Hautman, Pete. Slider.

Hautman, Pete. Slider. Candlewick Press  2017 278p $16.99    978-0-7636-9070-0  ms/jr  Realistic Fiction  E-BN     

David Miller can eat. He’s an average kid, but has a special talent --  despite his small size, he can put away an entire pizza himself in less than four minutes.  He is in awe of other food champions, which leads him to steal his mother’s credit card to purchase the half-eaten hot dog of one of his food-contest idols, Jooky Garafalo. But, he mixes up his decimal points, and ends up bidding $2,000 instead of $2 on his winning bid.  Along with his sidekicks, Cyn and Heyman, he concocts a plan to earn back the money: he will follow in the footsteps of his heroes and enter food-eating contests. 

David must train if he is to beat his competition, and so he eats heads of cabbages, entire pizzas, and bags full of hamburgers.  His training is complicated by his caring for his brother Mal who is autistic, but for whom that label is forbidden in the Miller home, plus the normal problems confronting 12-year-old boys on the brink of adolescence.

Pete Hautman tells David's hilarious story in the first-person voice. Despite the larger-than-life characters and implausible plot, the story rings true because of David’s family, friendships, and voice.     This is a hysterically funny book for middle-school and junior-high students.    

Summary: After “borrowing” his mother’s credit card and making a $2,000 mistake, David Miller enters food-eating contests to earn back the money he owes her before she learns the truth.

Humor-Fiction                                      --Lisa Teixeira

Avi. The Player King.

Avi.     The Player King.  Simon & Schuster/Atheneum      2017   199p.  $16.99  ISBN 978-1-5344-0324-6  ms/jr  Historical Fiction            VG-BN         

Lambert Simnel works as a kitchen boy in Tackley’s Tavern when he is approached by a friar who inquires about his true identity. The friar and the Earl of Lincoln convince the boy that he is Edward, the Earl of Warwick, the true heir to the English throne, as opposed to King Henry VII who thinks he is the proper heir. Edward was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but is said to have escaped, and his whereabouts are unknown. Lambert is apprehensive at first, but is soon caught up in the idea of being a king. He doesn’t know where he is from, thinks he is probably orphaned, but he is sure he isn’t really the Earl of Warwick. He knows Lincoln is just using him to get closer to the throne himself because the public will rally behind the boy to raise an army. Lambert realizes the game he is playing is dangerous, but he begins to believe the mantra “if you act like a king, you will be king”. The army is raised, but King Henry prevails. He takes mercy on the boy and puts him to work in his palace kitchen.

This story is based on true events. Early on, the friar makes sure the boy understands how dangerous their actions are and explains the potential consequences to him, including drawing and quartering. It is difficult to imagine that a book written for middle-school students would have the main character facing this fate, and there is a great deal of suspense centering on how Lambert is going to survive. It is easy to see how he gets caught up in the excitement of going from kitchen boy to the King of England. He is also young enough that he doesn’t think through his actions fully and is bothered by the prospect of soldiers and others dying for his rouse. This engaging and fast-paced novel will entice middle-school readers.

Summary: The Earl of Lincoln and a friar convince a young kitchen boy he is Prince Edward, the true heir to the English throne, in a plot to overthrow King Henry VII. Based on a true story.                                 

England-History-Fiction, Henry VII-Fiction

                                                                                                --Stephanie Pennucci

Chamberlain, Joris, & Aurelie Neyret. Cici’s Journal.

Chamberlain, Joris, & Aurelie Neyret. Cici’s Journal. Macmillan/First Second  2017  149p.    $17.99  ISBN 978-1-62672-248-4            ms/jr  Graphic Novel        VG-BN         

Cici wants to become a writer. In this graphic novel, Cici describes the steps she goes through to attain this goal with the help of a famous writer who lives in the same town.          

This is a very good graphic novel for middle-school readers. The colors are bright and simply blended in dramatic drawings. The drawings themselves are simple yet effectively portray the content of the story. The format of the book and the visual layout within the pages add variety and insight into Cici’s adventure.                                   

Writing                                                                          --Linda McNeil, Martha Squaresky

Gratz, Alan. Refugee.

Gratz, Alan. Refugee.   Scholastic Press      2017   338p.  $16.99        ISBN 978-0-545-88083-1          ms/jr   Historical Fiction             VG-BN         

Isabel (Cuban), Mahmoud (Syrian) and Josef (Jewish) tell the stories of their families’ harrowing escapes from a dictator, a civil war, and Nazi Germany.  Each child is deeply torn by the adult decisions forced on them, the dangers of the journey and the devastating loss felt by all three.         Three perspectives, each depicting an escape from a real-life political quagmire, combine to tell the story of children who suffer untold horrors as they navigate their journeys to a new life.  Author Alan Gratz weaves the three perspectives together, always ending a chapter with a transition that keeps the reader guessing what might happen when, three chapters later, the story continues.  Josef and his family are the first refugees, German Jews who escape Nazi Germany, but not before Father experiences the horrors of Dachau.  When the family embarks on a lifesaving journey to Cuba, it continues to experience the same prejudice that almost destroyed the family back in Germany.  Move forward to the second perspective, to Cuba circa 1994 when Cubans attempted to come to mainland U. S. in boats, rafts or any device that permitted them to escape Castro’s regime, which was characterized by a lack of simple necessities to survive.  Isabel tells this story, and it is as tragic as Josef’s, with loss, emotional turmoil and obstacles too numerous to mention.  The final perspective is that of a young Syrian, Mahmoud, who escapes Syria with his family only to find country after country that will not accept Syrians. 

The strength in Gratz’s story is that these children tell real stories, all based on factual accounts that he includes at the end of the book.  Empathetic readers will come out of this reading having experienced the devastating emotions felt by the families involved in the escapes.  Gratz uses conflict at every turn of the page, which might be a bit much for the reader who finds too much action and not enough time to recuperate, take a breath and think about what transpired.  When Josef’s mother has to choose which of her children will go to the concentration camp (a Sophie’s Choice kind of decision), a younger reader could struggle to fully comprehend the impact of that action taken by the Nazis to psychologically torture a fellow human being.   However, many older teen readers will find the action-packed, often violent, dangerous and traumatic situations to be enticing, and they will quickly become engrossed in what happens next to each of the three protagonists.  Young teens will, by and large, appreciate the way Gratz ties the three families together in the end.  The commonalities shared by the three protagonists are strong: each child suffers loss; each child watches a parent’s near demise during the journey; each child is empowered to help the family reach its destination; each child faces incredible obstacles, and so much more.  Gratz is an accomplished storyteller who knows how to write characterizations and plot that appeal to his targeted age group. 

Summary: Isabel (Cuban), Mahmoud (Syrian) and Josef (Jewish) tell the stories of their families’ harrowing escapes from a dictator, a civil war, and Nazi Germany.  Each child is deeply torn by the adult decisions forced on them, the dangers of the journey and the devastating loss felt by all three. 

Cuban, Syrian, Jewish refugees-Fiction             --Martha Squaresky