Remarkable

Remarkable by Lizzie K. Foley is a book about an entirely unremarkable girl. In fact, the full text on the cover of the book reads: Welcome to the Town of Remarkable Where Every Day in this Remarkable Place Filled with Remarkable People is Positively Remarkable for Absolutely Everyone Except Jane. A bit much? Some would say so are the contents of the book.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
In the mountain town of Remarkable, everyone is extraordinarily talented, extraordinarily gifted, or just plain extraordinary. Everyone, that is, except Jane Doe, the most average ten-year-old who ever lived. But everything changes when the mischievous, downright criminal Grimlet twins enroll in Jane's school and a strange pirate captain appears in town.
Thus begins a series of adventures that put some of Remarkable's most infamous inhabitants and their long-held secrets in danger. It's up to Jane, in her own modest style, to come to the rescue and prove that she is capable of some rather exceptional things.

Jane is a character I can see young readers identifying with. She feels vastly inferior to everyone around her. She is the one always left out. No one pays attention to her and nothing ever happens to her. And what kids doesn't feel like that a whole lot? The interesting thing is Jane is fairly unremarkable and really the least memorable character in the book. Even her grandfather, who is supposed to be so unremarkable that he's very near invisible, is more interesting. However, everything that is going on around Jane does make for a wild crazy story.

In this book you have: 5th grade juvenile delinquents, a town full of geniuses, a war over jelly, a lake monster, and pirates. And yes, I thought it was all a bit much. A little too quirky and over the top for me, however I can see kid readers, my own daughter included, loving it. Loving the zany antics of the townsfolk and the over the top badness of the delinquent twins. If you have someone in your life with a fondness this type of story, Remarkable is a good one to add to their collection.

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