Room 555

by Cristy Watson

Fourteen-year-old Roonie loves hip-hop almost as much as she loves her grandmother. Roonie cannot wait to compete in her school's dance competition. But as her grandmother's health deteriorates, Roonie becomes more and more reluctant to visit her in the care home. These feelings of guilt and frustration cause Roonie to mess things up with her hip-hop dance partner and best friend, Kira. But while doing some volunteer hours in the hospital geriatric ward, Roonie meets an active senior recovering from a bad fall. Their shared love of dance and the woman's zest for life help Roonie face her fears, make amends with Kira and reconnect with Gram before it’s too late.

Genres: Middle Grade

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 29, 2019

About the author

I am a retired teacher and writer living in Calgary, Alberta. Since retiring I have grown the writer part of my life and now edit and mentor authors, as well as offering writing workshops. Along with eight published novels, my poetry appears in anthologies and online. Thanks for visiting my page!
Check out my author Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/watsoncristy

And my new YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD76...

Reviews

[Jen Solak]

I thought this was a great book with high interest for struggling readers. More important it was a good story, showing how the things we don’t want to face can be just what we need to deal with.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Sinamile]

ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.25 🌟

Its starts off a bit slow for me but then it picks up. I did struggle a bit with the first 30% or so of the book but then it got better and I started to enjoy it a lot.

I really liked how it ended, it gave me closure and made me happy.

[Cheriee Weichel]

Roonie loves her grandmother but can't bring herself to visit her now that she has Alzheimer's and has to live in a care home. Then she ends up volunteering in the geriatric ward at the hospital for school credits. While there she bonds with an aging woman over their shared love of dancing. Her new friend helps her mend fences with her best friend and find a way to connect with her grandmother.
This started out slow, but soon had me fully engaged in these characters' lives. I ended up loving it.

[Anne]

“Room 555” is one of those books that is best described as “good for you”. As part of the Orca Currents series it is a short, high-interest novel written specifically for middle-school students reading below grade level.

Fourteen-year-old Roonie is terrified to visit her grandmother who must now live in supported care. She refuses to go with her parents and brother when they go to see her. She says she prefers to remember how her grandmother was previously.

A chance assignment to do volunteer hours in a hospital geriatric ward allows Roonie to meet Jasmine. Jasmine and Roonie share a true love of dance and Roonie is forced to rethink her attitude about “old people”.

While “Room 555” does what it purports to do, it’s also pretty clumsy about teaching a lesson about attitude and bias towards the elderly. These kinds of stories usually work better when there is a little more finesse demonstrated in the relationship between the older and the younger person.

Nudge this age group towards Richard Peck’s classic “A Long Way from Chicago” which features lovely interconnected stories about grandchild/grandparent relationships which will linger a lot longer than this awkwardly composed hi-lo novel.

[Anne]

Roonie (Real name Mary, but her beloved grandma calls her Macaroon, hence the nickname Roonie) loves to hip hop dance. She does *not* love to visit her grandma in the care home that she has had to be moved into. Roonie and her best friend Kira spend most of their time practicing their moves for their school dance competition. However, they also do some volunteering for their school's mandatory hours. Roonie's volunteer placement puts her in contact with someone who shows her that even though someone is in a hospital bed does not mean that you should write them off completely.

A satisfactory hi-lo book with lots of appeal for anyone who likes to dance. Definitely will have relatable themes. Roonie's character is very convincing.