A relatable story of high schoolers navigating cyberbullying, video games and finding your people
—Amanda Khong, Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews Snapshot
Frogman's Response by Heidi Voss
Matthew’s anonymous online advice posts have gotten him banned from the school’s counseling forum and brought chaos to his school. When his notebook that has unpublished advice in it goes missing, Matthew worries about everything falling apart. 🌱 Character Growth 🍃 Easy Reading ✒️ Debut Author 🥀 Flawed Characters
- Genre: Young Adult
Book Review
Realistic, modern, nostalgic, relevant, relatable, tough, engaging
Frogman’s Response was a book that I didn’t think I would relate to quite as much as I did. I found myself identifying with Matthew constantly in a way that made me uncomfortable in a way that books don’t often elicit in me. I could see how my high school self would have made similar mistakes and reactions as Matthew and it made me confront where those feelings might have come from. Hoarding disorder is so common in the Midwest (which is actually where I grew up!) it’s almost hard to find a family that doesn’t have too many boxes somewhere. Though I never saw it on the same scale as Matthew, the emotions that Matthew feels are all too familiar to so many kids. This book is uncomfortably relatable in the best way that will make you nostalgic for high school and so glad you will never have to go back all at the same time.
Matthew gets anonymously famous at his school after posting advice under the pseudonym Frogman on his school’s counseling website until the school bans him. Addicted to anonymously helping his classmates, he and his friends make a school blog and run it the way that they think it should be run. Little did they know that the well-intentioned advice would start to wreak havoc on the student body, but Frogman becomes the only way that Matthew feels in control of his life when living in his mom’s hoarding house. When Matthew’s private notebook gets stolen, Matthew worries that everything in his life will begin falling apart.
This book is engaging, realistic, and right on point. Regardless of if these teenager struggles are similar experiences to yours, you can’t help but see yourself somewhere in this high school. The energy, the aesthetic and the situations feel like the most realistic depiction of high school that I’ve read in so long. You can’t help but sympathize with Matthew and his friends. Frogman’s Response is a firm reminder that high school is hard and growing up is hard, which is something that we often forget as we get older and stop sympathizing with teens quite as much. Voss will put you right back in the shoes of these teenagers.
(Potential spoilers, read on with caution) The only thing I wished was included in this book was more of a resolution with Matthew’s mom. Hoarding disorder is so hard on family members, but it is still a disorder. Though the more that I thought about it after finishing, I realized that realistically the biggest resolution between Matthew and his mom would likely come after he actually is able to move out of the house. It makes more sense to happen after the events of the book.
Sometimes problems are too close to home to be resolved only for the sake of a happy ending. Sometimes it’s more realistic to not have a full resolution yet. In the end, there was a bit more of an understanding in their relationship, but it is still far from perfect and honestly, it feels more real that way. The biggest thing this book gets right is how realistic it is in so many ways. There is so much thought and care put into this book and it really shines through to the reader.
Frogman’s Response is the most realistic high school experience that I have read in so long. Voss will put you right in the shoes of these teenagers and make you remember your high school days. It will make you feel nostalgic for high school and glad you don’t have to go back all at once.
