their love for theatre. I appreciated this too. Even when they think or talk about regular life, there isn't any negativity towards their passion. I liked that the book kept it a fun and cool thing that the characters enjoyed.

the plot

The current timeline in the story takes place when the main characters are 13 years old. Eowyn and Jules have very different lives outside camp but at camp they're best friends. At least, they used to be. Jules hasn't spoken to Eowyn since last summer, and Eowyn is on a mission to patch things up.

The story mainly tackles the difficult feelings of teenage years, friendship, and growth. The characters deal with some ugly feelings like jealousy, rage, embarrassment without understanding what's happening, and more. Eowyn and Jules go through a lot in the story and grow into more mature and aware teenagers.

Through Eowyn and Jules, the book captured what it's like to be 13—as if you’re going to do something big in life and “it’s now or never”. It's the age when you stop being as ignorant or innocent about the world works, you experience complicated feelings without knowing what to do with them, and have bigger fights with your friends.

I liked the way the plot was structured. We get alternating chapters from their POVs. Through Eowyn, we see the present summer. Through Jules, we see the past summers. As we go further into the book, we understand more about both the characters and where they're coming from. The depiction that "every story has two sides" and how sometimes both are not wrong was great.

I'd like to call out that jealousy was portrayed was on point. That's how that age is—we're so lost in our worlds and sorrows, about what we don't have and never thinking about what we have that others don't, that we don't realize how to empathize with others and end up fighting.

At its core, the story is about friendship. Although there's a ton of growth in Eowyn and Jules, the story is about their friendship. We see how they met, how they became best friends, how they viewed each other, and how their friendship broke. The plot keeps us hooked to find out what broke them, why it happened, and how they deal with it. We see how they overcome their distance and become closer than ever.

There's a tiny innocent budding of romance but that's barely given stage light. It's there to make the teenage experience more believable. The friendship overshadows it by a lot, which is also how my 13th/14th year was, so it makes sense.

It's also about coming-of-age things—having dreams and being worried about whether they’ll come true, worrying about things out of your control, and taking it out on friends because you don’t understand that they’re not the problem.

I liked that the story showed how money problems affect kids. Well-intentioned parents try to not let it affect their kids but there's only so much we can do. The parents who can afford to, try to keep their children from ever thinking about money citing that "they're kids and shouldn't worry about money." But it actually backfires because they can't empathise with friends who have to think about money all the time.

the characters

Eowyn is full of flaws. She has good intentions and love for everyone but she is often lost in her head and worries. She's honestly quite self-centred and doesn't realise it until the end. But it's easy to understand why she's that way. She didn't have an opportunity to properly grieve after her mother's sudden death and is still dealing with it. After her mom passed away, she's had a terrible stage fright that is ruining her biggest passion. After her brother suddenly becomes a celebrity, she has to grapple with the lack of attention from him and her father too. She is ignorant about her privilege that comes from having a rich father and celebrity brother.

If I was in Eowyn's place, I would be just as flawed. I don't know if I'd have grown and become as graceful as her, though. She absolutely loves her friends, loves camp, and is passionate about performing. She sometimes takes criticisms to heart but does her best. When others say something, she actually listens.

Coming from a completely different life, Jules is quite flawed as well. Again, totally understandable. She doesn't come from a wealthy or privileged background. While Eowyn and others get singing classes, Jules has to take on small jobs to earn enough to buy good clothes. She's the eldest child in a poor household. Her mother supports her as much as possible but there's only so much one can do without being able to afford anything extra. Theatre camp is her luxury where she can simply enjoy performing without worrying about tons of other things.

Jules and Eowyn's differences are smoothed over because they have a similar live at camp, but they're not erased. Eventually, the differences are more apparent which leads to issues. They become jealous of each other. Eowyn is jealous that Jules has a supportive mom who is always there for her and never misses any of her big moments. Jules is jealous that Eowyn's life is easier because of her father's money and brother's popularity.

Both the characters are relatable because they grapple with understandable problems and feelings. Their flaws didn't make them unlikeable, they made me root for them more. It was heartbreaking to see them struggling to come to terms with what they don't have. It was heartbreaking to see them fighting over things they can't control. It was heartwarming to see them grow and build a stronger friendship.

The supporting characters didn't get a lot of stage time but it's hard to write a story set in camp and built on familial situations without talking about them at least a bit. We see Eowyn's family quite a bit, Jules' family in flashbacks, the camp director, and a new camp teacher. It was a good balance between keeping the story well-rounded and focusing on the main characters.

My only complaint about the characters (and the book) is be the diversity. The book has an all-white cast which not really "real" considering today's demographic across the world. It would have been easy to add characters from other cultures without changing the story and I'm miffed that it wasn't.

overall

Although I spoke about the major topics above, I didn't cover everything. The story has so many nice things and storylines. It mostly talks about the main characters but there's enough about some supporting characters to learn from their stories too.

I enjoyed Take It From the Top and I recommend it. I liked that it was fun, had depth, and showed many nuanced things in a great way.

chat with me!

Do you read middle grade books often? What's a "thoughtful" book that you've liked? How was your life at 13 years old?