A Big Guy Took My Ball!

Author: Mo Willems

AR Level: 0.5
Lexile Level: AD270L
Interest Level: Pre-K - 2

Book Summary: In A Big Guy Took My Ball!, Gerald is outraged when Piggie tells him some big guy took the ball Piggie just found. "What makes those big guys think they are so big?! Well, I am big too! I will get your big ball from that big guy," exclaims Gerald the elephant. Things are not what they seem, though, and Gerald and Piggie both learn a lesson about what it's like to be the "big guy."

Book Review: In his usual style of simple pictures, minimal words and lovable characters, Mo Willems delivers another entertaining edition to the Elephant and Piggie Book series. Readers will laugh while learning that sometimes first impressions are all wrong. 

Profanity: NONE

Potentially Inappropriate Behaviors: NONE

Potentially Inappropriate References: NONE

Parental Concern Rating: 0 out of 5 (0 = no concern, 5 = major concern)

Nerd Girls - The Rise of the Dorkasaurus

Author: Alan Lawrence Sitomer

AR Level: 4.7 (worth 7pts)

Lexile Level: 660

Interest Level: Grades 6-8

Book Summary: Standing up to the ThreePees (a group of popular girls) is never a good idea. But Maureen is fed up with their cruelty and decides to do something about it. Unfortunately, her attempt to stop a prank ends up on YouTube where she comes off as a total loser, definitely not heroic. One good thing does come out of Maureen's selfless act. She gains two new friends. 

Maureen (AKA: Mo), Alice (AKA Allergy Alice, Q), and Barbara (AKA: Beanpole), are three self-described middle school nerds. Maureen is the fat one. Alice is the quiet one. Barbara is the clumsy one. The ThreePees taunt and harass the "Nerd Girls" on a daily basis. Tired of the tormenting and sick of seeing the ThreePees win the annual talent show year after year, the three girls band together to win the talent show and knock the ThreePees down to size. However, there are several problems with their plan, the biggest being that they don't have a talent. The "Nerd Girls" begin a mission to find a talent, overcome their fears, and win!

Book Review: Reading Nerd Girls is like running track, it seems like you're going somewhere, but in the end, you are right back where you started. I love a good underdog story, but these underdogs don't make any progress! The characters are stereotypical of nerd girl teenage comedy movies. (Like Clueless and Mean Girls.) Allergy Alice is so awkward and weird that she often takes insults as jokes and her only response is a clueless, "You're funny." She says this a lot. And Barbara (Beanpole) is a klutz who, annoyingly, runs into and trips over everything, repeatedly. She always follows with, "I'm okay, I'm okay." Another character is portrayed as hopelessly stupid. Why would anyone write about girls this way? There is quite a bit of trashy talk in Nerd Girls, all of it sexual. The girls talk about "tongue kissing," several times. Sometimes, it borders on vulgar, if not completely stepping over the line. At least it's all talk, though, and no action.

Profanity:
None

Potentially Inappropriate Behaviors:
Bullying
Name calling
Intimidation
Lying
Destruction of another's property

Potentially Inappropriate References:
"Lick its crouch." This is in reference to the robot and what it can be programmed to do.
"Tongue Jason." This is in reference to kissing a boy, which never actually happens.
"They see those, both of them." This is in reference to large breasts and the reasons why boys like mean girls.
"Tongue kissing."

Parental Concern Rating:
3 out of 5 (0 = no concern, 5 = major concern)

Dying to Meet You

Author: Kate Klise

Illustrator: M. Sarah Klise

AR Level: 4.9 (worth 2 pts.)
Lexile Level: 730

Interest Level: Grades 3-5

Book Summary: A grumpy old writer moves into a dilapidated mansion for the summer so he can complete the last book in his series: Ghost Tamers. Ignatius B. Gurmply quickly realizes he is not living in the Old Cemetery Road mansion alone. Eleven year old Seymour occupies the entire third floor and Olive, a ghost, occupies pretty much any part of the house she wants. With creaky floors, slamming doors, and falling chandeliers, Ignatius finds it hard to focus on his writing. But, help arrives in the most unusual way.

Book Review: Dying to Meet You is quirky and imaginative, not at all the scary ghost story its title would have you believe. Readers will find its format a fun change of pace. Each page is a letter from one character to another. No one really talks to each other, not even the characters who live a floor apart. The characters are interesting and surprisingly real, even the dead one. Illustrations are abundant, appealing to all types of readers. 

Awards and Recognition:

Sunshine State Young Readers Award 2011-2012 (Florida)

Profanity:

None

Potentially Inappropriate References:

None

Potentially Inappropriate Behaviors:

Mild violence when Olive drops a chandelier on Ignatius

Parental Concern:

0 out of 5 

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

Author: James Patterson

Book Summary: Rafe Khatchadorian sees middle school as prison. He figures there's only two things you can do to survive: Make people think you are crazy so they don't bother you or keep your head down and try not to get noticed. In the past, Rafe's way was to lay low, but this year he's mixing things up. Rafe is on a mission to break all the rules from his middle school's boring code of conduct book. The only rule he follows is the one he made for himself: Nobody gets hurt. His best friend, Leonardo the Silent (he rarely speaks), has assigned points for each rule Rafe breaks. Being late for class scores him 10,000 points, destruction of school property gets him 35,000 points, and so on. The game is going well until the school bully finds the Operation R.A.F.E. (Rules Aren't For Everyone) plans and holds them for ransom - giving each page a price.

Book Review: Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life is definitely a must-read on the reluctant reader's list. It's told in first person, but talks directly to the reader at the same time. The main character, Rafe, does a lot of things parents would deem inappropriate (Hopefully our kids would, too!), but there is more going on than just a kid looking for attention. This story has depth. It addresses issues like bullying and abuse by adults, as well as by kids. It also covers death and the trauma it can cause to a child. For such deep subjects, Patterson keeps things light and doesn't dwell on anything too much for the reader to handle.

Interest Level: Grades 4 - 8
AR Level: 4.5 (worth 4 pts.)
Lexile Level: No listing

Profanity:
None

Potentially Inappropriate Behaviors:
Vandalism
Pulling the fire alarm
Chewing gum in class
Purposely breaking rules
Disrupts class
Fights

Potentially Inappropriate References:
None

Parental Concern Rating:
4 out of 5

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things

Author: Lenore Look
Illustrator: LeUyen Pham

Summary: Second grader, Alvin Ho is afraid of a lot of things: elevators, substitute teachers, wasabi, thunder, shots.... Sometimes Alvin is so afraid of things that he cannot speak. School is one of those things. "My voice works at home. It works in the car. It even works on the school bus. But as soon as I get to school...I'm as silent as a side of beef," says Alvin. Since Alvin is afraid of so many things, he considers himself allergic and carries his own PDK (Personal Disaster Kit.) The PDK includes things like a bandana to "prevent smoke inhalation" in case he starts a fire with the mirror and magnifying glass, also in his kit. It's hard to make friends when you don't speak at school, but Alvin is determined to find a way. Unfortunately, his bad decisions lead to disasters that not even the PDK can fix.

Review: Mishaps and misfortune fill the pages of Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things. It's just what reluctant readers crave. Kids will love the jams Alvin gets himself into. Alvin gets stuck upside down in a tree for hours, takes dad-mandated piano lessons from a scary old lady, gets in big trouble with his parents, insults his psychotherapist, and gets involved with a small time gang. Parents will like that the family is whole, with loving, supportive parents involved in their children's lives. Pictures are plentiful and so is the fun. (This is book 1 in a series of 3, so far.)

Interest Level: Grades 2-4
AR Level: 3.8 (worth 3 pts.)
Lexile Level: 600

Profanity:
None

Potentially Inappropriate References:
None

Potentially Inappropriate Behavior:
Alvin borrows things without asking
Alvin insults the psychotherapist with Shakespearean babble: "Get thee gone, thou beshibbering onion-eyed flap-dragon!"

Parental Concern Rating:
0 out of 5

Horton Halfpott: or The Fiendish Mystery of Smugerwick Manor or The Loosening of M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset

Author: Tom Angleberger

Summary: M'Lady Luggertuck's servants notice something different, a curious loosening of the rules which coincidentally starts when M'Lady's loosens her corset. The usually controlled manor quickly gets out of control. Certain things start disappearing, including the Luggertuck's Lump (the world's biggest uncut diamond) and M'Lady's best wig. The situation gets crazier when inept Detective Portnoy St. Pomfrey is called in to catch the culprit. For his part, Horton Halfpott, an unlikely suspect, is a kitchen boy in the stuffy English manor. He works hard for nearly nothing. He never breaks the rules. But when M'Lady's evil son, Luther puts an evil plan in motion to kidnap Miss Sylvan-Smythe, Horton learns sometimes the rules have to be broken.

Review: Hotron Halfpott is not your average lowly servant in a stuffy castle book. Yes, there are deplorable conditions for the servants, a greedy, villainous son, and a little romance between an unlikely pair (though the author makes it a point not to dwell on that part). But author, Tom Angleberger breaks all the rules with Horton Halfpott. He writes in first and third person at the same time. He even speaks directly to the reader. "Plus, he asked himself with horror, what if he lost a week's wages or much worse, his job? Ah, yes Reader, I know what you are thinking."  I can't leave out the curious capitalization of random words throughout the book. Or the 21 funny characters who infuse this mystery with comedy. Horton Halfpott is a light read with a good mystery, lots of comedy, and just a little romance.

Special Note: The audiobook version of Horton Halfpott is superbly narrated by Ron Keith whose use of a multitude of voices is nothing short of impressive, not to mention, highly entertaining.

Interest Level: Grades 3 - 6
AR Level: 5.8 (worth 5 pts.)
Lexile Level: 880

Profanity:
None

Potentially Inappropriate References:
None

Potentially Inappropriate Behaviors:
Stealing
Ms. Neversly hits Horton with a spoon
Kidnapping
Lying
Pirates force someone to walk the plank
Horton is pushed into a mud

Parental Concern Rating:
1 out of 5

The Kind of Friends We Used to Be

Author: Frances O'Roark Dowell    

Summary: Marylin and Kate used to be the closest of friends, but lately they can't find much in common. At the start of 7th grade, the two girls find they've both had a transformative summer. Kate is suddenly into guitars and songwriting. She wears black, clunky, combat boots and faded jeans. Marylin is on the cheerleading squad, is friends with the popular girls like "Meanest Cheerleader Ever," Mazie Calloway, and subscribes to fashion magazines. Plus, Kate hasn't been able to completely forget how Marylin treated her "like dirt," last year. As the school year progresses the two old friends head off in different directions, neither approving of the other's path. But the two girls come together when Marylin decides to run for Student Government Representative and Kate becomes her campaign manager, much to the annoyance of Mazie. The more they are together, the more they wonder if their friendship can ever go back to what it used to be.

Review: The Kind of Friends We Used to Be is a realistic story of junior high school girls who are drifting apart as they start to discover who they really are. Readers will find the characters familiar, if not entirely relatable. The content is appropriate for young girls 9 years and up. However, whether intentional advertising or artistic brand name placement, there are many references to specific companies and brands, like Food Lion, Target, Play Doh, Star Wars, etc... This is a slice of life type of book where the story picks up already in progress and ends much the same way. Don't expect any clear cut decisions to be made or for the story to neatly wrap up. The Kind of Friends We Used to Be ends without any resolutions to any part of the story which may leave some readers feeling cheated. Since this book is a sequel to The Secret Language of Girls, maybe we can assume the story was left hanging to make way for a third installment.

Interest Level: Grades 5 - 8
AR Level: 5.8 (worth 6 pts)
Lexile Level: 950

Profanity:
None

Potentially Inappropriate Behavior:
Kate watches shows she's not allowed to on MTV.
Name calling (mild)

Potentially Inappropriate References:
None

Parental Concern Rating:
0 out of 5