Posted - by J. D. Anderson

It's crazy how phone-obsessed kids are today, especially at Branton Middle School, where Frost and his friends just started 6th grade. When cell phones are banned, the kids come up with a new way to communicate: Sticky Notes! Of course, this could go very well, or very wrong. When you factor in preteen emotions, you can bet things will get crazy.

More than just a creative story about Post-it Notes, this is a story about friendship, courage, making hard choices, and the power of words. It is about finding "your tribe," the people who you click with, and who will support you through the hard times. And it's about what happens when a new person wants to join your group of friends, and not everyone is in favor. Lastly and most importantly, it's about accepting those who are different, and the important of all types of diversity.

I highly recommend this story.

Lawless - by Jeffrey Salane

Kids have different opinions about school.  I know this, because I'm both a parent and a teacher, and have seen all sorts.  None of the kids I know have ever been interviewed and enrolled in a super-secret hidden school for the children of master criminals, though.  Not that I know of, at least.

In this amazing, action-packed, suspenseful thrill ride of a book, young M. Freeman (a sweet, innocent girl who seems to have quite a talent for crime), ends up at the Lawless School, though she has no idea where it is.  It's a nice school, except for all the people trying to kill her, and the fact that her plane crashed inside a mountain the first day of class, and, yeah.  Let's just say that nothing is ordinary at this school.

When I finished this, I was very disappointed that I didn't have the sequel in my hands, as I was so hooked I couldn't wait a day to get to the library.  The sequel leaves you hanging just as much, which may just be a ploy to get you to buy more books, but is also pretty exciting as a reader.  This book is so much more than you expect, as it digs deep into M's life and shows her character changing nearly page to page.  It's pretty sophisticated, like a true spy novel, but should be manageable for most middle-grade readers.  I HIGHLY recommend the series to all readers, especially those who love spy stories, mysteries, and suspense.

Sorry You're Lost - by Matt Blackstone

It's not easy when your mom is dead, your dad won't really talk to you, your teacher kicks you out of class, and your best friend is so weird that nobody talks to him.  Oh, and your name is DONUTS. For Donuts (Denny) Murphy, seventh grade is not off to a very good start.

When Manny, that oddball friend, concocts a flabbergasting plot to raise a lot of money and solve all of their problems, Donuts agrees to help, which could be the best, or the worst, decision of his life.  Will money, a cool car, and cute dates to the 7th-grade-dance turn their lives around, or are these two destined for a life as oddball rejects?  Wouldn't you like to know! Just go read the book.

This book reminds me of Slob, another excellent book which I've reviewed on this blog.  Both of them are a bit sad, but also hopeful, with lots of funny stuff thrown in along the way to a nice ending.  This book has plenty of humor, from a clueless principal and Donut's crush on his "goddess" math teacher to Donut and Manny's ridiculous attempts to impress Allison, the queen bee of the 8th grade.  Add a little bit of a middle school romance, and this book has it all.

It runs a little slow (or maybe just depressing) at times, but that's important to the plot and it all balances out in the end.

The Julian Chapter: A Wonder Story - by R. J. Palacio

Redemption.  It's all about making things right, and for Julian, the antihero of the unforgettable and life-changing book Wonder, it's the last thing you'd expect.  In this short sequel, author R.J. Palacio retells the story from Julian Alban's of view, and it is NOT what you'd expect.

I can't say too much about the story without spoiling both this plot and that of the original book, Wonder.   All I can really say is that there ARE at least two sides to every story, and it is worthwhile listening to all of them before making judgments about people.  This goes for storybook characters and real people as well.  Julian may have been the ultimate bully and bad guy, but when you dig a bit deeper, you may be surprised by what you uncover.

This book is a MUST for anyone who has read Wonder, but don't you dare read this first.  If you haven't read Wonder, I can only wonder... what are you waiting for??  Any age, gender, political affiliation, or other classification doesn't matter; this book is for you.

The Life and Times of Benny Alvarez - by Peter Johnson

This book was so much better than I expected.  It's all about a seventh-grade boy with an odd family, and ailing grandfather, and a curse: The cutest girl in his school is out to get him.  The final challenge: A poetry contest.  Yes, this seems a bit odd, but it totally works in this creative and captivating story.

Meet the Alvarez family: Benny's energetic younger brother Crash, his negative and oddball dad, his overly optimistic mom, his lovable big sister (who makes the best chicken noodle soup on Earth), his spaz dog Spot, and Benny himself, who his mom calls "Mr. Negativity."  It's true that he looks at the world as a glass half-empty, but in his mind, if you're expecting the worst, it's hard to be disappointed!  When a combination of surprising events happen, Benny is forced to finally decide whether he's going to be negative or positive, as his future and friendships hang in the balance.

The plot is tight, though this is far from an action/adventure book.  It's a school/family/friendship story about a believable and likable kid with everyday problems, who finds his own inner strength (with a little help from friends and family) to save the day at the end.  There's poetry, heavy use of a thesaurus, lots of humor, a bit of blushing (well, it's not Benny's fault he can't ever seem to look Claudine in the eyes!), and some more serious topics too.  It's a rewarding read that will touch both your funny bone and your thoughtful side.

Just Jake - by Jake Marcionette

This book was written by a sixth-grade boy.  That in itself is a good reason to check it out, but its interesting storyline, fun characters, and creative twists make it a good pick for any kid 2nd-7th grade, at least.

The story focuses on a sixth-grade boy named Jake (a coincidence?), and his first year of middle school in a new state, where he has no friends.  He hopes to transfer his popularity from his old school, but it doesn't work that way, and he's suddenly at the bottom of the social ladder, struggling to make any friends at all, to avoid the school bully, and to survive living with his explosive teenage older sister.  To his advantage, Jake is a creative guy, a good artist, and he is full of confidence.  Will those talents be enough to help him not only survive but thrive in his new school? You'll find out, but the journey through that sixth-grade year is not an easy one, and it's Jake's struggles and solutions that make this book a winner.

Read this book to be inspired. This author is pretty awesome (his character's favorite word), and if he can do it, why not you, too?

The Classroom - by Robin Mellom

How does a socially-clueless guy not only survive but thrive in his new middle school? There's only one option:  Go Epic.

Told like a video documentary, this coming-of-age story follows Trevor, a fun but awkward 7th grader whose guiding light, his best friend Libby, has decided to back off and let him solve his own problems this year.  This promises to be a disaster, but that's what makes it so much fun to read about!  As Trevor navigates this difficult transitional point in his life, trying to make new friends, avoid the bullies, survive the classes, and reach his epic potential, there are many more flops than successes, and much of it is comic genius.  His neurotic friend Libby, who has tired of saving his butt time after time in elementary, sits back and watches the drama unfold as Trevor eventually figures things out and takes his future into his own hands.

Kind of like the Wimpy Kid books, but with more likeable characters and fewer illustrations, this is a pretty good book, especially for 3rd-6th grade boys who want a good laugh and a quick, interesting book to tell your friends about.

Agent Colt Shore: Domino 29 - by Axel Avian

How does a teenage boy end up an international agent fighting to save the world from bad guys?  There are so many books with similar plots on the market now that I didn't expect anything original from this one.  That's where I was wrong.

First-time author Avian blew me away with his character, Colt Shore. This teen enjoys hanging out with his friends and doing normal stuff, but when a mysterious stranger, a slick Bond-like gentleman with a fancy car, shows up in his house one day and announces that they are leaving for Colt's new school, everything changes.  Of course it is a secret school for young members of an international organization that fights bad guys... but it's not for spies.  An "agent" is tasked with supporting the good guys rather than hunting down the baddies, and that's what Colt begins training to do.  A series of surprising events and revelations carry him into places he never expected to go, saving people he never expected to meet, and making choices he never wanted to make.  It is a thrilling adventure, with rock and roll, cool gadgets, and wild stunts.  Yes, even a hint of romance, too.

Best of all, this book is a true original in a genre packed with copycats.  Alex Rider is the king of teen spies, but Colt Shore beats him out in several ways.  Colt is down-to-earth, humble, and does what is needed without thinking of himself.  He is an Everyman hero, a character that you can identify with and that you will cheer for from cover to cover.  I could hardly put this book down, and suspect I'm not the only one.  Despite its psychedelic but somewhat unappealing cover, this book is a keeper.

Sidekicked - by John David Anderson

Finally, a superhero book that really gets it right.  This is the story of would-be sidekick Andrew Bean, who would like nothing more than to have his hero pay him some attention, for the girl he likes to stop hanging out with his mortal enemy, and for those pesky villains to stop hanging him over pools of acid.  Sadly, when it seems that things are getting better, they are actually on their way to getting much, much worse.

Through Andrew's view as narrator, we meet an unlikely crew of middle school students who are secretly training to become superhero mascots.  When they are not training in the school's basement, they are trying to live normal lives, which isn't easy.  It becomes even harder when a super-villain long thought dead returns to terrorize their city, and the superheros who are expected to defeat him are not who they seem.

This is a great story, a wonderful take on the superhero genre from an unusual point of view, and an excellent bit of writing.  You don't have to love superheros to admire this super story.

The Odd Squad: Bully Bait - by Michael Fry

One is so tall that her classmates tease her relentlessly.  One is so strange that nobody wants to be near him.  The last is so short that he gets stuffed in his own locker every day. Life is hard for seventh graders Molly, Karl, and Nick, and there seems to be no way out.  When these three oddballs get forced to start a Safety Patrol together by their principal, things seem to be worse than ever.  However, helped by their apparently deranged Shakespeare-quoting school custodian, the three soon learn that working together, they can overcome their fears and actually turn things around.

The story is told by Nick (the shortest seventh grader in the history of the universe, according to himself), and centers around his interactions with Roy, the school bully.  Through the course of this graphic novel, Nick learns more about his tormentor and finds new strength and empathy that he never knew he had to make some really tough decisions that could either save them all, or ruin everything.

As a graphic novel, this is kind of Wimpy-Kiddish, with more of a story line, and more likable characters.  It wasn't an earth-shatteringly wonderful book, but it was funny, well-written and drawn, and touching at parts. I'd recommend it for a fun and easy read to anyone who enjoys graphic novels, school stories, and seeing bullies get what they deserve.

Wonder - by P.J. Palacio

Have you ever felt DIFFERENT?  It's hard, especially when you've just started middle school, you've got no friends, and you're more than just a little unusual.  In fact, when you've got a face like August Pullman's, nothing is easy.

We get this story of August's school experience right from August, as much of the book is told from his point of view.  The reader gets a first-hand view of the bullying, teasing, staring, and every other annoying behavior that August suffers through.  As the story moves along, the viewpoint shifts again and again, and we gain a more complete view of August's world, and that of his friends and family.  We are reminded that nothing is as simple as it seems, but also that the smallest kindness can have the biggest payoff.

This is a horrible story, and a wonderful one.  It will break your heart, and then make you jump up and cheer.  Once you finish this book, you will remember this story, and August and his friends and family, forever.  Please, read this book.

A friend who teaches fifth grade plans to use this book extensively with her students as they prepare for middle school, and I can think of no better training.  Read it and see what why.

Wonder Video - Barnes and Noble

Eleven Birthdays - by Wendy Mass

Happy birthday! Again.  And again.  And... well, you get the idea. Poor Amanda is all set to celebrate her first birthday apart from her former best-friend Leo, when something a bit unusual happens.  Things repeat.  Everything repeats. What in the world!

This is the lighthearted but deeply touching story of Amanda and Leo, and the world around them that just won't do what they want it to.  We the readers travel back to the moment when it all went wrong for these two friends, and follow them as they try to make it right.  It is a fun story, full of interesting descriptions and funny moments.  The series promises to be fantastic, though the boys may shy away from it because of the covers.  Hey Boys:  Go ahead and read books because they're GOOD, even if they're about girls!

Ungifted - by Gordon Korman

Special Post:  Not only is this a review for a book that hasn't yet hit the shelves, it is a guest review!  Thanks to my young sixth-grade friend Ryan O. for an excellent write-up of Korman's newest book. 

Are you a kid who pulls pranks and rarely gets caught but then one time you think you’ve gone too far and get sent to another school but still don’t get in trouble? Well then, you sound just like Donovan Curtis from the book Ungifted by Gordon Korman. Ungifted is a story about a middle school boy, Donovan, who accidentally knocks the world of Atlases’ shoulders (Don’t worry, it was just a statue) and sends it tumbling into the glass doors of his school gym!  CRASH! He thinks he’s gone way too far this time and is prepared to be expelled for good from his school.  However, thanks to a small mix-up in paperwork, Donovan gets sent to ASD, The Academy of Scholastic Distinction- a.k.a. School for Gifted & Talented kids.

Donovan thinks that this is the perfect place to hide until the whole Atlas incident is forgotten, but he soon discovers that this “gifted” school is serious about learning. At his old school, Donovan definitely was not “Joe Honor Roll” so all the schoolwork feels ten times harder and if that wasn’t bad enough, some of the kids start to think that Donovan is too dumb to be in their special school. However, Donovan’s unlikely saving grace comes in the form of a robot. You’ll have to read the story to discover the end to this exciting adventure.

 
I really liked this book for a couple reasons. One was the genre- realistic fiction. Gordon Korman also wrote Schooled and Swindled as well as a few of the 39 Clues books.  Also, I loved the style in which the story was told by almost all of the characters! This helped me understand the story better!

Ungifted was one of the best books I’ve read this summer. I would rate it 9 out of 10 because it wasn’t the best book ever (Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan is still at the top of my list) but it was still an entertaining read for anyone who has ever felt out of place or struggled at school.   

Smile - by Raina Telgemeier

I've never been a teenage girl.  Not once.  If anyone ever asks me what it's like to be one, I could just shrug.  More likely, though, I'll hand them this book. 

This is a very enjoyable graphic novel, and finally one written mainly for girls!  The author tells the story of her own childhood, from life as a tween with tooth trouble, all the way through high school, with all of the social situations that come along with those years.  The focus of the story may be on Raina's unfortunate dental problems, but the real story is her life itself, and told in this way, it's quite an enjoyable story!

There's drama, romance, athletics, dentists, orthodontists, braces, retainers, headgear, crowns, and stuff like that.  The illustrations are great, some of the tooth stuff kind of gross, but the take-away message positive:  Be yourself, you'll find friends who like you for who you are, just remember to smile.

The Wednesday Wars - by Gary D. Schmidt

This book was so much more enjoyable than I expected!  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, given how much I liked this author's writing in Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy.  It's a tale of the 1960's, focusing on the life of one unlucky boy, Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High.  At first we think the story is about his nasty teacher, Mrs. Baker, who tortures him each Wednesday while all the other students in his class go elsewhere for religion class.  She makes him read Shakespeare, for goodness sake!  Soon we dig deeper, the story expands, and it's a fabulous ride.

Dust-covered cream puffs, yellow leotards with feathers on the butt, escaped rats, a cranky and demanding father, and so many more mini-stories fill this book that it's almost hard to keep track.  By the end, the author has woven them all together into a coming-of-age story that speaks to that time in American history, but also to anybody who has been a teenager and lived to tell about it.

Some of the writing is at a high level:Quoting Shakespeare to make inside jokes, digging into the topic of the Vietnam War, but the author pulls it off well, and a discerning reader will have no trouble.  I'd recommend this book to 10-up, to fans of the 60's, people who like to run, and anyone who wants a surprisingly great story to enjoy.

Cheesie Mack is not a Genius or Anything - by Steve Cotler

If you're reading a book, and the main character keeps telling you to go check out his website, do you think that's cool, or annoying?  It bugged me, but maybe you would like that kind of thing.

This book is narrated by a boy called Cheesie Mack, a 5th-grader with an annoying sister, grumpy grandpa, funny friend, and your fair share of typical 5th grade problems.  It centers around the end of  his fifth grade year, when he finds a valuable coin, gets in deep trouble with his principal, investigates a local "haunted" house, makes a new friend, uncovers a mystery, eats a doughnut, and has a few other adventures, which I'm hard-pressed to recall right now. The truth is, it was an okay book, but I never really connected with or came to like the main character, so didn't really enjoy the book. There's a sequel coming out, and reviews I've read show that many kids like it, so it may be worth a shot.  For a preview, check out that website the kid kept bugging me to visit, www.cheesiemack.com.

Troublemaker - by Andrew Clements

How do you change your reputation? Fifth grader Clay Hensley was doing everything in his power to show his school that he could be just as big a troublemaker as his big brother, and he was succeeding.  His file in the principal's office was as thick as a phone book!  When his brother was arrested and then released from jail six months later, things began to change, though.  Clay decided to change his ways, but found that reversing your behavior, let alone you reputation, is not as easy as he had hoped.  Can Clay turn his life around, and when something terrible happens that everyone blames him for, can he convince them that he is, finally, an innocent guy?

This is a story about right and wrong, but also about the blurred line between those two ideas.  When does joking around turn into something worse, and once you've crossed that line, how do you get back?  Young and old readers alike will enjoy seeing how Clay deals with these questions in this fast-paced, interesting book.  Just like most of Mr. Clements' books, this is also the story of an adult who realizes that he has just as much to learn as Clay about how to behave.

Top of the Order - by John Coy

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To be honest, I read this because 1) The guy is a local author, and 2) A friend told me I really should.  I'm not a baseball guy, and have been disappointed by many sports novels, so did not have high expectations for this book.

Luckily for all you readers, I was pleasantly surprised by this engaging, well-written book.    Mr. Coy really knows how to keep the balance between lots of sports action and a story line that is really not about sports at all, but about friendship, family, and frustration.  Four fifth grade boys are dealing with all sorts of personal issues, and they come from different walks of life, but on the field they share one common goal: Winning.  There are all sorts of twists and turns, which while predictable, were interesting and kept me turning the pages faster than a shortstop's toss to second in a double play.  See? I not only enjoyed the story, but I learned a few things about baseball along the way.

Some sports novels have the sport as a background, just part of the setting, and others focus way too much on the sport and leave out any real story line.  Much like another favorite of mine, Mike Lupica, John Coy's writing has just the right amount of each.  If you love baseball, if you've ever had an annoying little sister (who turned out not to be so bad after all), if you appreciate the power of friendship and teamwork, or if you just like fun series books, check this one out.  (This is the first in a four-book series.)

No Passengers Beyond This Point - by Gennifer Choldenko

Well, this was an unexpected book!  I expected another ho-hum story like the author's popular Al Capone Does My Shirts, but NO!  This ended up being a sibling story that became a fantasy adventure that became a shocking mystery.  At the end of the story, I just kept shaking my head, wondering how the author pulled that off.  This is a book that will keep you thinking long after you finish the last page.

Each chapter is narrated by a different sibling: Teenage brat India, Serious worrywart Finn, or brilliant but odd six-year old Mouse.  One of the things this author does incredibly well is to describe the relationships between these siblings, and how it changes over the course of the story.  When their house in California is foreclosed on and their mother sends them to live with Uncle Red outside of Denver, the children's lives seem poised to change forever.  It's not until they are swept away in a strange taxi to an unusual city that things get weird.  And boy do they get weird!! The city of Falling Bird seems like a dream when they get there, but what if they're never allowed to leave?

This is a quick-paced, tightly-written realistic (with some fantasy) adventure that will keep you laughing and cheering throughout, but that will leave you stunned at the end.  This author has finally won me over for good.

Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me - by Lisa Papademitrou

Wow!  I know I'm not a preteen girl, but I still couldn't put this book down.  The writing was tightly wound and interesting, the characters very realistic and likable (or not, in some cases), and the plot just right for a summer read.  Are you a girl who will one day enter middle school, and who is afraid of how you'll fit in, or if you'll need to change your personality to be "cool"?  Read this book.

This is the tale of Allie, an incoming sixth-grade girl who could care less about the girly side of life, and just wants to play soccer, but whose best friend has her heart set on achieving coolness at their new school.  As they begin to make new friends and follow their interests, the girls' friendship is tested, as is Allie's courage and willingness to do what's right.  It's kind of a classic story-line, but given a fun twist by Allie's habit of making up new words (glommers, for instance) to describe the world around her.  The author uses this unique vocabulary to split the book into  chapters, which works well.  The other fun twist is another classic plot line, the idea that it's cool to be a nerd, which I just can't get enough of.

If you want a quick, fun, thoughtful story about life at a tricky age, love soccer, have best-friend problems, or want proof that it's okay to be smart, check this book out.