Review: Front Desk

Front Desk by Kelly Yang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a treat! Mia and her family are immigrants who operate a motel in California for a horrible owner. They are hard workers, but life has not been easy for them. 10 year old Mia mans the front desk while her parents are busy cleaning and doing the laundry for the motel.

Mia is a plucky heroine who has an indomitable spirit. Much of the plot is based on the author's experiences. Wow!

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Review: War in the Ring: Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, and the Fight between America and Hitler

War in the Ring: Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, and the Fight between America and Hitler by John Florio
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a well researched nonfiction book about a very famous boxing match. While this book is mostly about the match between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling, it also explains why this was so much more than a fight for the world heavyweight title. I learned why Joe Louis and his successes were so important to black people in this country and ultimately why the Louis-Schmeling match was so important to Americans of all races. The book includes pictures and an extensive bibliography. This is middle grade nonfiction at its finest.

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Review: The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mason Buttle is a boy who is honest as the day is long. He lives with his uncle, grandmother, and friend. His best friend recently died in what appears to be an accident, although the police keep coming back to ask Mason more questions.

I liked the way small town life was portrayed in this book. I liked Mason's good nature and innocence throughout the book. I also liked that kids with a variety of special needs were just represented as kids.

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Review: Wolf Hollow

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book takes place in Wolf Hollow during WWII. Annabelle and her brothers live with her parents and grandparents and work on the family's farm. All is well until two people move into town. One is Betty, a bully Annabelle's age who moves in with her grandparents and the other is Toby, an odd drifter who moves into an abandoned smoke shack.

I really enjoyed this beautifully written story. The book has won many awards, but I wonder who it was really written for? I'm not sure the average middle grade reader will find the book as engaging as I did. Some very adult issues are touched upon and the ending shows us that we don't always get what we want. I hope young readers will read and appreciate this story.

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Review: Fast Break

Fast Break by Mike Lupica
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jayson is a middle school boy who faces tragedy and is abandoned to live on his own. Basketball is the best thing in his life. He tries to hide his situation from everyone, but eventually gets caught and placed in the foster care system. His placement is with a loving family from the other side of town. He's attending a school across town with an excellent basketball team, but he will be playing against his old team and friends. While many people at his new school are friendly and willing to give Jayson a chance, not everyone is so open to accepting the new kid. Jayson doesn't always make it any easier with some of this anger erupting while on the basketball court.

This book takes a difficult situation and shows the good that can come from it. They foster care system is shown as a safety net, not a punishment. As a non-basketball player, some of the on court scenes were a little long for me, but Lupica wrote them in such a way that even I could see the action unfolding in my mind's eye.

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Review: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things

Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alvin Ho is a boy who is a list maker with a sense of humor. He is also afraid of everything including school. At school he is so afraid he can't speak with his voice, he can only speak with his eyes. He carries a PDK with him everywhere. PDK stands for Personal Disaster Kit.

I found this book to be very amusing and occasionally laugh out loud funny. His list are hilarious, his family is quirky yet loving, and Alvin's voice is completely believable.

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Review: The Next Great Paulie Fink

The Next Great Paulie Fink by Ali Benjamin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Caitlyn and her mother have moved to a new town that is completely different from where she previously lived. She needs to make new friends and navigate a new school. She finds her classmates are quirky, and the school is the strangest school she's ever been in. She keeps hearing about a boy who suddenly moved away, Paulie Fink. Everyone tells stories about him and offers a different description of what he was like. Caitlyn doesn't know what to make of this, but mostly she knows she doesn't want to be his replacement.

This book brought up many issues facing middle schoolers without be pedantic or preachy. The author does a wonderful job of showing Caitlyn's evolution through the story. I loved the quirky kids and they way they were valued for being themselves - something many middle schools don't necessarily allow, as revealed through Caitlyn's communications with her friends from her previous school. And then there's Paulie - who was he really? Can we ever say we really know someone?

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