bella books review: J Realistic Fiction

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Kindred Souls

Kindred Souls. Patricia MacLachlan. 2012. HarperCollins. 119 pages.

My grandfather, Billy, hears the talk of birds. He leans out the open bedroom window with his head tilted to listen in the warm prairie morning.

Kindred Souls is the kind of children's book I have come to appreciate as an adult, but, the kind of book that I would NEVER have wanted to read as a child. In other words, it's one of those books. You know, the kind, the kind that introduces you to a wonderful old man AND a dog. And you have every right to be suspicious that the end will destroy your emotional well-being.

Jake, our narrator, is ten and confident; confident that everything will stay the same, confident that life is good and will stay that way. Sure, his grandfather, Billy, is eighty-eight, sure he's moved in with them. But he will live FOREVER. Don't ask him how he knows, it's enough that he believes. The novel begins with the two going on their usual walk. Billy is talking--again--about the sod house where he was born. He is wishing--again--that it hadn't fallen into such horrible condition. He is telling Jake--again--about the old days. This time Billy seems extra-sad, so Jake asks him a simple question: "How hard is it to cut a brick of sod?" And so the idea is born that a new sod house will be built...

And then there is the arrival of Lucy, a stray dog, that seems to be the perfect companion for Billy. Billy and Lucy seem to be best, best, best friends from the very first moment they meet.

This book is about an unforgettable summer.

Read Kindred Souls

If you like bittersweet children's books
If you like emotional family stories
If you are a fan of Patricia MacLachlan
If you like dog stories

The One and Only Ivan

The One and Only Ivan. Katherine Applegate. 2012. HarperCollins. 301 pages.

I am Ivan. I am a gorilla. It's not as easy as it looks.

Want to read one of the best, best books of the year? May I suggest Katherine Applegate's verse novel, The One and Only Ivan. I can't promise that every reader will come to LOVE Ivan, Ruby, Stella, Bob, Julia, and George, but you might end up loving them just as much as I did. (Ivan is a gorilla; Ruby and Stella are elephants; Bob is a dog; George and Julia are two of the most sympathetic human characters in the novel.)

So what is it about? It's about a small group of animals on display at Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Ivan, the gorilla, is an artist whose works sell in the gift shop. He's been captive almost thirty years. Stella is one of his dearest friends, she's an elephant who knows quite a few tricks. She's a great storyteller, but, many of her stories are bittersweet. She's had a hard life to have such a great memory. Bob, the stray dog, is Ivan's other best friend, he's not really on display--not wild enough, not talented enough--but to Ivan, well, he's the best dog in the world. One day, Mack, the owner, brings someone new: a baby elephant named Ruby. Her arrival changes EVERYTHING for Ivan. For at long last, he has someone to protect.

Within pages, I was hooked. Here is the second poem:

names

People call me the Freeway Gorilla. The Ape at Exit 8. The One and Only Ivan, Mighty Silverback.

The names are mine, but they're not me. I am Ivan, just Ivan, only Ivan.

Humans waste words. They toss them like banana peels and leave them to rot.

Everyone knows the peels are the best part.

I suppose you think gorillas can't understand you. Of course, you also probably think we can't walk upright.

Try knuckle walking for an hour. You tell me: Which way is more fun?

The narrative voice is so strong, so rich, so observant, so right. Here are just a few examples:

Humans speak too much. They chatter like chimps, crowding the world with their noise even when they have nothing to say. (3)

Anger is precious. A silverback uses anger to maintain order and warn his troop of danger. When my father beat his chest, it was to say, Beware, listen, I am in charge. I am angry to protect you, because that is what I was born to do. Here in my domain, there is no one to protect. (10)

It was Julia who gave me my first crayon, a stubby blue one, slipped through the broken spot in my glass along with a folded piece of paper. I knew what to do with it. I'd watched Julia draw. When I dragged the crayon across the paper, it left a trail in its wake like a slithering blue snake. (16)

Humans don't always seem to recognize what I've drawn. They squint, cock their heads, murmur. I'll draw a banana, a perfectly lovely banana, and they'll say, "It's a yellow airplane!" or "It's a duck without wings!" That's all right. I'm not drawing for them. I'm drawing for me. (17)

My visitors are often surprised when they see the TV Mack put in my domain. They seem to find it odd, the sight of a gorilla staring at tiny humans in a box. Sometimes I wonder, though: Isn't the way they stare at me, sitting in my tiny box, just as strange? (23)

Bob's tail makes me dizzy and confused. It has meanings within meanings, like human words. "I am sad," it says. "I am happy." It says, "Beware! I may be tiny, but my teeth are sharp." Gorillas don't have any use for tails. Our feelings are uncomplicated. Our rumps are unadorned. (35)

Homework, I have discovered, involves a sharp pencil and thick books and long sighs. (44)

But hunger, like food, comes in many shapes and colors. At night, lying alone in my Pooh pajamas, I felt hungry for the skilled touch of a grooming friend, for the cheerful grunts of a play fight, for the easy safety of my nearby troop, foraging through shadows. (133)

It's an odd story to remember, I have to admit. My story has a strange shape: a stunted beginning, an endless middle. (144)

The One and Only Ivan is definitely an EMOTIONAL read. It's a book about how humans treat or mistreat animals. It tells the story of several animals: Stella, Ivan, Ruby, etc. In some cases relating how they got to their current "domain" (cage, or prison). For the most sensitive reader, it may prove a little too much in a few poems. Overall, I think it's a great read. Powerful, compelling, beautifully written.

Read The One and Only Ivan

If you love E.B. White's Charlotte's Web
If you love Kathi Appelt's The Underneath
If you love animal stories
If you love gorillas, elephants, dogs
If you love GREAT writing

Kepler's Dream (MG)

Kepler's Dream. Juliet Bell. 2012. Penguin. 256 pages.

It was the middle of the night, and that's not a time when you want to be hearing strange noises. I don't care how brave you are. No one wants to be restless and almost-sleep, then rustled awake by a thudding overhead and the feeling that someone is trying to get into the room.

Ella, our heroine, is visiting a grandmother she's never met, her paternal grandmother. Her father, whom she barely knows, does not get along with his mother. But Ella has to spend the summer with someone since her mother will be undergoing treatment for her leukemia. (She'll be receiving a bone marrow transplant, I believe.) And her grandmother is her last option, her only option.
Ella's first impressions of her grandmother, of her grandmother's house, are priceless. But through the course of a summer, the eccentricity and quirks of her grandmother have become familiar and comfortable. And she's made other friends as well.

Kepler's Dream is about a dysfunctional family who has a rather unique opportunity to heal, to mend, to come together. Could Ella help bring her father and grandmother together again? Perhaps. For Ella who has never really known her grandmother and does not really know her father, it's an unique opportunity, for she'll get a chance to get to know them, to get to love them, to make them a part of her family.

But Kepler's Dream is also a mystery. And Ella's curiosity and determination to solve the mystery, to learn WHO stole her grandmother's precious book, Kepler's Dream, is the beginning of that opportunity. This mystery is the catalyst for a family to come together again.

I liked this one. I definitely liked it. There were places I just loved it. I liked the narrative voice, how Ella's reading influences her as a narrator. I love her grandmother's bookish lifestyle, and how she's always getting book deliveries. I liked how these relationships, friendships, happened naturally--nothing forced, nothing instant, nothing magical. I loved getting to know Ella at a very vulnerable time in her life. The thing I absolutely LOVED about this one were Ella's letters to her mom.

Read Kepler's Dream

If you like bookish heroines
If you like children's mysteries
If you like family books, plenty of drama but heart as well

The Great Cake Mystery

The Great Cake Mystery. Alexander McCall Smith. Random House. 96 pages.

Have you ever said to yourself, "Wouldn't it be nice to be a detective? Most of us will never have the chance to make that dream come true. Detectives, you see, are born that way. Right from the beginning they just know that this is what they want to be. And right from the beginning they show that solving mysteries is something they can do rather well. This is the story about a girl who became a detective. Her name was Precious.

I liked this one. I definitely liked it. To clarify things I'll just mention that I have not read the book, No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which stars Precious Ramotswe. This children's chapter book is the famous detective's first case. So if I like this one it isn't necessarily because I love the adult mystery series, I may or may not. (I do plan on reading the first book this summer, if all goes to plan.) I do find it tricky as an adult to judge early readers and chapter books because often the plots are not thrilling at all, the text can be tiresome OR predictable OR condescending OR preachy. And it's hard to know--as an adult--exactly what books are going to appeal, truly appeal, to those aged six, seven or eight. That being said, I liked this one. Why? Well. I liked the writing, the storytelling. I liked the narrator. I liked how the narrator sometimes addressed the reader. And I liked the pacing. I liked how we get to know Precious BEFORE the actual mystery begins. I liked how we get to know something of Precious and her relationship with her father. I did like her father telling a story about the lion! I *know* it has nothing to do with the main mystery in this one, I *know* that it wouldn't fit neatly into an outline of what this story is about, but I feel it does reveal something about the characters and the setting. It gives us a feel for the story, perhaps. It gives us time to get settled into the story before the "real" action begins. (And dare I say it, I almost liked this side story more than the actual mystery?) Going back to the pacing, I liked how the chapters flowed together. Yes, there was really no reason to break where they did each time, but, for me it kept me wanting to turn the page. Now turning to the mystery itself, this one has a not-so-subtle message about how you shouldn't judge people and make accusations without proof and hard evidence. You shouldn't just accuse a classmate of stealing from you just because he's overweight and in the habit of eating candy and sweets.
Accusing people of doing something wrong--lying, stealing, cheating, whatever--is serious and it's not a joke. So we learn a good, moral, common-sense lesson in how to treat others. Precious knows that there is a thief stealing things from the school from her classmates, but while other kids are quick to judge WHO is doing the stealing, Precious is slow to judge or accuse. She knows that there has to be a rational explanation for the disappearances of these sticky buns, cakes, etc. But that doesn't mean it has to be a classmate or friend. Precious determines to outwit the thief and catch him in the act...

The very things I liked about it, may not work for other people.

Read The Great Cake Mystery

If you're a fan of Alexander McCall Smith
If you're a fan of mysteries for young readers
If you're looking for an interesting chapter book

My Extra Best Friend

My Extra Best Friend. Julie Bowe. 2012. Penguin. 224 pages.

I'm Ida May and I could use a little light. That's because I'm digging around in my bedroom closet, trying to find my flashlight. If I had a flashlight, it would make looking for one a lot easier.

This is Ida May's fifth adventure, and I still love and adore this character!!! I do, I just love seeing the world through Ida May's eyes. I love her observations and her insights. There are times, of course, when Ida May just doesn't get it, especially in My Extra Best Friend. But. I think this just makes her more realistic, more authentic.

In My Extra Best Friend, Ida May is off to Meadowlark Camp with her classmates: Jenna, Brooke, Stacey, Randi, Meeka, Jolene, Rusty, Tom, Joey, and Quinn. The girls will all be staying in the same cabin, with the addition of one more camper, a girl named Liz. Could this Liz be the same Elizabeth or "Lizbutt" of days of old? You know, the Elizabeth who moved with her family to New Mexico and never, ever, ever, ever, ever wrote to Ida May no matter how many letters Ida May sent her. That Elizabeth.

While the novel is definitely about the full camping experience--arts and crafts, singing, swimming, hiking, etc. It is also a novel about trust, friendship, and accepting change and growth as a good thing. The lesson, of course, is a good one. Brooke and Ida and Liz all have something to learn it seems.

The Friends for Keeps Series:

My Last Best Friend
My New Best Friend
My Best Frenemy
My Forever Friends
My Extra Best Friend

Read My Extra Best Friend

If you want to meet one of the best girl heroines ever, I just LOVE Ida May.
If you are a fan of the Friends for Keeps series by Julie Bowe
If you are looking for great books to share with young readers; probably 8+ unless you've got an advanced reader ready for long chapter books.

My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer (MG)

My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer. Jennifer Gennari. 2012. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 119 pages.

Unlike some people, Lake Champlain was a friend I could count on. I knew her every mood--sometimes she was flat like a cookie sheet, and other times she was whipped up like meringue on a butterscotch pie. That was the way I felt, too. Ever since Eva had moved in with Mom and me last month, I was as changeable as the lake.

June Farrell isn't quite having a perfect summer. Her mom's girlfriend, Eva, has moved in with them. And soon afterwards the two announce their plans to get married--Vermont's new civil union law has just been put in place. June isn't the biggest Eva fan. Sure she wants her Mom to be happy. But if she's honest, June doesn't quite feel comfortable around Eva, at least not yet. There is some personality clashing going on...

And the town's mood has definitely changed in recent months. There is a campaign, a movement, to "take back Vermont" and to undo what's been done. There are many in the town who are not exactly thrilled with Vermont's new law, and who feel it is their right to let this be known. Mainly through putting up signs and flyers about their campaign to "take back Vermont." But also through distributing a list of businesses owned and operated by gays so that those businesses can be boycotted in the future.

June is embarrassed that her mom's business is on that list. And that they are temporarily at least losing some of their customers. And she's also not thrilled that some of her friends parents are part of this campaign. That is that their political views do not match up with her family's. She doesn't want to lose friends because of this. But at the same time, she doesn't know if she's still welcome. She doesn't feel comfortable when her friends' parents express their views on homosexuality. Everything seems so complicated now, whereas just a few months ago, things seemed to be going so well.

This book isn't just about family drama and a tension-filled town. It is also about pies and the joy of baking.

Read My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer

If you're looking for lgbt books for elementary age children; the book is about how an eleven year old handles having two moms planning a wedding/civil union.
If you're looking for a little politics in your fiction;
If you're looking for books with young heroines who love to bake

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything (MG)

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything. Uma Krishnaswami. Illustrated by Abigail Halpin. 2011. Simon & Schuster. 272 pages.

Dolly Singh's fabulous face floats across the screen of the TV in the family room. Two happy sighs float off the couch, one from Dini and the other from her best friend, Maddie. Dini is a Dolly fan. She has been forever, from the time she discovered that Dolly's first movie, in which she was just a kid, came out the day--the very day!--that Dini was born. You can't be more closely connected than that. Maddie is a fan because best friends share everything.

If you like quirky books, then I'd definitely recommend Uma Krishnaswami's The Grand Plan to Fix Everything. There is something odd and playful about the storytelling in this middle grade novel. There are many, many books about moving for this age group. Though not all moves are such big moves--from America to India. There are books about the struggles of best friends staying best friends after the move, and about how bittersweet it is to start to make new friends. But how many 'moving' books are as quirky as this one?!

Dini is more than a little obsessed with the actress Dolly Singh. And the only thing keeping her spirits up after she learns the news that her family will be moving to India for several years is the dream that maybe just maybe she'll meet her favorite actress when they move to India. True they'll be staying in a very small town or village. True, that village isn't exactly near Bombay (yes, she knows it's not called Bombay anymore, but that's how she'll always think of it) where the star lives. But anything is possible, right? And with two girls wishing so very hard...it has to improve the chances, right?!

There are so many characters in this novel! So many intersecting stories or coincidences. It's a very silly, very playful, yet at the same time heartfelt story about life.

Read The Grand Plan to Fix Everything

If you're a fan of Indian movies or musicals
If you're a fan of multicultural stories
If you love quirky stories that are odd and delightful all at the same time
If you don't mind coincidences
If you're looking for a book with playful monkeys

Wonder (MG)

Wonder. R. J. Palacio. 2012. Random House. 320 pages.

I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an Xbox. Stuff like that makes me ordinary. I guess. And I feel ordinary. Inside. But I know ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go. If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all. I would wish that I could walk down the street without people seeing me and then doing that look-away thing. Here's what I think: the only reason I'm not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way.

Oh how I loved, loved, loved R.J. Palacio's novel Wonder. I just LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. While it would have been a great novel if it had just been told by Auggie (August), I think it's an even better novel because it is told through multiple points of view which gives readers insight into how others see Auggie--and treat Auggie. But. At the same time reminding us all that we ALL have issues. Auggie's sister, Via, for example, is dealing with changes of her own. She's having her own struggles. And because her brother is almost always the most needy or the most obviously needy one in the family, she can feel invisible and taken for granted. Every voice feels authentic in Wonder--which makes it a great read! One that is oh-so-easy to recommend.

So in Wonder, Auggie, a boy with a special face struggles to adapt to his new school, his first real school. His first day of fifth grade is his first day at school ever. He's nervous as can be, as you would expect. How will others treat him? How will teachers treat him for that matter? It won't be easy. Acceptance won't come all that easy. But can Auggie find friends--true friends who love and appreciate him?!

As I said, I just LOVED this one.

Read Wonder

If you're looking for a great coming-of-age read
If you're looking to read the best of the best in MG fiction
If you enjoy realistic fiction with school settings that deal with bullying and friendship
If you enjoy family dramas

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Don't get attached to the dog.

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Hound Dog True (MG)

Hound Dog True. Linda Urban. 2011. Harcourt. 152 pages.

Uncle Potluck said when he talked to the moon, the moon talked back.

I just loved, loved, loved A Crooked Kind of Perfect. (I've read it three times!!!) And I wanted to love, love, love Hound Dog True too. Did I? Well. For the most part. What I loved about A Crooked Kind of Perfect--the humor--was missing a little in Hound Dog True.

Hound Dog True feels more serious perhaps. The heroine, a young girl named Mattie, is extremely shy. And she's super-super nervous about starting school at a new school after yet another move. She has never really had a friend--a close friend. And while she can manage being friendly, she has yet to find a friend. So she's scared and nervous and unsure and oh-so-lovable. She's afraid of rejection, afraid of being laughed at, afraid of not belonging, of never belonging. And I, for one, could never laugh at this situation.

Hound Dog True is charming and quirky. In its own way. I just loved, loved, loved Mattie's writing. The way she carried around a notebook. And the developing friendship between Quincy and Mattie was great. Just very, very sweet.

There were so many details that made this one work well. I would definitely recommend it.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Sparrow Road (MG)

Sparrow Road. Sheila O'Connor. 2011. Penguin. 246 pages.

In the shadowed glow of headlights the old pink house looked huge, rambling like the mansions on Lake Michigan. A fairy tale tower rose high above the roof. The pillared front porch sagged.

Raine, our heroine, did NOT want to spend the summer living at Sparrow Road, a private retreat for artists. But her mom has taken a job there--as cook--and that's the end of that. No amount of whining will change that. Soon after her arrival she learns how very, very strict the rules are. The NO-TALKING rule seems especially harsh--and it's in fact most of the day, six days a week. There's also no TV, no Internet, no phones. So what's a girl to do?

Raine charms many (though not all) of the artists at Sparrow Road. A few really befriend her and support and encourage her. Raine learns the secret history of the place. How Sparrow Road was an orphanage for many, many years. She sees the attic where the boys slept--sees the remnants of that past, that existence. And what she sees makes her curious and inspired...

She decides to write a story told from the perspective of one of the orphan boys....

And that is just part of this one. For Raine has some growing of her own to do. Her mom took the job for a very, very important reason. A potentially life-changing reason...

I liked this one. I did. I thought it was a very good book. I liked the characters. I really loved some of them actually! I thought the story was very sweet, very moving.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Lucky for Good

Lucky for Good. Susan Patron. 2011. Simon & Schuster. 210 pages.

The enemies invaded the trailers.

Lucky's adventures in her small desert community continue.

Since I enjoyed the second book in this series--at least more than I did the first book, the award-winning first book, The Higher Power of Lucky--I wanted to read the third book, Lucky For Good. (The second book is Lucky Breaks.)

If you have enjoyed both previous books, chances are you'll enjoy this one too. You may find it a charming addition to the series. You may appreciate the changes going on in Lucky's life and in Lucky's community. Some of the changes are even big--Miles' mother coming back, for example. Family issues--family relationships--are explored and tested in this one.

But. I just didn't enjoy this one. I didn't feel a connection--a good connection at least--with any of the characters. And the plot, well, it didn't hold my attention. Reading is subjective, and if you have loved the characters in the past, then you might think this well worth reading.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Year Without Autumn (MG)

A Year Without Autumn. Liz Kessler. 2011. (October 11, 2011). Candlewick Press. 304 pages.

"Stop the car!"
"What?" Dad swivels around in his seat. The car swerves.
"Good grief, Tom!" Mom squeals, gripping her armrest as she pulls a wad of tissues out of her purse.
"Stop the car!" I repeat. It's going to be too late in a minute. I grab the tissues and shove them over Craig's mouth.

Time travel. Need I really say more?! For me, that was enough--more than enough--to seek out this one! Jenni is best friends with Autumn. These two friends are quite different from one another, but they have a few things in common. They both have little brothers. Jenni is big sister to Craig and Autumn is big sister to Mikey. Though the two don't attend the same school anymore, they've sworn to be best friends forever. And they mean it. Of course they mean it! What could ever come between them?! It does help that the two see each other every year the last week of August. The families vacation together at the same place, each has a time-share condo. The vacation is just getting started when IT happens...
Jenni impatiently decides to take the old elevator up to visit her best friend. She saw the owner fixing the old elevator, so she's relatively sure it's working again. But the truth is this old elevator has been out of order for many decades and it isn't really for guests' use. It takes Jenni a few hours to realize the truth of the matter...she learns it when she arrives back at her place and everyone--including herself--is a year older. Where did the year go?!

A Year Without Autumn is dramatic, very dramatic. For SOMETHING happens in that 'missing' year that changes everything. Jenni will have to put the pieces together herself--for the most part--because asking questions may not be an option. The more she tries to explain about what happened, the crazier she sounds. Can Jenni find the answers to her questions? Can she find a way to go back in time? Can she get her life back?

As I said, A Year Without Autumn is dramatic. It's a very compelling read. I think Jenni is a LOT braver than I would be in that elevator. Especially once she learns the truth of it--what it does. But she's determined and loyal and I can't help liking her for that.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Unforgotten Coat

The Unforgotten Coat. Frank Cottrell Boyce. Photographs by Carl Hunter and Clare Heney. 2011. Candlewick. 112 pages.

I hadn't seen this photograph since the day it was taken, until now. Even so, I can tell you anything you want to know about it.

Julie, our narrator, remembers two Mongolian boys who joined her class the second week of summer term. The novel has a reflective feel to it. She remembers their strangeness at first. Their coats. Who wears coats in summer?! But there is something fascinating about their strangeness, their newness too. And the two ask Julie to be their good guide.

These two boys act really strange. They do. Julie does try to understand their culture, their country, their beliefs, their customs. But it's a strange new world, in a way. For example, like the time they invite themselves over to her house, and beg Julie's mom to let them do an emergency baking so they can bake a dough boy to trick the demon that is after them. (They want to trick this demon into eating the dough boy instead of one of them.) And that isn't the only unusual incident.

I can't tell you exactly what happens next, if these two "vanish" as they fear they might or not. But I can say that it is a one weird story about (illegal) immigration.

Honestly, this one left me confused. I almost feel silly for being so confused. But if this one was supposed to wow me or charm me, I just didn't get it. The use of photographs was nice, but I'm not sure exactly what story they're telling. How they fit in with the whole story.

I did like the author's note, for the most part. And I wanted to like this one more than I did.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Darth Paper Strikes Back (MG)

Darth Paper Strikes Back. Tom Angleberger. 2011. Harry N. Abrams. 176 pages.

It is a dark time at McQuarrie Middle School...when did it start? I can tell you exactly when it started.
The first day of school. The very first day of seventh grade. We didn't even get one good day. We got, like, five minutes.

Darth Paper Strikes Back is the sequel to The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Sixth grade is over, seventh grade is just beginning. And it seems the wisdom of everyone's favorite origami Yoda isn't as revered or respected as in previous days. Teachers and administrators aren't so fond of the "disruptions" made by Dwight and his paper puppet. And there are some in the class who are oh-so-tired of it all. Or at least tired of Dwight getting all the attention. Harvey a student who can be a little mean at times--but isn't quite a complete bully at heart--comes to school with Darth Paper. And thus a NEW saga begins.

So the novel begins with bad news. Dwight has been kicked out of school. He may or may not be allowed to return after a few weeks. His case has to come before the school board. His friends want to help him, of course. And so they set about writing this casebook as to why Dwight and his origami Yoda are positive influences on the school, on the class. They're defending their friend.

So the book has multiple narrators. And there are many stories to tell. If you liked the first book, then you'll definitely want to read this one! It's an entertaining read!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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