Stanley Will Probably Be Fine by Sally J. Pla

Stanley Will Probably Be Fine by Sally J. Pla. February 6, 2018. HarperCollins, 288 p. ISBN: 9780062445797.  Int Lvl: 3-6; Rdg Lvl: 5.6.

This novel features comic trivia, a safety superhero, and a super-cool scavenger hunt all over downtown San Diego, as our young hero Stanley Fortinbras grapples with his anxiety—and learns what, exactly, it means to be brave.

Nobody knows comics trivia like Stanley knows comics trivia.

It’s what he takes comfort in when the world around him gets to be too much. And after he faints during a safety assembly, Stanley takes his love of comics up a level by inventing his own imaginary superhero, named John Lockdown, to help him through.

Help is what he needs, because Stanley’s entered Trivia Quest—a giant comics-trivia treasure hunt—to prove he can tackle his worries, score VIP passes to Comic Fest, and win back his ex-best friend. Partnered with his fearless new neighbor Liberty, Stanley faces his most epic, overwhelming, challenging day ever.

What would John Lockdown do?

Stanley’s about to find out.

Potentially Sensitive Areas: Guns, One instance of the word “hell”

 

Reviews

Booklist (November 15, 2017 (Vol. 114, No. 6))
Grades 4-8. Stanley is an expert at comics trivia. Comics give him comfort in the world when he feels overwhelmed from sensory overload and his anxiety rears its head. With Stanley’s best friend acting weird and distant, his dad overseas for a job, and his middle school’s alarming safety assemblies, Stanley has a lot to worry about. After fainting during an assembly, Stanley creates an imaginary superhero named John Lockdown to help him overcome his fears. And Stanley needs help because he’s just entered the biggest comics event, Trivia Quest. Partnering with his new neighbor Liberty, he endeavors to tackle his fears, win passes to Comic Fest, and get his best friend back. Stanley’s anxiety and sensory processing disorder are portrayed in a sensitive and relatable way, although, at times, Stanley overcomes his worry too easily, thanks to Liberty’s pushing and some quick breathing. The novel loses steam after the contest ends, but it’s nevertheless refreshing to see a middle-grader tackling SPD and anxiety in an understandable way.

Kirkus Reviews starred (November 15, 2017)
Superheroes can be found in unlikely places.Middle schooler Stanley Fortinbras has a sensory-processing disorder and experiences anxiety, both of which make the principal’s many emergency preparedness drills difficult for him to handle. When he passes out at a safety assembly, he’s sent to school counselor Mrs. Ngozo, an African-American woman, who creates a Ready Room for him: a quiet place where he can go when school becomes too chaotic. It’s here that John Lockdown, hero of the underdog, is born. Stanley, son of a “dark,” Morocco-born French father and white mother, is no superhero, but he does have a superpower: comic-book trivia. When his best friend, Joon (who is Korean), suggests they enter Trivia Quest, a comics treasure hunt that takes place all over San Diego, Stanley’s mind reels with both possible and unlikely worse-case scenarios. After Stanley and Joon have a disagreement, Stanley asks his new neighbor, confident white girl Liberty, to go with him instead. To get through the stress of the day, Stanley creates his own way to manage his out-of-control thoughts and the resultant paralyzing fear: What would Lockdown do? The story never dumbs down or oversimplifies Stanley; he’s a multidimensional character of great depth who gradually learns how to calm his worried mind, and the book avoids patronizing readers with a false sense of everything’s-right-with-the-world. Add to the growing list of intelligent books about kids whose brains operate outside the norm. (Fiction. 8-12)

About the Author

Sally J. Pla is the author of The Someday Birds (her debut novel) and Stanley Will Probably Be Fine. She has traveled on family road trips to most everywhere in this story. She has English degrees from Colgate and Penn State and has worked as a business journalist and in public education. She has three sons, a husband, and an enormous, fluffy dog and lives near lots of lemon trees in Southern California.

Her website is www.sallyjpla.com.

Around the Web

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