BLOG TOUR | Ellie Engle Saves Herself by Leah Johnson

SYNOPSIS:

Ellie Engle doesn’t stand out. Not at home, where she’s alone with her pet fish since her dad moved away and her mom has to work around the clock. Not at the bakery, where she helps out old Mr. Walker on the weekends. And definitely not at school, where her best friend, Abby—the coolest, boldest, most talented girl in the world—drags Ellie along on her never-ending quest to “make her mark.” To someone else, a life in the shadows might seem boring, or lonely. But not to Ellie. As long as she has Abby by her side and a comic book in her hand, she’s quite content.

Too bad life didn’t bother checking in with Ellie. Because when a freak earthquake hits her small town, Ellie wakes up with the power to bring anything back to life with just her touch. And when a video of her using her powers suddenly goes viral, Ellie’s life goes somewhere she never imagined—or wanted: straight into the spotlight.

Surviving middle school is hard enough. Surviving middle school when paparazzi are camped out on your front lawn and an international pop star wants you to use your powers on live TV and you might be in love with your best friend but she doesn’t know it?

Absolutely impossible.

Thoughts

Thank you to Turn The Page Tours for providing me with a copy for review.

It was quite entertaining to watch Ellie wake up and figure out she suddenly have the power to bring anything back to life with her touch. When she wakes up at the first day of middle school feeling weird, with her fingers buzzing she knew right away that nothing will ever the same.

Here are three reasons to read Ellie Engle Saves Herself:

• Queer representation. It's not a lot but it's enough. Ellie has a crush on her best friend which we find out after being woken up by an earthquake on their first day of middle school.
• The display of the fact that when one is able to give life, it's sourced from somewhere else. It was mentioned in passing, and its fairly easy to miss but it's there.
• The truth that having superpowers tests friendships and people's character. And the differences it brings also has the ability to find you those who deserve one's friendship.

Now I leave you with a favourite quote from the book, and happy reading!

"You know why so many superheroes wear masks?" Poppy asked. When I shook my head, he scratched his beard for a second. "It's cause people like being saved, so long as they never have to know who's doing the saving. When a person has a name and a face, they become human. And with some people, if they realize another human is something they'll never be, can do something they just weren't built to do, then sometimes they get real hateful."

Ellie Engle saves herself

Giveaway Information

Turn The Page Tours has copies of all of Leah Johnson's books to give away: You Should See Me in a Crown, Rise To The Sun, and Ellie Engle Saves Herself.

Head over to to Turn The Page Tours' instagram post to enter, and view the rules for the giveaway!

Author Bio

Leah Johnson is an eternal midwesterner and author of award-winning books for children and young adults. Her bestselling debut YA novel, You Should See me in a Crown, was a Stonewall Honor Book, and the inaugural Reese's Book Club YA pick. In 2021, TIME named You Should See Me in a Crown one of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time. Leah's essays and cultural criticism can be found in Teen Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Cosmopolitan among others. Her debut middle grade, Ellie Engle Saves Herself is forthcoming from Disney-Hyperion in May 2023.

Image and bio courtesy of byleahjohnson.com.

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