What a heartbreaking book! I enjoyed the way the author used the information she had found while researching jellyfish to frame the plot of this story of a young girl trying to make sense of her best friend's death and how they had left their friendship. Suzy becomes convinced that Franny could not have drowned because "sometimes things just happen" (her mother's explanation), so she starts to wonder if a jellyfish could've been the culprit and sets out to prove it. 
 Suzy isn't your everyday girl - she is very intelligent and sucks in information like a sponge, she doesn't care about her appearance, and she doesn't care about having a ton of friends - Franny is enough. She's an introvert and keeps a lot to herself, but Franny is her confidant. Suzy's differences don't become apparent until middle school, when the girls start liking boys and makeup and forming cliques. Suzy doesn't follow along. Her parents get divorced, and she has a hard time confiding in Franny about it. She also has a hard time accepting Franny's new friends and the girly, boy-crazy antics that come with them. This starts a spiral of unfortunate (that is a generous description, horrible is more accurate) events that affect her friendship with Franny. 
 As Suzy's brother Aaron proclaims, middle school "sucks," and I totally agree. It's a confusing time of change that I would never ever want to experience again. And poor Suzy has to go at it alone, as her one best friend is gone and she tries to pick up the pieces. As the novel progresses and Suzy throws herself into jellyfish research to cope, she starts to make sense of her lost friendship and her life now, and even starts opening up to people such as her teacher, Mrs. Turton (she rocks) and Justin, a kid who doesn't join in when the awful kids in their grade tease and taunt Suzy (he also rocks). 
 The whole time I was praying for someone to just "get" Suzy, because she is such a misunderstood but beautiful person. I found this to be one of the main messages of The Thing About Jellyfish - it is scary and challenging growing up and figuring out who you are and who you want to be. People change and grow apart, and it really freakin' hurts sometimes. But as you figure out yourself and surround yourself with people that support you, it gets easier. What a great message for children and teens to take in. 
 Other thoughts: 
 -Ali Benjamin's writing is beautiful, and she really brings jellyfish to life. I learned so many interesting things about them, from their ability to clone themselves to their immortality. 
 -I liked the normalcy of Aaron's and Rocco's relationship - it wasn't exploited or propped up or even a central storyline. It was just there, a part of Suzy's life that was completely ordinary and in fact positive, as they seemed to have a very loving relationship and were a great support for Suzy. 
 -I rarely say this after reading a J or YA novel, but I would read a sequel! I loved the characters that much and am curious to see how they would evolve, especially Suzy eventually going to high school.