Middle School, The Worst Years of my Life

Middle School, The Worst Years of my Life by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts is a humorous story about a troubled middle school kid named Rafe. For good reason, many authors are following Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid format – chapters with cartoons throughout. The kids love books like these! Cartoonist Laura Park creatively illustrates this story. Rafe narrates his story and often draws the reader in by asking reflective questions. Rafe’s home life is the worst. He and his younger sister, Georgia, hardly see their hardworking mother while her low-life, live-in boyfriend sits on their couch and watches television all day. On the first day of middle school, the vice principal boringly discusses each rule in the Code of Conduct handbook with all the students. Rafe, negatively influenced by a boy named Leo, decides the only way he will survive this school year is if he creates a game in which he scores points for breaking all of the rules discussed. Will Rafe learn the best way to fit in at his middle school or will the consequences of his bad behavior crash down on him? Reviews I read about this book were either 5 stars (the kids love it) or 1 star (I am assuming the adults due to the deviant behavior)…I am somewhere in the middle. To me, there is still nothing quite like The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Other great books by James Patterson include the Maximum Ride and Daniel X series – both are great for reluctant reader because of the action packed storylines and short chapters.

Guys Read: Funny Business

Guys (and some adventurous girls) are going to want to read this one, Guys Read: Funny Business, edited by Jon Scieszka. Ten short humorous stories written by some of your favorite authors (Mac Barnett, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo & Jon Scieszka, Paul Feig, Jack Gantos, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, Adam Rex, and David Yoo) and illustrated by Adam Rex. The purpose of Guys Read is to instill a love of reading in boys that will last a lifetime. Funny Business is the first volume in the Guys Read Library. Storylines include the inspiration behind Artemis Fowl, a killer turkey, a grumpy grandpa with unbelievable childhood stories, and a deadly wart. Click on the video below to hear the authors tell “The Joke” which also happens to be the foreword of Funny Business. The second volume of the Guys Read Library is Guys Read: Thriller.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

I have multiple copies of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger and they have been flying off my shelves. No sooner do I shelve a copy, an eager patron snatches it off the shelf. I had to place a hold for myself to be able to read this entertaining, humorous book over the holidays. It is told in multiple stories by middle schoolers who are asking advice from an Origami Yoda. The nerdiest kid at school, Dwight, has created a finger puppet, Origami Yoda, who answers questions in Yoda-like dialogue. At first, the students are skeptical…it has to be Dwight giving the advice. Things start to change when the students realize that there are just some things that Dwight couldn’t have known. The text is easy to read and the book has illustrations as well. Instructions for creating your own Origami Yoda are at the end of this quick read. This is a good book recommendation for those readers who have read Jeff Kinney’s entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and haven’t found another “great” book to read. The video below is the author showing you how to make your own Origami Yoda. In addition, this is on the Texas Bluebonnet Reading List 2011-12.

Big Nate: In a Class by Himself

Big Nate: In a Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce will make you laugh out loud. The author, Lincoln Peirce, bases his first novel on his comic strip, Big Nate. Nate, a sixth-grade boy, opens a fortune cookie to find the message: Today you will surpass all others. Maybe today his fortune will actually come true. As the day goes on, things are not happening as Nate would have planned. This quick read is told with cartoon illustrations like Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This one would be great for reluctant readers or anyone who enjoys humorous stories.