Middle Grade Monday: Restart, by Gordon Korman

Title: Restart
Author: Gordon Korman
Publication Info: Scholastic Press, 2017. 256 pages (Hardback).  
Source: Library digital resources

Publisher’s Blurb: 
Chase's memory just went out the window.

Chase doesn't remember falling off the roof. He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again . . . starting with his own name.

He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return.

Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of him.

One girl in particular is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head the first chance she gets.

Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is--it's a question of who he was . . . and who he's going to be.

My Review: 

Restart is an quick and enjoyable read with an interesting premise. I was a bit dubious at first about the whole business of Chase’s amnesia, since he could remember nothing of who he was, but everything, apparently, that he had learned in school (or seemed not to learn). I don’t know enough about head injuries and amnesia to judge, but it seemed unlikely to me that he would suddenly become a better student, as well as a better person. 

Once you suspend disbelief on such points, however, the idea is fantastic—that someone who is (now) a decent and caring individual discovers that he has been someone and done things he despises. That means that our protagonist is seeing bullying from two directions at once, and it gets worse (for him) when his “friends” from before his accident try to manipulate him into being his old self.

Korman has put a lot of thought into how bullying works and how a group of kids can become truly cruel and awful. I might have liked it better if there’d been some indication that the two friends with whom Chase has always ganged up were separated from each other occasionally and showed signs of being able to think, as well. They are definitely single-dimension characters, apparently unable to grow or change in any way (which does put Chase in the position of recognizing that some friends are toxic). In fact, most of the characters are pretty cartoon-y, and I don’t think middle-grade readers would be unable to cope with a touch more nuance.

As for the sports element, I am no fan of football, but the game doesn’t dominate the story. Still, the football element may appeal to some readers who would otherwise not even look at the book.

My Recommendation: 

For middle-school (11-14) boys, especially the sports-crazy. I can recommend it for any bullies, but they probably wouldn’t read it, or wouldn’t get it.

Full Disclosure: I checked Restart out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Middle Grade Monday: Twerp (audio book)

Title: Twerp
Author: Mark Goldblatt, read by Everette Plen
Publication Info: 2013, Listening Library. Hardcover 2013, Random House
Source: Library digital resources

Publisher's Blurb:
It's not like I meant for him to get hurt. . . .

Julian Twerski isn't a bully. He's just made a big mistake. So when he returns to school after a weeklong suspension, his English teacher offers him a deal: if he keeps a journal and writes about the terrible incident that got him and his friends suspended, he can get out of writing a report on Shakespeare. Julian jumps at the chance. And so begins his account of life in sixth grade--blowing up homemade fireworks, writing a love letter for his best friend (with disastrous results), and worrying whether he's still the fastest kid in school. Lurking in the background, though, is the one story he can't bring himself to tell, the one story his teacher most wants to hear.

Inspired by Mark Goldblatt's own childhood growing up in 1960s Queens, Twerp shines with humor and heart. This remarkably powerful story will have readers laughing and crying right along with these flawed but unforgettable characters.

My Review:  
This book was on the short list for the BOTM read for my Goodreads middle-grade books group, and since I needed something to read, I nabbed a copy. The theme for the month was bullying, and this one looked interesting (okay, half the books on the list ended up on my TBR list).

The book is more than interesting. Much of the story reads like a typical middle-school kind of story. Sixth-graders doing 12-year-old things, sometimes stupid, sometimes a little more self-centered than nice. But behind it all, as Julian writes his journal-like story, lurks the thing that he doesn't want to admit. Doesn't even want to think about.

Most of the time the reader can forget that there's something not yet revealed. The traumas of 6th grade--especially the whole things with girls--seem enough to make an engaging and mostly kind of fun story. In retrospect, when the author is done with the gut-punch of the thing Julian and his friends did, some of those incidents were steps on Julian's way to understanding difference. In that sense, the story feels maybe a bit more modern than its 1960s setting--it felt a bit like Restorative Justice. And maybe that concept isn't as new as we like to think it is.

I think this story works especially well as an instructive tale about bullying precisely because Julian isn't a bully. But then he does something--and he is. He is also a kid who is too willing to follow others, and there is just enough hint that he gets that, and in the end manages to move beyond it.

The audio is well done, the narrator's style felt a little too "6th grade" to me--a little too slow and a trifle stilted, kind of the way Julian himself might read it. Which is fine in some ways, but I'd have preferred a smoother read in some places. Not a turn-off, just not how I'd have read it.

My Recommendation:
This would make an excellent book for a class read, especially in a class (I'm thinking of Eldest Son's 6th grade class) where there's a  bit of a bullying problem. If it doesn't get kids to think about their own behavior, they may beyond thinking.

FTC Disclosure: I checked Twerp out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 

Picture Book Review: Pea Soup Disaster, by Elaine Kaye

I don't review picture books very often, but I won this in a giveaway, and it's awfully cute, so here it is.

 

Title: Pea Soup Disaster: A Gregory Green Adventure

Author: Elaine Kaye

Publication Info: 2018; 25 pages

Source: I won this in a giveaway

Publisher’s Blurb:

Gregory Green loves his mom’s pea soup, but when he eats it at school, all of his friends make fun of how it looks. He doesn’t think it looks like bugs, and it tastes good! Then at recess, his friends run from him, screaming, “He’s a monster!” Gregory doesn’t know why his friends are being mean until he sees his skin is green. The teasing gets worse until an unlikely friend comes to the rescue—his teddy bear, Sammy. Sammy usually only comes to life for Gregory and his family, but Sammy has an important lesson to teach Gregory and his classmates.

**For kids ages 5-8**

My Review:

This is a simple, cute story to help children understand how much bullying hurts--and how important it is to stand up to it. All readers will understand that Gregory's little problem (so what's a bit of turning green among friends?) isn't his fault, and that his friends and classmates are mean to make fun. Many will also see the hurt done by making fun of what he eats for lunch, and may be able to draw some connections to their own behaviors.

The lesson here isn't subtle, but it is presented in a fun way, with the odd curse of the Greens, and the absurdity of everyone's calm acceptance of Gregory's color change. I also loved that the arrival of a walking and talking teddy bear didn't bother the kids at all. I guess they all knew that beloved bears and stuffies can come to their rescue!

The writing is very simple, and at times feels a little unpolished. But the story really works, and the plain narrative is right for the story, so I didn't feel that was a significant issue. I doubt any children will notice!

My Recommendation:

I think this is perfect for the target age range, kids from 5 to 8. They are old enough to understand the message and, sadly, old enough to need it, either for comfort from their own experiences as the victims of bullying and mockery, or as a reminder why they shouldn't bully.

Full Disclosure: I won a copy of Pea Soup Disaster in a giveaway, with no expectations or obligations attached for a positive or any other kind of review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

Middle Grade Review: Wolf Hollow, by Lauren Wolk

 Title: Wolf Hollow
Author: Lauren Wolk
Publisher: Dutton Children's Books, 2016. 291 pages
Source: Library

Publisher's Blurb:
Growing up in the shadows cast by two world wars, Annabelle has lived a mostly quiet, steady life in her small Pennsylvania town. Until the day new student Betty Glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and while her bullying seems isolated at first, things quickly escalate, and reclusive World War I veteran Toby becomes a target of her attacks. While others have always seen Toby’s strangeness, Annabelle knows only kindness. She will soon need to find the courage to stand as a lone voice of justice as tensions mount.

Brilliantly crafted, Wolf Hollow is a haunting tale of America at a crossroads and a time when one girl’s resilience, strength, and compassion help to illuminate the darkest corners of our history.

My Review: 
This is definitely a growing-up book.  By that I mean, it's a book that doesn't have an easy and happy ending, and not only does the protagonist have to do some growing up, but so does the reader. It's a wonderful book, and leaves one with unanswered questions and some frustrations--much the way Annabelle feels.

The book is not so much about WWII (that's just the time period when it's set) as it is about bullying, justice, and the power of prejudice. In this case, there is a deeply troubled girl who is getting no help with her problems, and the entire community pays the price for that. What Betty does costs everyone in the town a little bit of their humanity, I think, though it also allows a few people to discover some things they didn't know they had. Annabelle especially discovers that she has a courage she never suspected, when she discovers that she has to stand up to a bully to protect those she loves.

I think the heart of the story is summed up in the line (part of the text on the front cover as well as part of the first chapter): "The year I turned twelve, I learned that what I said and what I did mattered. So much, sometimes, that I wasn't sure I wanted such a burden. But I took it anyway, and I carried it as best I could." Ultimately, if any of us learn that much from a book or from life, we've probably done okay.

My Recommendation:
This is another I will recommend for adults as well as children. The feel of the book is dark enough that I think it isn't suitable for kids younger than 11 or 12, not because of any inappropriate language or actions, but because of the adult decisions that Annabelle ends up making, and the adult consequences they have. It just feels like a book that might be hard for a younger child to take in.

FTC Disclosure: I checked Wolf Hollow out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 

Middle Grade Review: Big Nate

I've noticed that the Big Nate books are very popular with the elementary students, and had heard some not-great things about them, so I took a look at a couple to draw my own conclusions. I read the first book, Big Nate: In a Class By Himself, and Big Nate Goes for Broke.
   

First, the info. Titles are above.
Author: Lincoln Peirce
Publisher: Harper Collins, 2010 and 2012.
Source: Library

Discussion:
Big Nate is a middle-schooler, 6th grade (that's about age 12, for my British readers). He's no star of his school--in fact, his stories seem to be more about his disasters, though he always grasps victory--of a sort--from the jaws of defeat, which isn't a bad message. I would even say that his victory in "Goes for Broke" is a good one. I'm less impressed with his triumph in the other book, which is to accumulate more detention slips in a single day than any other kid--though he does seem more hapless than ill-behaved.

The bad message is how often his jokes and triumphs are at the expense of other people. When he wants to tell us about his wonderful Cartooning Club in "Goes for Broke," he does it by telling us why all the other clubs in the school are lame (in the process making fun, as usual, of those who enjoy and excel at academics). Yes, I can see why kids would laugh at those jokes, and yes, it's how humor often works at that age, but I'm no fan of jokes that rely on belittling others and see no need for books to model what the kids will all too often do on their own.

In "In a Class By Himself," a lot of the negative humor is directed at the teachers. They are all old, fat, evil, etc. Again, maybe that's how an under-achieving middle-schooler views the teachers, but I'm not impressed. What's wrong with having some decent teachers? For that matter, would it be so bad if Nate were engaged in even one of his classes?

Finally, Nate himself is often the victim of bullies who go unpunished and whom the teachers never seem to see through. Let's give teachers some credit here, Mr. Peirce! (And MUST every extra-large middle-school boy be a bully? That's not been my experience). Certainly neither students nor teachers at PS 38 or their rival Jefferson Middle School seem to have any familiarity with things like Restorative Justice. I realize that it wouldn't fit the tone of the books to have that degree of realism. And maybe that's just the problem.

Recommendation: 
As you have no doubt gathered, I'm pretty unimpressed with these books. I don't really recommend them for anyone, despite their obvious appeal to a certain demographic. I might even go so far as to say these would be an exception to my usual rule that any book a kid wants to read is a good book. I don't know. Maybe the kids see through Nate and recognize that his mockery of others is just his insecurity talking. But I suspect that most are just embracing a confirmation of their own urges to build their own sense of self by running down everyone else. There's enough mean-spirited behavior among kids that age to lend a ring of truth to the books--but there's also enough that the kids don't need any extra.

FTC Disclosure: I checked the Big Nate books out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 

Middle Grade Review: Wonder, by R.J. Palacio

 

Title: Wonder
Author: R. J. Palacio
Publishing info: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.  313 pages.

Summary:

August Pullman was born with extreme facial deformities.  At age 10, after being homeschooled all his life (due to his medical issues), he enters school for the first time.  It's supposed to be easier because everyone is starting middle school together.   But things are never easy when you look different, especially when you look that different.  He and his family and classmates have a ways to travel before anyone can see Auggie as just another 5th-grader.

Review:

This is a moving and important book, less about disability (August doesn't have any lack of abilities, he just looks very, very unusual) than about difference.  Different is frankly the worst thing a kid can be after about age 6.  Using the start of Middle School (in his case, 5th grade) and the entrance into school for the first time makes for a convenient frame, as it's a time when kids struggle with all kinds of differences and realities.  But people of any age can go through a similar process of registering difference, dealing with it consciously and carefully (or reactively and hurtfully, as the case may be), until it ends up as the least important aspect of the person.

One of the things that makes this book so strong is that not only do we get Auggie's viewpoint, which says so much about how he copes with his looks and people's reactions, but sections of the book are written from other points of view as well.  In many ways, the best section is that told by Via, Auggie's older sister, who is just starting high school.  She is 4 years older than he is, so she doesn't really remember life without him, and she loves him dearly.  But she's human, and sometimes she wishes things were different.  Different so that she could be more important in the family, and (to her intense shame) so that she didn't have to let anyone at her new school know she has a little brother who is "disfigured," a word she hates.  The way Via and other characters talk about their divided feelings a mixed reactions to Auggie allows them to be real people, even while they are people who rise above themselves.  And, ultimately, the author lets almost all the kids rise above their initial rejection of anything different, which may not be completely realistic but is the model we all want.

Recommendation: For everyone.  Seriously.  We all need help in seeing the world through the eyes of others, and in dealing with differences.

Full Disclosure: I checked  Wonder out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."