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Middle Grade Sidekick Super Review: Olivetti (2024) by Allie Millington
- 10 hours ago
- 6 min read
The Basics
Page Length: 256
Audiobook Length: ~4.5 hours
Grade Reading Level: 4+
Target Audience Age: 8-12+
Goodreads Score: 4.04 out of 5
Buy it HERE
Setting: Contemporary San Francisco
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Magical Realism
Topics: Typewriters, mystery, journals/writing, family, friendship, storytelling, healing
Plot: Beatrice Brindle has gone missing, and no one knows where to look for her. No one, that is, except perhaps her typewriter, Olivetti. But Olivetti is no ordinary typewriter—he’s alive. He holds memories, stories, and maybe even the clues that could lead Ernest Brindle to his missing mother.
Ernest, Beatrice’s 12-year-old son, is determined to find her. Her disappearance sends his anxiety through the roof, and he struggles to make sense of everything happening around him. Luckily, he is not alone. With the help of Olivetti and a quirky new friend, Ernest begins piecing together the mystery of where his mother could have gone.
Ernest finds comfort in words. He loves dictionaries and the meanings behind language, often turning to words when he feels overwhelmed or afraid. As he searches for answers, he also begins to rely on his family. Ever since a mysterious event shook the Brindle family the year before, they have all felt disconnected from one another. Beatrice’s disappearance forces them to come together in ways they haven’t in a long time.
As the Brindles work alongside Olivetti to uncover the truth, they begin to heal old wounds and rebuild the bonds they once shared. And if they can find Beatrice, maybe they can finally become a whole family again.
Themes: The importance of memories, coping with grief/trauma, empathy/understanding, family reconciliation, finding your voice, friendship and belonging
You might like this book if you like:
Vintage shopping
investigating/puzzle solving
creative writing/journaling
Books like: The Wild Robot (also a movie), A Rover's Story, The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, When You Reach Me, The Lost Library
Shows like: Gravity Falls, Hilda, Ghostwriter, Over the Garden Wall, The Mysterious Benedict Society (also a book)
Movies like: The Book of Life, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, The BFG, The Iron Giant (also book), Coco, Wonder, Bridge to Terabithia, A Monster Calls (also a book), The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Other books written by this author: Once for Yes, Trunk No. 3 (not yet published, coming soon)
Teaching Olivetti in Class
Content
Language: None
Sex/Romance: None
Violence/Scariness: The main character's mother disappears, and they must search for her. The family deals with a member battling cancer.
Drinking/Smoking/Drugs: None
Class Novel-ability:
This definitely has strong potential as a class novel. It has an engaging mystery element, and I love the magical realism aspect of the typewriter being alive. It’s also fairly short, which makes it manageable for classroom use. The novel explores excellent themes of family, friendship, and connection. It also presents kids dealing with difficult truths, but in ways that are appropriate and meaningful for class discussion.
The Star Qualities
This book has multiple points of view, including both the main character and Olivetti, the typewriter. I personally love novels with multiple perspectives. The different viewpoints make the mystery more engaging and help the reader piece everything together as the story unfolds.
I also love the family relationships in this novel. In the beginning, the family feels somewhat disconnected and emotionally scarred. They all seem to be carrying the weight of a shared trauma that hasn’t been fully addressed. After their mother goes missing, they are forced to come together, and the experience helps rebuild their bond as a family. By the end of the novel, the reader learns that their mother nearly died from cancer, which explains why the family has been so fragile and fearful. I think this kind of story is highly relatable for many students. It explores healing between parents and children, reconciliation between siblings, and the process of moving forward together after trauma.
This story feels whimsical while still being completely appropriate for middle grade readers. It can be difficult to find a novel that feels mature and emotionally meaningful without including content that could be too intense or triggering for students. This book balances fun and magical elements with themes that could feel healing, comforting, and helpful for young readers.
Book Talk Read Aloud Section
If you have the physical book, read pages 1- mid page 4 (through the paragraph break "They make us who we are.")
If you don't, read the same pages in the reading sample here.
"Reading Like a Writer" Mentor Texts
I really like this passage because of its voice and tone. Since it’s the very first passage of the book, it does a great job setting up the mood of the novel right away. There’s fun wordplay, italics, parentheses, sarcasm, and humor woven throughout. The narrator’s personality comes through so clearly in just a few lines. This would be a great example to show students when encouraging them to add more voice and personality to their writing and make it more engaging.
I love the tension and emotion in this passage. It uses repetition, effective paragraph breaks, personification, strong imagery, and a powerful ending that reveals the narrator was a witness all along. I love that effect. These are all fairly simple craft moves, but they come together in such an impactful way and are easily imitated by students.
This passage is filled with so many cool craft moves. In this scene, Olivetti (the typewriter) is being physically taken apart while his thoughts reflect that same feeling emotionally. The author separates the action with paragraph breaks and italicized phrases, which really helps with pacing and emphasis. There’s strong sensory imagery, sentence fragments, repetition, and interesting line breaks throughout. There’s a lot here for students to notice, unpack, and try out for themselves.
Sentences for Combining and Imitation
Sentence sets for combining:
"I swallowed back nausea, eyes darting to the plain beige walls and the rows of patterned chairs that looked like they were made from some old lady’s purse." (Olivetti, p. 134)
I swallowed back nausea.
My eyes dart to the walls.
The walls are plain beige.
They dart to the rows of chairs.
The chairs are patterned.
They look like they were made from some old lady's purse.
"Officer Dimas stood in our living room in typical police power stance: fingers in his belt loops, feet spread too far apart." (p. 158)
Officer Dimas stood in our living room.
He stood in typical police power stance.
He had his fingers in his belt loops.
His feet were spread too far apart.
"Part of me expected to see Mom sitting at one of the long tables in the middle of the room, nose buried so deep in a book she could smell it." (p. 96)
Part of me expected to see Mom sitting at one of the tables.
One of the long tables in the middle of the room.
Her nose would be buried deep in a book.
So deep that she could smell it.
"Quinn charged ahead, like one of those overeager line leaders back in elementary school who had to be in front no matter what." (p. 95)
Quinn charged ahead.
She charged like an overeager line leader.
Like one of those line leaders back in elementary school.
Like one who had to be in front no matter what.
Sentences for Imitation:
"Making people feel included was pretty low on my priority list, considering numbers one through two million were: FIND MOM." (p. 109)
"(Sometimes, humans do things that don’t always make sense in order to make sense of things.)" (p. 146)
"A sharp bubble expanded in my chest, like a greedy balloon, inflating between my ribs." (p. 151)
"Because what good is remembering the way things used to be, if you know they’ll never be that way again? There’s a lot less pain in forgetting. That way, you don’t even know what you’re missing." (p. 151)
"It’s an important job, being a protector of memories. Memories are like heartbeats. They keep things alive. They make us who we are." (p. 140)
Used this book in your classroom? Tell us how in the comments!
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