Cody and the Rules of Life by Tricia Springstubb, 2017

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Doing the right thing can be hard! When prized possessions start going missing, Cody gets a crash course in the most important rules of all — the rules of life.

In Cody’s life, many things are hard to predict. Like why her older brother, Wyatt, is obsessed with his new bicycle called the Cobra, or why her best friend Pearl suddenly wants to trade favorite toys. Pearl says she will trust Cody with Arctic Fox because Cody is a trusty person. But Cody doesn’t want to give up her beloved Gremlin, and she regrets it as soon as she hands him over. When the Cobra goes missing, Cody has to decide for herself who is trusty and who is not. If only she had Gremlin to talk to! Surely Pearl wouldn’t mind if she secretly traded back . . . it’s not stealing if it belonged to you in the first place, right?

(176 pages)

I don't usually review books this short, but I was offered a copy of Cody and the Rules of Life and it looked intriguing enough that I couldn't say no.

And really, it was a good book. It has much more depth to it than I went in expecting, and a variety of storylines that weave together to make the story. My favorite scenes were probably actually with Cody's teacher, Mr. Daniels. Cody writes in her class journal about the search for her brother's missing bike, which is a model Cobra, and Mr. Daniels thinks her brother lost an actual snake! It's funnier than you'd think watching him ask Cody concerned questions about her family's lifestyle, and her confusing him even more (while thinking they're on the same page!).

I didn't care much about the storyline with the swapped toys, largely because Cody should never have traded Gremlin away. I have a hard time relating with a girl who would do that–there's no way I would ever have given my treasured baby blanket away to anyone when I was her age, no matter how nice they were to me. In fact, now that I think about it, I still wouldn't give it away for anything.

But what really appealed to me about the book was the way Cody grapples with issues bigger than herself. She's grown up in a home with strict "rules of life," not just against hitting and saying mean things and stealing and all the other things that aren't nice but also against just generally being mean or unkind to anyone, and she largely views the world as black and white through the lenses of those rules. As the book goes by, she has to face that fact that someone did a very mean thing–and that her brother is terribly angry at whoever that person is. For her, this combines with other moral issues (some of them connected to the loss of Gremlin) to result in her learning several valuable lessons over the course of the book.

All in all, I enjoyed reading Cody and the Rules of Life. It was a pleasant read, far more complex and mature than I expected it to be, and just the sort of book I would be happy to hand over to elementary and middle schoolers looking for an interesting read.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Tales of a Fifth-Grade Knight by Douglas Gibson, 2015

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One day, Isaac Thompson is just your average fifth grader playing the part of a porcupine in the school play. The next, he has strayed into a mysterious subterranean realm that has been lurking beneath his school Castle Elementary and launches his quest to knighthood. When Isaac's little sister Lily goes missing from their school's creepy basement, he and his best friends Max and Emma set out in search of her. Their search takes them to the Underground, where they encounter an army of spear-wielding rats, a talking human-sized bat, and a thumb-nosed prison guard. But humans who stay in the Underground too long transform into weird, unpleasant creatures and are forced to work for the horrible Elf King. Can Isaac and his crew escape the Underground before it's too late for them to ever return home?

(160 pages)

Wow. This was such a fun book. It kind of reminded me of a Rick Riordan novel, in the way that it takes everyday kids and puts them into crazy scenarios. It's also like Suzanne Collins's Gregor the Overlander books, with its fantastical underground world and societal flaws.

What I really appreciate about Tales of a Fifth-Grade Knight is that, despite being part of a genre known for its repackaging of tired old adventure formulas (and despite threatening to follow those cliches during the first few chapters), it not only manages to create an original and interesting world but it also poses some thought-provoking moral questions along the way. The characters make a series of increasingly dark discoveries as the book goes along, exposing the dark side of what seemed at first like such an exciting and ideal kingdom. I don't want to go too much into exactly what those discoveries are, because the book is short enough that I'd be spoiling quite a large percentage of it for you, but suffice it to say that I really enjoyed being taken along for the ride.

Okay, though, now all of you who actually have middle schoolers are thinking that Tales of a Fifth-Grade Knight is going to be too dark for your kids. I can't speak for every reader out there, but one of the things that actually impressed me with Tales of a Fifth-Grade Knight was that the author managed to pack some thought-provoking scenarios into it while still keeping the story extremely PG. The actual violence is very minimal, and the sense of danger as the kids hunt for Lily is present but never overwhelming. Tales is definitely much less violent than the Gregor the Overlander books I mentioned earlier (and less violent than some of Rick Riordan's books too, now that I think about it). I don't read a huge amount of books in this genre, so I can't tell you how it stacks up among its peers, but I at least enjoyed it. As soon as I hit "publish" on this review I'm passing it on to the best judge of all: my ten-year-old brother, a member of its actual target audience. If his opinion of the book is radically different from my own, then I'll come back here later and add his thoughts to this review.

When's the last time you read a middle-grade fantasy novel? I hadn't read one in ages, and I think I'm getting hooked again. I don't know what to read next, though–comment below with your favorites so I can check them out!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the author in exchange for my honest review.

The League of Unexceptional Children by Gitty Daneshvari, 2015

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Are you average? Normal? Forgettable? If so, the League of Unexceptional Children is for you! This first book in a hilarious new adventure series is for anyone who's struggled to be noticed in a sea of above-average overachievers.
What is the League of Unexceptional Children? I'm glad you asked. You didn't ask? Well, you would have eventually and I hate to waste time. The League of Unexceptional Children is a covert network that uses the nation's most average, normal, and utterly unexceptional children as spies. Why the average kids? Why not the brainiacs? Or the beauty queens? Or the jocks? It's simple: People remember them. But not the unexceptionals. They are the forgotten ones. Until now!

(240 pages)

This is a pretty cool idea, isn't it? I love how it mixes the usual "kid secret agent" theme with a message about how the ordinary kids can be special too, and turns it into a fun romp with a secret agenda of its own: to give "average" kids the confidence boost that comes with seeing the fun potential of something they might otherwise see as something to be ashamed of. It reminds me of Rick Riordan's books in a way, except instead of taking ADHD and dyslexia and turning them into superpowers (signs that you're a demigod), Daneshvari takes averageness and turns it into a spy skill. I mean, how cool is that?

I can't say this is exactly my sort of book (I don't, as a rule, go out of my way to read books about middle-school spies), but this one was almost literally dropped into my lap - to be more accurate, it was out on a table at KidLitCon - and I couldn't pass up the opportunity when it was sitting right there under my nose.  I'm glad I picked it up, and I'll be even more happy to pass it on to one of my siblings who is actually part of the target audience. I enjoyed The League of Unexceptional Children well enough, but it really smacked of being written for someone who was - well, not me.

It's meant for a middle-grade-aged kid who feels overlooked and abandoned. It's meant to encourage kids who are just "average," meant to take their situation to ridiculous extremes (these kids can go anywhere! Do anything! Never be remembered!) and turn it into something to be proud of. I'm neither a middle-schooler nor an average kid (as a homeschooled high schooler who skipped a grade, it's hard for me to not stick out in a group). That's why I have a hard time critiquing The League of Unexceptional Children: though it definitely did feel flat in parts, I very much suspect that's more because of me than because of the book itself.

It's definitely a cute book. The best book I've ever read? No. But I think kids will still love it - especially kids who think of themselves as being "unexceptional."

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC of this book at KidLitCon.

Class Dismissed by Allan Woodrow, 2015

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Class 507 is the worst class Ms. Bryce has ever taught. And she would know — she’s been teaching forever. They are so terrible that when a science experiment goes disastrously wrong (again), Ms. Bryce has had it and quits in the middle of the lesson. But through a mix-up, the school office never finds out.
Which means ... Class 507 is teacher-free!
The class figures if they don’t tell anyone, it’ll be one big holiday. Kyle and his friends can play games all day. Samantha decides she’ll read magazines and give everyone (much needed) fashion advice. Adam can doodle everywhere without getting in trouble. Eric will be able to write stories with no one bothering him. And Maggie ... well, as the smartest kid in the class she has an ambitious plan for this epic opportunity.
But can Class 507 keep the principal, the rest of the students, and their parents from finding out ... or will the greatest school year ever turn into the worst disaster in school history?

(272 pages)

I saw this on Edelweiss, and I knew I had to get my hands on it because I am a huge sucker for MG books about kids interacting in and around school (books like Rob Buyea's Because of Mr. Terupt, Dan Gutman's The Homework Machine, etc.), and I always jump at the opportunity to read them. With Class Dismissed I especially loved the idea of a class without a teacher, and I couldn't wait to see how the kids dealt with all the responsibilities that came with keeping a classroom running.

I'll start with the negatives, just to get them out of the way: this is one of those books where I really wish all of the kids were just a little bit older. Because the kids are ten years old, and they act like they're fifteen. And I love reading books about fifteen-year-olds, so it wasn't a massive issue, but I just had to suspend belief a few times while reading about the boy and girl who were "in love" with each other, and the girl so obsessed with the future that she thought her fifth-grade track record could ruin her chances for getting into Harvard, and the super-shallow girl with the father made of money and the fixation on reading fashion magazines. Because ten-year-olds don't fall in love with each other (heck, I'm sixteen and I've never been on a date), nothing you do in fifth grade affects your ability to get into a top-tier school (unless you, like, killed someone in cold blood or something), and I find it very hard to swallow that a girl with super-rich parents and a penthouse suite would go to public school alongside someone like, say, Kyle - the boy living in a cramped apartment with his single mother and pack of younger siblings - and there never once be mention of any reason her parents aren't sending her to some posh private school.

Believability issues aside, though, I really loved Class Dismissed. It's got a great variety of characters, and Woodrow does a great job balancing the POVs so it never begins to feel overwhelming. Each of the narrating kids has their own distinct voice that makes them easy to pick out of the crowd, and I enjoyed reading about each of their personal problems, as well as the overarching issue of trying to keep their big class secret. My favorite main character was Kyle, because he was such a fascinating mixed bag: he wanted desperately to be the mature, helpful, successful boy who did well in school and helped his single mom take care of the kids, but he just kept getting distracted and messing things up. Watching his internal struggle as he tries to decide what sort of person he really is was very compelling. The play at the end was also fabulous, and I loved reading all of the really goofy stuff the kids kept adding and subtracting from the script. When I was reading Class Dismissed, I kept grabbing people and reading particularly hilarious quotes out loud. Luckily, they didn't get annoyed - my siblings thought they were just as funny as I did!

Class Dismissed reminds me a lot of Gordon Korman's books (fans of No More Dead Dogs, take note!), or of the Terupt books (but maybe for a slightly younger audience). It was a great read, and I highly recommend it to any kid looking for a book about school, friendship, responsibility, and history.

Actually, scratch that last part. I don't think any elementary-school-aged kids should read this until they know exactly how large a part George Washington's wooden teeth really had in the Revolutionary War (spoiler: even less than you think).

Disclaimer: This is an Amazon affiliate link, and I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review.

The Wish Stealers by Tracy Trivas, 2010

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When a sinister old woman leaves Griffin Penshine a box of twelve shiny pennies, she sets in motion a desperate quest—because the old woman was a wish stealer, and each penny represents a wish she stole from a wishing fountain decades earlier. Somehow, Griffin has to make things right, or the opposite of her own wishes will come true—and it could literally be a matter of life and death. The Wish Stealers introduces a new voice in middle-grade fantasy, as bright and sparkling as Griffin’s pennies.

So, I thought this was going to be really bad. It wasn't, though - I really liked it! I mean, it looks kind of boring and/or cliche, right? Well, it sort of was but it sort of . . . wasn't. Griffin's efforts to return the pennies to people who need them (while wrestling with her new identity as a "Wish Stealer" - does that mean she's a bad person now?) leads her to a lot of great places, not to mention a lot of great people.

The basic premise is pretty unoriginal at first: a girl gets some magical objects foisted off on her that bring bad magic upon her head, and she must scramble to set things aright while discovering some truths about herself. However, once the story got going it never felt dry. I never paused while I was reading and thought "gee, this is so boring and unoriginal." I simply read it, and enjoyed myself doing so.

Griffin is dealing with a lot of stress, from worrying about her grandmother's health to hoping for a healthy baby sister to starting middle school. Her life becomes pretty hectic as the story goes on and she struggles to accomplish her goals, become/remain friends with a boy named Garret at school, and balance her fears about the baby and her grandmother all at the same time.

There are a few things that stick out a little bit, like the way Garret is supposed to be the hottie all the girls chase. Trivas mentions this a few times at the beginning, making him into the "popular but shallow" boy who will inevitably turn out to be more than he seems, but then drops the whole popularity thread and makes the popular girls actually tease him along with Griffin later in the book. It didn't feel congruous to the plot. Also, Garret and Griffin both start with G. I read extremely quickly, registering words basically by their first and last letters and nothing more. When I'm reading dialogue between two people whose names start with G (especially when the girl's name could also be a boy's name) it is . . . difficult. And slightly annoying.

Other than that, though, I really have no complaints. Wish Stealers was a great read, and one I would definitely recommend in the future.

Lucky Strike by Bobbie Pyron, 2015

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A rich, southern voice tells the unforgettable story of two vulnerable outsiders, the lightning strike that turns their world upside down and the true meaning of lucky.Nate Harlow has never had a lucky day in his life. He's never won a prize, he's never been picked first, he's never even won a coin toss. His best friend, Genesis Beam (aka Gen), believes in science and logic, and she doesn't think for one second that there's such a thing as luck, good or bad. But only an extremely unlucky person could be struck by lightning on his birthday... and that person is Nate Harlow. By some miracle, though, Nate survives, and the strike seems to have changed his luck. Suddenly, Nate's grandpa is the busiest fisherman in their small, beachside town. And Nate finds himself the center of attention, the most popular kid at school, the one who hits a game-winning home run! This lucky streak can't last forever, though, and as a hurricane draws close to the shores of Paradise Beach, Nate and Gen may need more than just good luck to save their friendship and their town: They need a miracle. (272 pages)

I'm beginning to feel old. Yes, old. And don't laugh at me, okay? Sixteen-year-olds are allowed to feel the effects of growing up just as much as adults - in fact, we go through more changes in a shorter amount of time than you do! So when I read a Middle Grade book, one that is targeted to an age group that I was a part of only four years ago, I get a bit nostalgic. I get nostalgic for the days when I was easily wowed, when plots never felt reused or simplistic or - perish  the thought! - boring. Now that I'm older, and have read so many books, I am much more particular about the books that I read. My eyes aren't the fresh eyes of a book-loving seventh grader; they're the critical eyes of a well-read soon-to-be Senior in high school. Yes, I realize I'm exagerrating. But I'm in a reading slump right now, so this is how it feels. In a few weeks I'll be bright-eyes again, but right now the world is a well-trodden place where there is nothing new to bring to the table.

I'm sad Lucky Strike didn't bring me out of my slump, but I just didn't like the characters enough to enjoy it very much. Nate didn't really win me, and I especially didn't care much for the way he treated Gen. He's such a fair-weather friend that as soon as he gets struck by lightning, he hoofs it over to the popular kids' side. Haha, he's a "fair-weather friend" who leaves after he gets "struck by lightning!" I don't know why, but I think that's hilarious. Puns aside, though, Nate was rather an anomaly. Descriptions of Nate and Gen's past together depicted him as this great friend who stuck by Gen through thick and thin. Then we're supposed to believe that he ditches her in a really cruel way (by standing her up, barely apologizing, and then calling her a weirdo in front of all of their classmates). Then at the end - well, I won't spoil it for you, but I bet you can guess. Nate's supposed to be this nice kid who went a little popularity crazy when his luck changed, but I just don't buy it. I wish I did, though.

As for Gen, I didn't really love her either. I mean, I liked her more than Nate and I felt bad for her when he was mistreating her. But I'm so sick of the "socially disconnected" depiction of smart people that I didn't really like her as much as I could have. How come the smart person always has to be the weirdo? As a smart-ish person myself, I know this isn't always the case - when you're born, God doesn't decide between giving you scholastic or social aptitude. Being able to process large numbers in your head (definitely not a gift God has given me) does not require you to spit them out like a calculator in the middle of conversations. Caring about turtle eggs on the beach does not mean you sit on the beach 24/7 and forgo having fun with people your own age (and species).

The plot idea is a fun one, and has a lot of potential. Byron focuses on the reactions to Nate's new luck: I already discussed Nate's less-than-ideal reaction, but the far more interesting aspect of the story is everyone else's reaction. Any time one person seems to have an advantage in this world, we seem to break into two groups: the beggers and the haters. The beggars are the people who swarm Nate, asking him to do things for them or play on their team or come ride in their fishing boat. They want some of Nate's luck to rub off on them, so they scurry to stay on his good side. Everone else despises Nate for being so successful. When he and his grandfather have a run of fabulous luck, the other men of the village become bitter that Nate's grandfather is getting everything. They become bitter, behaving meanly to both Nate and his grandfather, because they are swept away in the feeling that an injustice is being done them.

Honestly, the more I think about it the less I liked Lucky Strike. There's nothing so wrong with it that I would consciously refuse to recommend it, but there's also nothing so positive about it that I would go out of my way to suggest it to others. I may hand it off to my middle grade-aged brother if he seems interested, but I won't push it onto him. And who knows, he may like it much more than I did.

Genuine Sweet by Faith Harkey, 2015

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Twelve-year-old Genuine Sweet, of tiny Sass, Georgia, can grant any wish . . . except her own. It's a peculiar predicament, considering how much she could use a few wishes. New friends help Genuine give her family a boost--and then she takes her gift global! Life finally seems to be on the mend. But when she's faced with unexpected trouble that no amount of wishing can fix, Genuine must puzzle out the difference between wishing for a better life and building one.
Told in the engaging, irresistible voice of Genuine Sweet herself, Faith Harkey's debut novel spins a remarkable tale of a small-town girl with big-time magic and an even bigger heart.

(288 pages)

I needed this book. Neck-deep in studying for my AP exams, my brain was fried and my patience thin. I had the sinking sensation that only comes when my stock of reviews has bled dry and I've got a week of reviews in my backlog before I'm plumb out of content. I had a couple of books on my review pile, but none that really caught my eye and made me pour out a heartfelt review for. The TBR pile at the foot of my bed was full of appealing titles, but they had been sitting there waiting for so long that they already felt cliche and already done.

And that's where Genuine Sweet came in. I'd seen a review of it somewhere and requested it on a whim, and the day I hit my all-time low this new, shiny book popped into my hands screaming "I'm fun! I'm unique! I'll make you smile!" And it sure was. And did. Out of all the small-town-quirky-magic books I've read in my life, this one has carved its own spot. Where many "uniquely quirky" books fail in their use of the same old outside-the-box tropes, Genuine Sweet manages to take a lonely girl with negligent/dead parents, a loving/wise grandmother, and a new best friend, and actually make something new out of it.

The idea of wish-fetching is a very neat one, and I love that Harkey uses it to dig deep into the selfishness of human nature, through the people who harass Genuine for wishes, and the true potential of wish fetching - saving people in third-world countries. The fact that Geniune and Jura are so concerned about making the world a better place was just awesome.

However, I would be leery of recommending Genuine Sweet as a Middle Grade book. Harkey crafts a great story, but she includes enough mature themes that i know I for one won't be handing this off to my middle-school aged brother. For example, Genuine has an extremely sweet and touching slow-bloom relationship with a boy (whom I won't name for fear of spoilers) that I absolutely adored for as long as I could forget the fact that they were in middle school. Then I remembered, and I liked it a whole lot less. It's just weird when they're that age!

Actually, that's probably the biggest issue with this book: Genuine's age. If only she were seventeen, and then I could adore the book to pieces without feeling uncomfortable! As it is, I can still adore it, but I can't figure out who to recommend it to. I guess I'd offer it to fans of books like Savvy, Scumble, Drizzle, and Remarkable. It ranks right up there by the best of this sub-genre of quirky small-town magic, and would be absolutely perfect if Genuine were just five years older.

A Plague of Unicorns by Jane Yolen, 2014

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From bestselling and award-winning author Jane Yolen, this new middle-grade fiction reminds us that heroes come in all sizes.
Young James, an earl's son, is a bit bothersome and always asking the oddest questions. When the last of his tutors quits, his mother sends him away to be educated at Cranford Abbey. But Cranford Abbey has its own problems.The Abbey is falling apart. Abbot Aelian believes he can save the abbey with his secret weapon: a recipe for golden apple cider passed down through his family for generations. One obstacle stands in his way-unicorns! Unicorns  with very sharp horns that happen to feast specifically on the golden apples.In this new middle-grade fiction by bestselling author Jane Yolen, young readers will learn about life in a medieval monastery and be reminded that heroes come in all sizes.
(192 pages)


I saw this on Booklook Bloggers and snapped it up, because it looked cute and fun and just my little sister's speed. I read it in one sitting, which took about a hour and a half, and thought it was largely just that: cute and fun and the kind of book my sister will like. It's got some great historical info mixed in with the usual fantasy fun. You can tell Yolen did her research on the time period before departing from actual history. My favorite nod to the past is the poem James and his sister come up with to remember the queens of England:

Tilda, Jane, Mary, Lizzy,

They all make me very dizzy.

I'm not exactly sure who "Tilda" is, but Jane is the often-overlooked three day queen who "ruled" before Bloody Mary (the "Mary" in the poem), and "Lizzy" is, of course, Mary's sister Queen Elizabeth I. I'm a bit of a history geek, so I thought it was fun seeing the book's references to actual history.

That said, this book has some major pacing issues. Literally the first half of the book focuses on world-building and backstory and character introductions. Those are all wonderful, necessary things to have in any engaging book - but this was the focus of the first half of the book. And that left only half of the (rather short) book to tell the actual events of the story.

And here we run into the next problem. Too many things happen in too few pages. We've got James' relationships with his sister, his mother, his uncle, and his absent father. We've got James' insecurities about being the next duke. We've got a rather (too) long bit where James is traveling to the Abbey. We've got the lukewarm welcome James receives from the boys living in the Abbey. We've got Brother Luke's lessons on caligraphy, with a bit of Latin thrown in. Then, of course, we've got the unicorns themselves and the long string of "heroes" who come to drive them away and inevitably fail. Which are important? Which are not? Who knows? There are too many characters and too many plotlines for a book this size.

Reallly, that's the issue. The book should have been longer. You could tell Yolen had a longer story to tell than she had pages to tell it with, and so she wound up spending the whole book setting up this wonderful premise and showing off her research of the era, then jumbling on a quick-finish ending last-minute when she realized she didn't have room to bring everything to fruition. I would have loved this book so much if she had made it longer and taken the time to flesh everything out. I would have called it a great kids book if she had snipped a bunch of the side plots, and evened up the pacing. As it is, all I can say is that it's a cute book with a great premise which will probably make kids blind to the pacing issues. Older readers will have a harder time ignoring all the "could have been"s.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review.

How Not To Run For President by Catherine Clark, 2012

When the middle school band is called to play for a presidential campaign rally, Aidan is right there with his clarinet, just in time to save the candidate’s life. Interviewed by the media, he speaks up in favor of the need to save jobs—like his mom’s, for instance.  Even though he’s in the middle of Little League season, for pete’s sake, the candidate convinces him to join her tour of the midwest. 
Problem 1: The candidate’s daughter HATES Aidan. Problem 2: What do you do when your whole life has been turned upside down and you can’t get away from the media? Problem 3: What’s a red-blooded American boy to do when he’s asked to play the clarinet on national TV and the local bully back home is giving interviews saying Aidan’s the nerd of the century?

I saw this at the library while searching for books for our winter break roadtrip. It immediately reminded me of Dan Gutman's The Kid Who Ran For President, so I snapped it up for my middle-school-aged brother. I figured hey, he'll lug it around on the trip and I'll steal it from him when I want to read it. That didn't really work out, because I still wound up wrenching it into my backpack by the end of the trip - my brother read it in the first three hours of the trip, then completely abandoned it into my care. He didn't even touch it for the rest of the trip. I managed to get a shrug-nod out of him when I asked if he liked it; he's hard to read. I'm interpreting that as "I liked it, but it wasn't amazing, I liked the Dan Gutman series better."

As for me, I enjoyed the book. It's not going on my top-ten favorites list, but it was interesting and funny. It's appropriate for anyone old enough to read it, and teaches quite a bit about the campaign trail. That was actually one of my favorite things about the book: it taught me about politics without ever getting overbearing. The book focuses on everything from hot button issues (both defining the term and discussing actual issues that fall under that category), to the constant popularity contest of the political campaign, to what it would really be like to be the first daughter (hint: no freedom). I've seen political campaigns from the point of view of the "consumer" (albeit a non-voting consumer) but I'd never really thought about what it would be like to be involved in one.

The characters were well done, if not exactly original. They're pretty standard stock for this type of book. I've read a ridiculously large amount of books involving a rebellious politician's kid, a tough PR guy or agent (or both), and a clueless accidental hero/heroine somehow swept up in the political scene. Aidan's popularity with voters is mainly due to the fact that he is an all-American kid. This is exactly what he is, from his clarinet playing to his ignorance of anything to do with politics, but even though he's a stock character I still liked him: he seems like a really nice kid, and I was definitely rooting for him throughout the book.

Is this a good book? Yes. Is this an amazing, groundbreaking book that you need to run out and buy right now? No. If you're older and looking for a nice, short read about politics and the political campaign, then check this out from the library. If you know a middle schooler or advanced elementary schooler who is interested in anything to do with political campaigns, then by all means buy this book and give it to them for their birthday. If they're looking to learn something, they'll be happy. If they're just looking to read a fun story, then they'll still be happy – and they'll still be learning something!

Nuts to You by Lynne Rae Perkins, 2014

Hello, readers! I wish you all the very best New Year's Day possible. Here's to a great 2015! I have big dreams for this little blog, and I hope 2015 will be the year to see them fulfilled. Here's tomorrow's review early, as a New Year's treat.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Jed, TsTs, and Chai are the very best of friends. So when Jed is snatched up by a hawk and carried away to another realm, TsTs and Chai resolve to go after him. Mysteriously, the hawk has dropped him. They saw it. Jed could be alive. New communities are discovered, new friends made, huge danger is encountered (both man-made and of the fox and bobcat variety) and the mysteries of squirrel culture are revealed. It turns out that squirrels are steadfast and fun-loving. It turns out they adore peanut butter. It turns out they love games and really good stories. And nuts.
Newbery Medalist Lynne Rae Perkins loves peanut butter, too. And one day, while she was sitting on a bench enjoying the sunshine and a peanut butter sandwich, a squirrel asked for a smidgen of peanut butter in exchange for a story. Was it Jed? Well, readers will have to figure that out. Nuts to You is wholly original, funny, lively, and thought-provoking. It is a deeply satisfying piece of storytelling about the power of stories to save the world; about the power of friendship and the importance of community. Illustrated in black-and-white on every page by the author. Includes an introduction, epilogue, and footnotes throughout.
(272 pages)

After reading it:
I originally learned about this book at Semicolon. The upshot of the review there was that it was a lot better than  it looked. When I checked it out of the library my mother read it before I did and told me that it was better than she had expected. It was Thanksgiving weekend and I had barrelled through my other books, with only this one left to go. It actually took me a day or two to bring myself to read it, despite the fact that I'd been told multiple times that was better than it looked. After reading it, what is my verdict? It's better than it looks.

Yes, it really is. It looks hokey, like kids book working to get a message across. But upon actually reading it I found that it's really a sweet story of friendship with just enough peril keep things interesting, while at the same time keeping things from being too dark. I would recommend this highly most middle schoolers and frankly also many elementary schoolers. It's no Harry Potter, but even older readers like me can spend a couple hours reading this fun book.


Later:
It took me forever to read this, and now it's taking me forever to review it. I don't know what it is with this book, but as soon as I set it down I put it so completely out of my mind I go long stretches of time without picking it up again. It's a good story for younger readers, with black-and-white illustrations and humorous footnotes throughout, but I find it extremely unmemorable. Perhaps the target audience would retain it more than I seem to be able to. There's nothing objectionable in it, and it's actually pretty sweet.

The Quantum League book 1: Spell Robbers by Matthew J. Kirby, 2014

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
After Ben Warner is recruited to join a “science camp” led by the eccentric quantum physicist Dr. Madeleine Hughes, he quickly realizes it’s no regular science camp. Along with his new friend, Peter, Ben discovers the secret, powerful art of Actuation—the ability to change reality by simply imagining it differently.
When a mysterious group of men invade Dr. Hughes’s laboratory, abducting her and stealing her precious equipment, Ben and Peter are suddenly caught up in a turf war between dangerous actuators desperate for Dr. Hughes’s innovative technology. And as Ben and Peter are pulled into a perilous, hidden world full of impossibilities now made possible, will their combined powers be enough to save Dr. Hughes and vanquish their enemies before it’s too late?

This one will be a short review, because I already turned my copy of the book back into the library. I basically got this one solely because I am a huge fan of Kirby's other books (two of which rank in my all-time favorites), and I was ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. I guess I'm glad I did, but I wasn't exactly blown away by this book. It reminded me a lot of Gordon Korman's The Hypnotists but was, with all due respect to another amazing author, better than it. It was less convoluted, more compelling, and provided a more realistic (relatively, okay?) storyline.

But enough about comparisons. Ranked on its own, this was an okay book. I think I would rate it a lot higher if I was a twelve-year-old boy (or frankly, even a twelve-year-old girl). It's leagues above most trash I've read in the genre, and is much better than the cover suggests. I doubt I'll re-read it anytime soon, but I might read the sequel if I can get hold of it without much trouble.

The characterizations, while strong, left no real impression on me. Ben is the kind of hero you admire and whom you can easily envision yourself being. He's like a braver, stronger version of the reader.

Okay, I really have nothing else to say. I wasn't going to review this so I turned it back in, and then I changed my mind because I realized there are a lot of people out there looking for just this sort of book to give to their middle schoolers. If you're one of those people, or if you've got an hour or two to kill, go ahead and check this book out. It's not exactly a break-out novel, but there isn't really anything I can say against it, either. In fact, I had quite a bit of fun reading it!

Swindle by Gordon Korman, 2008

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
After a mean collector named Swindle cons him out of his most valuable baseball card, Griffin Bing must put together a band of misfits to break into Swindle's compound and recapture the card. There are many things standing in their way -- a menacing guard dog, a high-tech security system, a very secret hiding place, and their general inability to drive -- but Griffin and his team are going to get back what's rightfully his . . . even if hijinks ensue. 
(256 pages)


This is a fun book that I first read years ago. Since then both I and my middle school brother have read the rest of the books, more or less in order. I wouldn't call this one of my favorite books from the series, but because it's the first it's definintely fun to see where everything began. This is where the team comes together for the first time: it's their first crazy adventure, and coming back to it there's a bit of nostalgia in the air - or at least to me there is.

This is a Middle Grade series that is a lot of fun. My middle school-aged brother always sucks these books in as fast as I get ahold of them. He isn't obsessed with them or anything, but he likes them enough he'll drop a less interesting read for a day or two to read a new one. I do still get them when they ccome out, for my own reading enjoyment (I was reading them before he was!), but I don't go out of my way to snag a copy of the new books or even remember when there is a new one half the time - they just sort of pop up every now and then, and I check them out to read them.

As for this book in particular, I'm sorry I can't remember more details. I set out to review this almost a year ago after re-reading it, and forgot to actually do the writing part of writing a review. Now I, slightly neurotic, am trying to clear out my draft pile (which right now is filled with "spam-posts" that I started and never finished a long time ago). Some would point out that I could just throw out all those old half-posts by hitting the "delete" button. But nay, that would be cheating!

So here we go. Characters, lets talk about characters. I love Korman's characters. Just, you know, in general. He comes up with the funnest MCs and supporters. The Swindle books really put his talent in the best light as he draws each unique, unrealistic but oh-so-realistic character in the group. There's Logan, the aspiring actor, Savannah the animal lover, Melissa the shy computer genius, Ben the ever present sidekick, and Griffin, known as The Man with the Plan. The villains are interesting if not incredibly three-dimensional. There's the school bully who forces himself in on the plan and of course there's swindle himself who jerked Griffin out of a valuable baseball card that could save his family from having to move away.

If you like Middle Grade books, then check out this series. If you don't have time to read the entire series, then I would recommend starting with some of Korman's other books: this is a very good series, but it gets better as it goes along. If you're looking for good, funny Middle Grade book either for yourself or for a middle schooler you know, Korman is probably the best Middle Grade author I've ever read. If you have read this series and are looking for more books by him, an excellent place to start would be with Ungifted, No More Dead Dogs, or Schooled (the links go to Goodreads). You can read my review of Ungifted here.

Masterpiece by Elise Broach, 2008

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays’ apartment. He is very much a beetle. James Pompaday lives with his family in New York City. He is very much an eleven-year-old boy.After James gets a pen-and-ink set for his birthday, Marvin surprises him by creating an elaborate miniature drawing. James gets all the credit for the picture and before these unlikely friends know it they are caught up in a staged art heist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that could help recover a famous drawing by Albrecht Dürer. But James can’t go through with the plan without Marvin’s help. And that’s where things get really complicated (and interesting!). This fast-paced mystery will have young readers on the edge of their seats as they root for boy and beetle.

First, an important note to my readers: Two months ago I fell off a horse (during my third and final horse-back riding lesson), spraining my left and dominant hand. We went to the doctor and got a wrist brace which helped it get better, but in the last two weeks it has become painful once more and so I'm under orders not to use it for anything. Sadly, that "anything" includes typing. I'm left to do my school-work and blog writing either one-handed or with my computer's pretty faulty dictation device. So if I miss a typo here or there, just let me know in the comments and I'll fix it.

Anyway, on to the review.
I read this book for the first time several years ago, back when I was actually part of the target audience.  The first time I read it, I picked it up because I had loved Shakespeare's Secret by the same author.  I didn't really know what to expect with this one, but once I got into this book, I was enthralled.  Now, a few years later, I am not quite as in love as I was the first time (and caught a couple logistical issues that escaped my notice the first time), but it is still the fun, sweet story I remember - and even cuter than I thought it was!

I'm not really going to nit-pick through this one. The fact that the beetles are so similar to humans requires a leap of faith (I mean, Marvin has an uncle who fixes the electronic devices when they malfunction!), but the charming picture of a tiny family living in the walls and mimicking the lives of the larger inhabitants is indubitably an appealing one to elementary and middle school-aged children. You only have to look at the success of The Littles and The Borrowers to see this. Stuart Little and The Cricket in Time's Square are some  more successful additions to this sub-genre about tiny people or animals who behave like people. Masterpiece joins the ranks of these stretch-of-the-imagination classics with all the charm that can be desired, if not all the logic (at one point Marvin can't see and knows he's in an  elevator because of the swooping feeling in his stomach - how can this pubescent beetle who has never left home before possibly know what it feels like to be in an elevator?).

The story is told third person past tense from Marvin's point of view. Marvin is the hero of this book, no doubt about it. It's his decisions that carry the story, starting with his impulsive present to James. Marvin doesn't really have much unique characterization. The novelty is in what Marvin is and what he can do, not who Marvin is. Marvin is pretty straight-forward (kind, curious, artistic, etc), and you can't help but automatically be on his side.

James, the main human character in the book, is just as nice as Marvin, and is also very perceptive. James is probably my favorite character in the book not only because of his shy kindness, but because his mother and step-father walk all over him and you can't help but be on his side. Even James's real father Karl (divorced from James's mother several years before the book begins) seems oblivious to James's real desires in life: he gives James a pen and ink set for his birthday, clueless to the fact that James can't even draw. James doesn't throw a fit about getting a pen and ink set for his birthday (which is what most bratty kids in today's MG would do). He thanks his dad with as much enthusiasm as he can muster, and goes upstairs to start testing the kit out. See why I like this kid? There have been too many self-absorbed MCs lately, and I enjoyed reading a book with two kind and even compassionate main characters. Maybe I should read younger kid books more often.

As for the plot, it's a fun adventure through art, history, and museum security with a clever twist ending. As I mentioned above, James's parents are divorced. It's handled neatly throughout the book, and younger readers will quickly catch on to the fact that James's parents just weren't compatible because of their completely different approaches to life. While I may not agree with the idea of "incompatibility" divorce, there's no fault in the way it's handled.

Now, I keep saying this is a book for younger kids. This is true, but keep in mind: it's 292 pages long. It packs quite a heft for a middle grade book, so be careful that you only give it to kids who've got some endurance training under their belt. Also, older people are not excluded from reading it. I'm a high school junior and I read it, and I'm even admitting to reading it online!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free through Barnes & Noble's summer reading program this past summer. No one asked me to review it, and it didn't affect my review in any way.