Three friends, Sunny, Vee, and Trev, start a secret club in order to reach their goals. They all have a common goal of winning. Trev wants to get the lead role in the upcoming musical, Vee wants to beat her nemesis in swimming, and Sunny wants to build the best junkbot and win the upcoming competition. Each of them has their reason for wanting to win, part of which is having others see them without their autoimmune conditions. They come up with plans to reach their winning goals. They agree that they’ll stop at nothing and tell no one. When a new girl named Josie asks to join their club, she tells them that she has an autoimmune disease just like they all do. Soon something seems amiss and their winning plans have a few hiccups. Is winning everything? If you do whatever it takes, will getting what you want really make you happy? You’ll have to see what happens to this group of friends on their journey to win.The Secret Winners Club by Donna Galanti is one of many books that I’ve read by her. I like how the story was told from different viewpoints, so we got to see what each of the main characters were thinking. Sunny, Vee, and Trev seemed very real because they had their good qualities, but they also had their flaws. I know a lot of kids that have a variety of autoimmune conditions, and I think this would be a book where they could see themselves. Two of my friends have alopecia, and there aren’t a lot of books with kids who are going through the same thing. Learning about vitiligo, psoriasis, and alopecia will help other kids learn about what life is like for some people and may answer some of their questions. It was interesting to see what each person did to try to reach their goal and how they felt afterwards. It makes you think about what you'd do to win. I would recommend this book to anyone in fourth grade and up who likes books about friendship. Has anyone else read The Secret Winners Club? Or have you read another book by Donna Galanti?
We'd love to hear your thoughts!
Happy Reading!
~L
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing The Secret Winners Club! I appreciate your thoughtful review. I hope young readers connect with it--especially those with chronic illness and autoimmune disease!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize so many people had autoimmune issues.
ReplyDeleteAlex, it's true! 50 million Americans do and this is Autoimmune Awareness Month so shining light on these issues. Many AI diseases are invisible.
DeleteCongrats to Donna on her newest book! I think it spotlights some medical conditions kids have to cope with while dealing with common middle grade issues. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.
ReplyDeleteThanks Natalie! I appreciate your support!
DeleteI enjoyed this one immensely. I have it in my top three contemporary reads this year so far. Thanks for the excellent review and have a Happy MMGM!
ReplyDeleteWow, Greg! Thank you for that and also for reading and reviewing The Secret Winners Club!
DeleteI've been hearing great things about this one. I love that it tackles whether or not winning is everything. And yay that there is a swimmer and a kid in a robot competition!
ReplyDeleteAppreciate that Jenni. I was in swim team for a year as a kid so it was fun to add that in :)
DeleteI love that this features kids with autoimmune disorders but doesn't make that the central storyline. I haven't read anything by Donna Galanti yet, but I'm excited to check this one out after reading your review.
ReplyDeleteKasey, I hope you enjoy it if you read it! Thanks for checking it out.
DeleteThere are many autoimmune issues that people of all ages face.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds a very good book.
All the best Jan
It's true and there are about 100 different kinds of AI disease and often many can take years to diagnose. :( I hope this book resonates with young readers who have chronic illness and they can see that they are so much more than their disease!
DeleteThis book is getting a lot of well-deserved buzz. Readers will learn a lot from it, I think. I hope to read it soon. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteRosi, thanks so much! Hope you enjoy The Secret Winners Club!
DeleteThanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Donna, and good luck with your latest release!