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The Girls of Skylark Lane
Twin sisters join a ragtag neighborhood girls softball team at a time when growing up could mean growing apart.
Aggie and Jac might be twin sisters, but lately they haven’t felt the same about anything. While Jac is excited about their move to Los Angeles and a chance to seem cool and mysterious, Aggie is worried her new locker won’t open, Jac could make new friends without her, and her friends from home will move on, leaving her all alone.
When the first day at school ends with an invite to join the neighborhood softball team, Aggie jumps at the chance to meet the other girls, even if she has to drag Jac along. Aggie is relieved to learn that each girl is dealing with their own problems and discovers that by being vulnerable, she's able to create strong friendships.
Jac’s interest in the softball team might have more to do with the captain’s older brother. But as Jac’s crush grows she worries that it’s just one more way she and Aggie have become different. And is it wrong if Jac wants to feel different from Aggie sometimes, even if there’s no one else she'd rather have for her twin sister?
Jac and Aggie try to hold on to their sisterhood even as life throws the biggest curveball of all: growing up.
Aggie and Jac might be twin sisters, but lately they haven’t felt the same about anything. While Jac is excited about their move to Los Angeles and a chance to seem cool and mysterious, Aggie is worried her new locker won’t open, Jac could make new friends without her, and her friends from home will move on, leaving her all alone.
When the first day at school ends with an invite to join the neighborhood softball team, Aggie jumps at the chance to meet the other girls, even if she has to drag Jac along. Aggie is relieved to learn that each girl is dealing with their own problems and discovers that by being vulnerable, she's able to create strong friendships.
Jac’s interest in the softball team might have more to do with the captain’s older brother. But as Jac’s crush grows she worries that it’s just one more way she and Aggie have become different. And is it wrong if Jac wants to feel different from Aggie sometimes, even if there’s no one else she'd rather have for her twin sister?
Jac and Aggie try to hold on to their sisterhood even as life throws the biggest curveball of all: growing up.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2024
5 people are currently reading
4206 people want to read
About the author
Robin Benway
23 books2,037 followersRobin Benway is a National Book Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of six novels for young adults, including Far From the Tree, Audrey, Wait!, the AKA series, and Emmy & Oliver. Her books have received numerous awards and recognition, including the PEN America Literary Award, the Blue Ribbon Award from the Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books, ALA’s Best Books for Young Adults, and ALA’s Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. In addition, her novels have received starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly, and have been published in more than 25 countries. Her most recent book, Far From the Tree, won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the PEN America Award, and was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, NPR, PBS, Entertainment Weekly, and the Boston Globe. In addition, her non-fiction work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Bustle, Elle, and more.
Robin grew up in Orange County, California, attended NYU, where she was a recipient of the Seth Barkas Prize for Creative Writing, and is a graduate of UCLA. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her dog, Hudson.
Robin grew up in Orange County, California, attended NYU, where she was a recipient of the Seth Barkas Prize for Creative Writing, and is a graduate of UCLA. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her dog, Hudson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
June 15, 2024
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus
Twins Jac and Aggie move from San Francisco to Los Angeles with the dad and papa, and try to settle in to a new routine before the school year starts. Jac is very concerned about her image, crafting just the fight outfit and trying to impress Finn, the brother of a classmate, on whom she has a crush. Aggie doesn't like change, and is worried about the new school, making friends, and everything else. She is glad to befriend Twink, who recruits her and Jac to play on her informal softball team. Since Finn is Jac's brother, it's easy to get Jac to come. The twins meet several new people at Tink's, including Dylan, whose mother is on one of the "Housewives" television shows, and spends a lot of time on social media trying to develop an income stream after a bitter divorce from Dylan's mother. Adriana is the CEO of a nonprofit fundraising lemonade stand and is consumed by spreadsheets and donating money to the local children's hospital in honor of a brother who died as an infant. There's also Taylor, who is homeschooled, and who tells Aggie that she just transitioned, and joined Tink's informal team because parents forced her off her Little League team after they found out she was trans. The twins have some difficulties with their own relationship, especially since Jac is happy to grow up, have a birthday party at Sephora, and embrace being a teen, but Aggie hates change and is not happy when she gets her period. To complicate matters, there is a wildfire in the area that causes the families on the street to evacuate. Jac and Aggie are glad that everyone is safe, and use the time away from their New home to evaluate what is important in life. This is even more clear when Tink's family loses their home to the fire, and the neighborhood rallies to help them out.
Strengths: I loved Benway's note that there are lots of families that live in Los Angeles; having Dylan's mother be on a Housewives show was a fun thing to show! The big draw to this book will be the friend drama, and I was so glad that while Aggie and Jac had some reservations about moving, they weren't throwing fits, and they were able to find a friend group fairly quickly. This was very inclusive, and the fact that the twins had two dads, as well as Taylor's gender identity, were both addressed in very matter-of-fact ways. This is great representation for students who have similar life circumstances. There's enough softball to keep sports fans reading, a fun Halloween, and even some service learning, with Adriana and her nonprofit. I love the cover; it immediately puts me in mind of summer evenings being out playing with friends during the "golden hour".
Weaknesses: I would have liked to have had a little more information about being evacuated during the fire, but I imagine that there are scenes like this that happen again and again in California. This was more of a character driven book than a plot driven one, which is a little easier to sell to a young adult audience, but still interesting for most middle grade readers.
What I really think: Readers who are familiar with Benway's 2013 spy romp Also Known As might be surprised at how domestic this title is, but her note at the beginning of the book explains that she was inspired by her own tweendom to explore the different ways that friendships play out during these years. This is a good choice for fans of Calin's The New Girl, Greenwald's Fortune Tellers, or Faris' Finding Normal.
Twins Jac and Aggie move from San Francisco to Los Angeles with the dad and papa, and try to settle in to a new routine before the school year starts. Jac is very concerned about her image, crafting just the fight outfit and trying to impress Finn, the brother of a classmate, on whom she has a crush. Aggie doesn't like change, and is worried about the new school, making friends, and everything else. She is glad to befriend Twink, who recruits her and Jac to play on her informal softball team. Since Finn is Jac's brother, it's easy to get Jac to come. The twins meet several new people at Tink's, including Dylan, whose mother is on one of the "Housewives" television shows, and spends a lot of time on social media trying to develop an income stream after a bitter divorce from Dylan's mother. Adriana is the CEO of a nonprofit fundraising lemonade stand and is consumed by spreadsheets and donating money to the local children's hospital in honor of a brother who died as an infant. There's also Taylor, who is homeschooled, and who tells Aggie that she just transitioned, and joined Tink's informal team because parents forced her off her Little League team after they found out she was trans. The twins have some difficulties with their own relationship, especially since Jac is happy to grow up, have a birthday party at Sephora, and embrace being a teen, but Aggie hates change and is not happy when she gets her period. To complicate matters, there is a wildfire in the area that causes the families on the street to evacuate. Jac and Aggie are glad that everyone is safe, and use the time away from their New home to evaluate what is important in life. This is even more clear when Tink's family loses their home to the fire, and the neighborhood rallies to help them out.
Strengths: I loved Benway's note that there are lots of families that live in Los Angeles; having Dylan's mother be on a Housewives show was a fun thing to show! The big draw to this book will be the friend drama, and I was so glad that while Aggie and Jac had some reservations about moving, they weren't throwing fits, and they were able to find a friend group fairly quickly. This was very inclusive, and the fact that the twins had two dads, as well as Taylor's gender identity, were both addressed in very matter-of-fact ways. This is great representation for students who have similar life circumstances. There's enough softball to keep sports fans reading, a fun Halloween, and even some service learning, with Adriana and her nonprofit. I love the cover; it immediately puts me in mind of summer evenings being out playing with friends during the "golden hour".
Weaknesses: I would have liked to have had a little more information about being evacuated during the fire, but I imagine that there are scenes like this that happen again and again in California. This was more of a character driven book than a plot driven one, which is a little easier to sell to a young adult audience, but still interesting for most middle grade readers.
What I really think: Readers who are familiar with Benway's 2013 spy romp Also Known As might be surprised at how domestic this title is, but her note at the beginning of the book explains that she was inspired by her own tweendom to explore the different ways that friendships play out during these years. This is a good choice for fans of Calin's The New Girl, Greenwald's Fortune Tellers, or Faris' Finding Normal.
August 11, 2024
I’m a huge Robin Benway fan and was thrilled with a story with middle school as its core. I also appreciate a strong author offering a book revolving around softball since I get quite a few requests with only a handful of books. Twins finding their own voice was a powerful theme and will resonate with middle school readers.
October 3, 2024
I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this mostly because I’m just on a middle grade kick lately, and the blurb sucked me in with mention of The Babysitter’s Club, which was my all-time favorite series as a kid. This definitely has BSC vibes - a group of friends from all different types of families and backgrounds, and the story is mostly just about them…living life. Things pick up a bit near the end, and I had issues with some of the pacing of that part, but mostly it’s quite lovely and sweet.
Our narrators are twins Aggie and Jac, who go by their nicknames because they have embarrassingly long real names (Agapanthus and Jacaranda) thanks to their dads’ love of plants. They’re being raised by 2 dads, and have just moved from San Francisco to a new neighborhood closer to Los Angeles. Aggie and Jac trade off narration duties as we watch them navigate starting a new school, finding new friends, and going through all of the expected growing pains. Their neighbor Tink invites the twins to join her baseball team, which is really just a loose collection of other girls from the neighborhood who for one reason or another aren’t part of organized teams. As Jac points out frequently, they hardly ever practice - someone’s life drama gets in the way first. But the team (or at least the notion of a team) is what bonds them together.
It’s pretty common in these sort of books (and in…life) for a pair of best friends to suddenly grow apart in middle school. It’s really one of the few middle school problems that transcends gender! All best friends, no matter how they identify, usually have some kind of drama once they hit the 11-12 range, and it’s usually because someone is maturing more quickly. But in this case it’s even harder because Aggie and Jac aren’t just best friends, they’re twins. Aggie feels like Jac is maturing faster than her and somehow leaving her behind (she wants to go to Sephora for their birthday shopping trip, while Aggie still wants to go to Build a Bear). But Aggie doesn’t really like any of that stuff yet, even though she feels like maybe she *should*. Jac was sort of a harder nut to crack, which is weird because she narrates half of the chapters, but for some reason this felt to me more like Aggie’s book than hers. There’s a subplot where Jac’s maybe being bullied by 8th graders, but we don’t really see much of it from her perspective - just Aggie witnessing it. I feel like we were more in Aggie’s head than Jac’s, for some reason.
Overall though, this is really sweet, without being treacly. Middle grade books are so much better than when I was this age! (No shade to the babysitters, but really, if you weren’t into them or outgrew them, there wasn’t much else out there)
I requested this mostly because I’m just on a middle grade kick lately, and the blurb sucked me in with mention of The Babysitter’s Club, which was my all-time favorite series as a kid. This definitely has BSC vibes - a group of friends from all different types of families and backgrounds, and the story is mostly just about them…living life. Things pick up a bit near the end, and I had issues with some of the pacing of that part, but mostly it’s quite lovely and sweet.
Our narrators are twins Aggie and Jac, who go by their nicknames because they have embarrassingly long real names (Agapanthus and Jacaranda) thanks to their dads’ love of plants. They’re being raised by 2 dads, and have just moved from San Francisco to a new neighborhood closer to Los Angeles. Aggie and Jac trade off narration duties as we watch them navigate starting a new school, finding new friends, and going through all of the expected growing pains. Their neighbor Tink invites the twins to join her baseball team, which is really just a loose collection of other girls from the neighborhood who for one reason or another aren’t part of organized teams. As Jac points out frequently, they hardly ever practice - someone’s life drama gets in the way first. But the team (or at least the notion of a team) is what bonds them together.
It’s pretty common in these sort of books (and in…life) for a pair of best friends to suddenly grow apart in middle school. It’s really one of the few middle school problems that transcends gender! All best friends, no matter how they identify, usually have some kind of drama once they hit the 11-12 range, and it’s usually because someone is maturing more quickly. But in this case it’s even harder because Aggie and Jac aren’t just best friends, they’re twins. Aggie feels like Jac is maturing faster than her and somehow leaving her behind (she wants to go to Sephora for their birthday shopping trip, while Aggie still wants to go to Build a Bear). But Aggie doesn’t really like any of that stuff yet, even though she feels like maybe she *should*. Jac was sort of a harder nut to crack, which is weird because she narrates half of the chapters, but for some reason this felt to me more like Aggie’s book than hers. There’s a subplot where Jac’s maybe being bullied by 8th graders, but we don’t really see much of it from her perspective - just Aggie witnessing it. I feel like we were more in Aggie’s head than Jac’s, for some reason.
Overall though, this is really sweet, without being treacly. Middle grade books are so much better than when I was this age! (No shade to the babysitters, but really, if you weren’t into them or outgrew them, there wasn’t much else out there)
October 9, 2024
I have adored Robin Benway for years now. Her writing about middle grade is such a good depiction. This book is a great book for middle grade girls who are going through changes and trying to figure out where they fit in.
I loved Aggie and Jac, and their new friend Tink and how she just welcomed them in with open arms. I loved the different family dynamics and how they all really supported each other.
I liked how we see how different Jac and Aggie are. One is neater and one is messier. But they both like things a certain way. I am more like Aggie, change is hard and like to hang onto past things that mean a lot to me. We see that even though they are twins they are allowed to be their own person. I liked how Benway references to their past and how Aggie is dealing with these changes and sometimes wishes she could be little again because being like her sister was easier then. This is something that so many people can relate to. Change is hard, no matter the situation and we all are going to face it sometime.
This group of friends was amazing! They are all so different and going through different things but they find ways to help support each other and be there for each other. They also find ways to just have fun, while they are playing on their softball "team".
I liked the look at periods also and how that can be a hard change for middle grade girls to go through.
The way the community comes together at the end was wonderful.
A book that will definitely be added to my personal collection and the library's collection.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
I loved Aggie and Jac, and their new friend Tink and how she just welcomed them in with open arms. I loved the different family dynamics and how they all really supported each other.
I liked how we see how different Jac and Aggie are. One is neater and one is messier. But they both like things a certain way. I am more like Aggie, change is hard and like to hang onto past things that mean a lot to me. We see that even though they are twins they are allowed to be their own person. I liked how Benway references to their past and how Aggie is dealing with these changes and sometimes wishes she could be little again because being like her sister was easier then. This is something that so many people can relate to. Change is hard, no matter the situation and we all are going to face it sometime.
This group of friends was amazing! They are all so different and going through different things but they find ways to help support each other and be there for each other. They also find ways to just have fun, while they are playing on their softball "team".
I liked the look at periods also and how that can be a hard change for middle grade girls to go through.
The way the community comes together at the end was wonderful.
A book that will definitely be added to my personal collection and the library's collection.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
June 17, 2024
~~Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!~~
This was a short and sweet book, but I don't really have much to say.
Benway's Far From the Tree is one of my all time favs, so I went into this having a lot of confidence the author would nail the family elements, which she did. Any scene with Aggie, Jac, and their dads was my favorite, whether it was all of them or one of the girls with one of the dads. The dynamic felt so naturally loving and dorky; I just adored them.
The friendship group was really good, too. The friends had their own quirks and problems they deal with, and I loved how much they lifted and supported each other. It was kind of weird that they used lingo I never used at their age, such as one of them calling another a capitalist (I didn't even know what capitalism was til I was a high school junior!). But then it was obvious these kids live in a modern internet age, so them learning/using certain words/phrases is just a given. I applaud Benway for being able to replicate that in her characters so well.
The only reason I didn't like this much more is because I genuinely felt too old to relate? Plus, I didn't have much trouble with change like Aggie and Jac do when I was young, so there's that, too.
All in all, I would still recommend this for this book's targeted age group, for the middle schoolers who would relate more to Aggie and Jac than I could.
This was a short and sweet book, but I don't really have much to say.
Benway's Far From the Tree is one of my all time favs, so I went into this having a lot of confidence the author would nail the family elements, which she did. Any scene with Aggie, Jac, and their dads was my favorite, whether it was all of them or one of the girls with one of the dads. The dynamic felt so naturally loving and dorky; I just adored them.
The friendship group was really good, too. The friends had their own quirks and problems they deal with, and I loved how much they lifted and supported each other. It was kind of weird that they used lingo I never used at their age, such as one of them calling another a capitalist (I didn't even know what capitalism was til I was a high school junior!). But then it was obvious these kids live in a modern internet age, so them learning/using certain words/phrases is just a given. I applaud Benway for being able to replicate that in her characters so well.
The only reason I didn't like this much more is because I genuinely felt too old to relate? Plus, I didn't have much trouble with change like Aggie and Jac do when I was young, so there's that, too.
All in all, I would still recommend this for this book's targeted age group, for the middle schoolers who would relate more to Aggie and Jac than I could.
Read
July 28, 2025I'm a big Robin Benway fan! I will be recommending THE GIRLS OF SKYLARK LANE to fellow readers and especially middle grade teachers for their students. I was hooked on page one by the quirky characters and the Benway's humor which continued to shine throughout.
Twins Aggie and Jac, along with their dads, have just moved from northern California to Los Angeles. The girls are nervous about making friends and starting at a new school. As they pull up in front of their new house, their pet rat makes an amazing escape that attracts the attention of the neighbors. This dramatic entrance ends up being a great ice breaker as far as making friends is concerned.
School starts off well, including an invitation to play baseball with the other girls in the neighborhood. It is a strange pick-up team situation that fits perfectly for Aggie and Jac. Readers will be entertained by the antics of the neighbors, the relationship Aggie and Jac have with their dads, and surprises like meeting a young lemonade stand entrepreneur whose mother is actually famous.
Author Robin Benway fills this quick read with family drama, teenage girl issues, first crushes, and even sudden wildfire danger. It is perfect for middle grade classrooms and library collections.
Twins Aggie and Jac, along with their dads, have just moved from northern California to Los Angeles. The girls are nervous about making friends and starting at a new school. As they pull up in front of their new house, their pet rat makes an amazing escape that attracts the attention of the neighbors. This dramatic entrance ends up being a great ice breaker as far as making friends is concerned.
School starts off well, including an invitation to play baseball with the other girls in the neighborhood. It is a strange pick-up team situation that fits perfectly for Aggie and Jac. Readers will be entertained by the antics of the neighbors, the relationship Aggie and Jac have with their dads, and surprises like meeting a young lemonade stand entrepreneur whose mother is actually famous.
Author Robin Benway fills this quick read with family drama, teenage girl issues, first crushes, and even sudden wildfire danger. It is perfect for middle grade classrooms and library collections.
December 14, 2024
The Girls of Skylark Lane
by Robin Benway
Pub DateOct 01 2024
HarperCollins Children's Books |HarperCollins
Children's Fiction| Middle Grade| Sports
Netgalley and Harper Collins Children's Books provided me with a copy of The Girls of Skylark Lane for review:
Even though Aggie and Jac are twins, they haven't felt the same lately. Jac is excited about their move to Los Angeles and the opportunity to appear cool and mysterious, but Aggie is worried her new locker won't open, that Jac could make new friends without her, and that her friends from home will move on.
The first day at school ends with Aggie being invited to join the neighborhood softball team, despite the fact that Jac's interest might be more influenced by the captain's older brother...
As Aggie learns each girl has her own problems, she becomes excited at the prospect of forming strong friendships. Will Jac and Aggie's sisterhood survive as they grow into different people? .Life throws the biggest curveball of all: growing up.
I give The Girls of Skylark Lane five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
by Robin Benway
Pub DateOct 01 2024
HarperCollins Children's Books |HarperCollins
Children's Fiction| Middle Grade| Sports
Netgalley and Harper Collins Children's Books provided me with a copy of The Girls of Skylark Lane for review:
Even though Aggie and Jac are twins, they haven't felt the same lately. Jac is excited about their move to Los Angeles and the opportunity to appear cool and mysterious, but Aggie is worried her new locker won't open, that Jac could make new friends without her, and that her friends from home will move on.
The first day at school ends with Aggie being invited to join the neighborhood softball team, despite the fact that Jac's interest might be more influenced by the captain's older brother...
As Aggie learns each girl has her own problems, she becomes excited at the prospect of forming strong friendships. Will Jac and Aggie's sisterhood survive as they grow into different people? .Life throws the biggest curveball of all: growing up.
I give The Girls of Skylark Lane five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
January 19, 2025
Aggie and Jac's dads are into plants, hence their unfortunate names—Agapanthus and Jacaranda. The soon to be thirteen-year-old twins have just moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles. At a time when they could really use each other for support, the twins find themselves starting to grow apart. Most of this gentle, realistic fiction novel centers on Aggie and Jac's emotional growing pains. The plot unfolds slowly and none of the stakes feel particularly high until the family's new neighborhood is threatened by a wildfire. The wildfire scenes are intense without being traumatic. Benway has done a good job of weaving in secondary storlines, including nontraditional family situations, a friend who faced discrimination for being trans, and the impacts of parents' social media visibility on their children. Readers looking for a lot of action won't find this story satisfying, but the characters are well-developed and the emotional rollercoaster of middle school rings true.
Recommended for readers in grades 5-8.
Recommended for readers in grades 5-8.
February 1, 2025
Aggie and Jac's dads are into plants, hence their unfortunate names—Agapanthus and Jacaranda. The soon to be thirteen-year-old twins have just moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles. At a time when they could really use each other for support, the twins find themselves starting to grow apart.
Most of this gentle, realistic fiction novel centers on Aggie and Jac's emotional growing pains. The plot unfolds slowly and none of the stakes feel particularly high until the family's new neighborhood is threatened by a wildfire. The wildfire scenes are intense without being traumatic.
Benway has done a good job of weaving in secondary storlines, including nontraditional family situations, a friend who faced discrimination for being trans, and the impacts of parents' social media visibility on their children. Readers looking for a lot of action won't find this story satisfying, but the characters are well-developed and the emotional rollercoaster of middle school rings true.
Recommended for readers in grades 5-8.
K.M.
School Librarian
Most of this gentle, realistic fiction novel centers on Aggie and Jac's emotional growing pains. The plot unfolds slowly and none of the stakes feel particularly high until the family's new neighborhood is threatened by a wildfire. The wildfire scenes are intense without being traumatic.
Benway has done a good job of weaving in secondary storlines, including nontraditional family situations, a friend who faced discrimination for being trans, and the impacts of parents' social media visibility on their children. Readers looking for a lot of action won't find this story satisfying, but the characters are well-developed and the emotional rollercoaster of middle school rings true.
Recommended for readers in grades 5-8.
K.M.
School Librarian
October 7, 2024
Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for providing me with an eARC of The Girls of Skylark Lane. A sweet story of starting middle school, puberty, and all the things that happen when you are 12 years old. Twins, Aggie and Jac (their shortened names, not going to spoil their real names) move from San Francisco to Los Angeles with their Dads. Starting a new grade is hard enough but add in a new school, names that are "weird" and the fact that they are starting to drift apart makes the whole thing harder. Aggie meets Tink, who talks like no other. Turns out Tink is a neighbor of theirs and asks them to come over after school. When the girls go over that afternoon they meet 6 other girls their age that play softball together in the street. The girls learn what it means to be a team, support one another through the twists and turns of being a tween. They show that through the "new" aspects that are happening in life, being a team truly makes the dream work!
October 20, 2024
Thank you to #NetGalley, Robin Benway, and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Aggie and Jac may be twins, but they could not be more different. Especially recently. Jac is excited as her family moves to LA, but Aggie is not. She's worried about making new friends and Jac going off without her. Jac feels a little better though when they are invited to join their neighborhood softball team. Even is Aggie is doing it just to attract the attention of a fellow player's older brother.
Will the sisters maintain their friendship/sisterhood or will they continue to grow apart?
A great middle great read! It discusses tough topics like growing up and learning how to maintain and balance friendships. I liked both Aggie and Jac for their individual interests and how they handle different interactions and challenges. I will be recommending this book to my students.
Aggie and Jac may be twins, but they could not be more different. Especially recently. Jac is excited as her family moves to LA, but Aggie is not. She's worried about making new friends and Jac going off without her. Jac feels a little better though when they are invited to join their neighborhood softball team. Even is Aggie is doing it just to attract the attention of a fellow player's older brother.
Will the sisters maintain their friendship/sisterhood or will they continue to grow apart?
A great middle great read! It discusses tough topics like growing up and learning how to maintain and balance friendships. I liked both Aggie and Jac for their individual interests and how they handle different interactions and challenges. I will be recommending this book to my students.
Read
June 26, 2024In the summer before 7th grade, twin girls Aggie and Jac move with their dads from San Franciso to LA. In spite of their misgivings about moving, the girls are fairly quickly incorporated into a neighborhood girls softball team (using the word 'team' looselyhere). Aggie starts to feel threatened by the fact that the identical twins are developing separate interests - one has a crush on a boy, one starts menstruating before the other, one wants to dress up with the team for Halloween and the other wants to do her own thing etc. When a wildfire threatens their home and neighborhood, both girls realize how much they love each other and their sometimes dorky parents. Benway nails the angst that many middle school kids experience while also normalizing several different family make-ups (two dads, divorced parents, celebrity parent, deceased parent etc.).
October 29, 2024
This book was sent to our review circle in an advanced reader copy. I chose it from our pile as the premise sounded interesting and the author had won a National Book Award for an earlier book for young people.
The story features identical twins who move from urban San Fransico to suburban Los Angeles for one of their father's jobs. On the surface, one twin is outgoing and confident, the other more reflective and more hesitant about worried about the new life they are going to have. When they join the neighborhood girls in their street softball team, they each begin to have more separate experiences that are new for both as they become teenagers. Friendship, family, and self-actualization themes make this a firmly middle grade book especially appealing to readers aged 10-12.
I would recommend this book for middle school and public libraries.
The story features identical twins who move from urban San Fransico to suburban Los Angeles for one of their father's jobs. On the surface, one twin is outgoing and confident, the other more reflective and more hesitant about worried about the new life they are going to have. When they join the neighborhood girls in their street softball team, they each begin to have more separate experiences that are new for both as they become teenagers. Friendship, family, and self-actualization themes make this a firmly middle grade book especially appealing to readers aged 10-12.
I would recommend this book for middle school and public libraries.
September 3, 2024
The Girls of Skylark Lane is a fun middle grade book that touches on some deeper topics, but leaves the reader feeling encouraged and happy by the end.
Aggie and Jac are a pair of identical twins who have just moved to Southern California from the Bay Area with their dads and their (coincidentally-named) pet rat, Jack. They start a new school, make new friends, and deal with middle school struggles like having a crush and starting your period unexpectedly. The neighborhood baseball "team" is a nice device to bring a bunch of girls together, but they spend most of their time dealing with parental issues, sibling issues, etc.
The third act conflict is a bit scary, but handled gently for all readers! I love the "found family" trope, and this book did it well.
(I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)
Aggie and Jac are a pair of identical twins who have just moved to Southern California from the Bay Area with their dads and their (coincidentally-named) pet rat, Jack. They start a new school, make new friends, and deal with middle school struggles like having a crush and starting your period unexpectedly. The neighborhood baseball "team" is a nice device to bring a bunch of girls together, but they spend most of their time dealing with parental issues, sibling issues, etc.
The third act conflict is a bit scary, but handled gently for all readers! I love the "found family" trope, and this book did it well.
(I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)
December 28, 2024
This book is so sweet. Middle grade reads always have a special place in my heart and this book is exactly why. It was just so real. It’s just a book about two girls having real feelings about growing up and there is something so beautiful about that. Also their little friend group is just the cutest. I notoriously have a difficult time differentiating characters but all of the girls on the team had such unique personalities that I had no trouble telling who was who. And the way they supported each other was so sweet. Plus bonus points for having a wonderfully written trans character.
This book has so much heart. 4.1/5 stars.
This book has so much heart. 4.1/5 stars.
September 11, 2024
2024
Goodreads Giveaway winner
This is truly a wonderful coming-of-age story. I love the bond between Aggie and Jac (and their crew of baseball players). The author did a great job including many current social issues. Honestly a lot of boomers would benefit from reading this book and realizing that it is okay for people to have their own interests/ personality. It's definitely a helpful read for preteen kids in learning how to accept and love someone for who they are
Goodreads Giveaway winner
This is truly a wonderful coming-of-age story. I love the bond between Aggie and Jac (and their crew of baseball players). The author did a great job including many current social issues. Honestly a lot of boomers would benefit from reading this book and realizing that it is okay for people to have their own interests/ personality. It's definitely a helpful read for preteen kids in learning how to accept and love someone for who they are
December 9, 2024
This is a sweet story about identical twin girls and their dads who move to Los Angeles. Although they've always done everything together, as they approach teenagerhood, Jac is starting to be interested in make up and boys, while Aggie wants nothing to do with either. It's an adjustment for all. Luckily, the girls have found a wonderful group of neighborhood friends who get them involved in a local softball team. It's all pretty squeaky clean, but realistic and readable.
June 27, 2025
👦🏻review: while this middle grade book has tackled many realistic issues, what really matters most is how the sisters, Aggie and Jac, have grown and done while dealing with changes and challenges. The twins have opposite tendencies while maintaining and maneuvering through their own struggles. It is an incredible realistic fiction and more. There are some LGBTQ parts and I think matured middle graders might comprehend the story better. Great book!
November 16, 2025
This one didn't quite click for me. In the opening pages we have twin sisters riding with parents and pet rat to their new neighborhood in Los Angeles, where they're moving from San Francisco. Instead of a quick delivery to the new setting we get too many pages of internal dialog introducing the sisters. I was more than ready for the story to start but I couldn't manage to wait long enough for that to happen.
September 13, 2024
Very good read for pre-teens/teens. This read covers "misfits", bonding, friendship and accepting others differences. Girls, especially, should have a copy to understand that they are okay even if they do not "fit in" with the "in crowd".
January 11, 2025
A middle grade novel that is a love letter to 80's and 90's kids movies like Stand By Me, The Sandlot, and book series like "Baby Sitter's Club" and "Sweet Valley High" (only with much more nuanced and nicer twins).
June 7, 2024
Benway does a fabulous job making the transition to middle grade with some loveable and relatable characters.
October 5, 2024
This was very sweet
October 20, 2024
A fun read about twin sisters moving w their 2 dads to a new home in LA. #friendships #softball #family
November 19, 2024
This is a perfectly nice realistic fiction, but my expectations for it were too high because 1) it was starred review 2) it was Robin Benway and I LOVED Far from the Tree
December 5, 2024
*applauding the representation packed in a middlegrade book*
growing up in a loving community works wonders for children
growing up in a loving community works wonders for children
January 3, 2025
This was okay.
January 7, 2025
Super cute middle grade
April 24, 2025
PopSugar Reading Challenge - Prompt #41 “A book by the oldest author in your TBR pile."
May 8, 2025
3.5 stars, rounded.
This was very cute! I would have ate it up when I was a kid.
This was very cute! I would have ate it up when I was a kid.
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