Jawbreaker

Middle School is tough enough, but imagine having to face it with a severely obvious dental situation? Max Plink has terrible teeth and a concerning jaw structure. Her family does not have a lot of money, but they get Max to an orthodontist, who is trying to fix Max’s problems. She may need surgery in the future (a scary prospect), but meanwhile the doctor puts her in a “jawbreaker” (massive headgear) to try to coax her bite into submission. The headgear is awful and uncomfortable, but at least she doesn’t have to wear it at school. Unfortunately, her visual difference is enough to attract bullies, who relentlessly target her on the bus and in the classroom, calling her “Beaver” among other hurtful names. Max’s younger sister joins the bullies and secretly takes a photo of Max in the jawbreaker with disastrous results. On top of the bullying problem, Max’s parents are being weird and arguing a lot and her best friend seems to be hiding something. What is going on? One saving grace is her writing. Max decides to enter a citywide journalism contest with a topic close to home: living with terrible teeth and dealing with bullying. Will Max ever find peace within her family and school?

Author Wyman digs deep into her childhood to tell a story in which she can personally relate. In an introductory author’s note Wyman explains that she faced similar problems, finally overcoming them and feeling brave enough to share her story to help kids in relatable situations. There is a lot going on here, between the teeth, the bullying, and the family and friend problems, but Wyman keeps the story humming along and never gets lost in the sauce. Readers will either find comfort in Max’s tale or learn about someone’s problems that maybe they never thought about. At any rate, it calls out bullying and addresses how terrible it is when the bully shares a bedroom with you. Max experiences growth through the tale as she becomes more empathetic to to those around her and starts to see the world through other’s eyes. Sometimes the story reads a bit like an afterschool special, but that said, I loved after school specials when I was Max’s age and this story is popular with young readers who enjoy seeing their contemporaries work through problems maybe even worse than the ones they are experiencing. The story is set in the author’s past and I wonder how much worse the bullying could be if there was social media. The cover is cartoon-like and will attract readers thinking that they are getting a graphic novel. I think that the publisher should have added resources for readers dealing with some of the issues and that the fact they didn’t is a missed opportunity. Wyman has followed up this popular tale with two other: one about a girl who is abnormally tall and the other about someone living with terrible acne. I appreciate that the author’s photo on the back cover shows her beautiful, perfect teeth, demonstrating to kids that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and their present troubles are not forever.