Hundred Percent
By Darienne Stewart,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Honest, heartrending look at tween friendships, identity.
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What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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What's the Story?
In HUNDRED PERCENT, Christine "Tink" Gouda is 11 going on 12, but she feels like she's entering a strange new world. Her best friend, Jackie, is intent on being in the cool-kid circle: the sixth-graders who flirt and make racy jokes and taunts even they don't fully understand. Tink, hovering at the circle's edge, is unmoored by the changes in their friendship, her classmates, her changing body, and herself. Some of her impulsive actions and emotional reactions take her by surprise, and right and wrong aren't always clear. She thinks her nickname is childish, but Jackie's rebranding her as "Chris" doesn't feel right either. Tink wants nothing more than to feel like herself again, but she's unsure of who she is anymore -- or who she might become.
Is It Any Good?
Rather than mining puberty for easy, awkward laughs, this introspective novel explores the shifting emotional terrain, from thrilling new highs to plunging depths of self-doubt and uncertainty. In Hundred Percent, Karen Romano Young sensitively portrays the way so many tweens run, stumble, and drag their feet toward adulthood, trying on new personas (and new friends) as they go. Young has keen insight into the confusion of this age, when some kids appear to be growing up so fast while others seem immature -- "the ready and the unready."
The story is distractingly adrift in time: While kids listen to music on iPods, the cultural references -- the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, MAD magazine, Pat Sajak, the Mouseketeers, vinyl records, some of the fashion -- are completely out of place. But Young's understanding of what it's like to endure the crucible of puberty is timeless.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about body image and self-perception in Hundred Percent. How do other people's views shape how Tink and Jackie see themselves? Where do you think those expectations come from? (Parents may want to read our report on youth, media, and body image.)
Why is Tink more compassionate toward Bushwack than some of her other classmates?
Tink is uncomfortable trick-or-treating with Jackie, thinking their costumes are inappropriate. How do you feel about sexy Halloween costumes?
Book Details
- Author: Karen Romano Young
- Genre: Friendship
- Topics: Friendship, Middle School
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Chronicle Books
- Publication date: August 9, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 256
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: October 30, 2020
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