The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha

The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things by Neil Pasricha

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I picked this book up because the title was funny to me: The Book of Awesome...I wanted to see if it really was awesome!

The author Neil Pasricha made this book out of the blog he keeps (http://1000awesomethings.com/). Basically, the blog & book are about the little things in life that are really awesome--like popping bubble wrap and waking up early and realizing that it's actually Saturday.

I enjoyed this book and have recommended it to a few coworkers who were looking for a funny, quick read.



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Liar, Liar: the Theory, Practice, and Destructive Properties of Deception by Gary Paulsen

Liar, Liar by Gary Paulsen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


14-year-old Kevin has a talent he’s very proud of: telling lies.  In fact, he thinks that by lying about everything, he makes his life easier; after all, he tells people what they want to hear and he often gets his way.

Then Kevin begins to push his luck when he goes from telling small lies to telling huge lies, and things start to get a little messy.  For example, to get out of doing his share of a school project, he doesn’t just tell his partner that he’s not feeling well—he tells her that he suffers from relapsing-remitting inflamobetigoitis…and she believes him!  He also lies to his older brother and sister, which leads to a fight—so they get their car taken away.  Things keep spinning out of control until Kevin is forced to tell the truth about everything he’s been lying about…but does telling the truth make his life any easier than lying did?

This is a short, funny book that readers will be sure to enjoy.  Kevin is a likable character whose rationalization for lying will (almost) have readers convinced that lying is okay.  Those who enjoyed this book might also enjoy The Adventures of Jack Lime (Leck).



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Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly

Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


This story is told entirely by notes and journal entries. Annie and Izzy have been best friends for nearly their whole lives. They keep up with each other throughout their busy school days by writing notes back and forth and leaving them in each other’s locker—and use code names: Annie is “the Bean” and Izzy is “Cisco.” Soon after they begin their eighth-grade school year, they realize that they are hopelessly lacking in the flirting with boys department, so they decide to start a secret club to hone their skills.

As the girls come up with ways to flirt, they practice on boys they like—with surprising results! They soon realize, however, that boys are a lot more complicated than they originally thought…and that balancing friends and boyfriends isn’t as easy as it’s made out to be.

Readers are sure to enjoy the glimpses into the lives of Annie and Izzy, especially because many of their notes to each other are so funny! For example, the Bean writes “Write me back if you can, my little pork chop” and Cisco writes, “Promise me you’ll feed this note to a llama as soon as you read it. PROMISE.” Those who enjoyed this book might also enjoy Only Girls Allowed (Moffitt).

I have to add that I was kind of shocked at what these girls were doing with boys in 8th-grade...Izzy made out "with tongues" and was "felt up" by the guy she liked; she was also at a party (the parents were out of town) where other kids in her class were drinking beer and got drunk (she didn't drink any beer--she just held a cup full of it). These kids are 13 years old!! That wasn't what I was doing at age 13, that's for sure...and I don't think I'm in the minority. Are most 13-year-olds doing this sort of thing these days? I hope not! This whole idea makes me sad. If these girls were in high school, I wouldn't mind so much...but 8th-grade? I just hope young girls don't read this book and think that this sort of stuff is what "normal" 13-year-old kids do.




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Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde

Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this book! I've read another book by Velde (_Now You See It..._) and enjoyed that one, so I thought I'd pick this one up when I saw that it was new. I'm glad I did!

Written in short stories, this is a quick read. What Velde does is take the fairytale of _Little Red Riding Hood_ and write it eight different ways. For example, we are told the story from the point of view of the girl, the grandma, and even the cloak itself!

I will definitely recommend this book to others, as it's so funny! The author's note in the beginning is also a must-read.



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The Death-Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean

The Death-Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In mid-twentieth century France, Pepper’s malicious aunt claims to have had a vision of his death the night before he was born; in it, Pepper dies at age fourteen. Always the well-behaved child, he never thinks to question this and takes it as fact—along with the rest of his dim-witted family. Therefore, he’s forced to spend his childhood confessing his sins at church, memorizing the last rites, and learning about the saints. But when his fourteenth birthday arrives, he realizes that he’s not ready to die, so he decides on a whim to run away to become someone else—and so elude death.



Pepper begins his quest to escape death on board a ship where he pretends to be his own father, who is a captain. Other roles he later steps into include a deli meat slicer, journalist, telegram deliverer, member of the Foreign Legion, and more. He constantly wonders how he’s able to step into these parts so easily: “Well, people see what they expect. Don’t they? Or do they see what they choose?” (16). Despite all of the misfortune Pepper faces during this time, he retains his kind nature towards others, always putting their needs before his own. Luckily, there’s a person out there who’s keeping an eye out for Pepper’s best interests too—unbeknownst to him.



This is an excellent book, full of adventure and humor. Pepper is such a likable character that the reader can’t help but root for him from the very start. Those who enjoyed this book might enjoy Peter Pan in Scarlet, also by this author.





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The Floods: Good Neighbors by Colin Thompson

The Floods #1 by Colin Thompson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Flood family isn’t what you’d call totally normal—Nerlin and Mordonna, the parents, are a wizard and a witch, respectively; Valla, the oldest of the seven children, works at a blood bank (and brings his work home with him!); Satanella was once a cute little girl, but after a terrible magic accident involving a shrimp and a faulty wand, she turned into small dog; Merlinmary is completely covered in hair, so nobody knows if it’s a boy or a girl; Winchflat is the family genius—except that he looks like he’s already dead; the twins Morbid and Silent only speak to each other telepathically; and Betty, the youngest, is the only “normal-looking” child in the family—but she still possesses magical powers. The Flood family thinks that everything in their lives is perfect—except for their next door neighbors, the Dents.

The Dents are as obnoxious as can be! Their lawn is littered with garbage and old cars, their dog Rambo attacks anyone who comes near the house, the television stays on at full volume all day and night, the family communicates with one another by yelling, and the children are bullies. It comes to a point where the Floods decide that they aren’t going to stand for this anymore and take measures to change the Dent family’s ways.

This story is hilarious! The Flood family brings to mind those in The Addams Family and The Munsters—spooky and weird, but in a funny way. The author’s tone is humorous throughout the entire book, which is sure to make readers snicker. Continue reading about the Flood family in the rest of The Floods series!



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The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book is fine, it's just not really what I'd normally read--considering that I've only seen parts of the movie Star Wars 1 (or is it 3 now?). Since little boys these days love Star Wars and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, this book covers both subjects and is sure to be a hit!

The story is about a boy named Tommy who collects his fellow students' experiences while interacting with the weird boy in class's origami puppet of Yoda. Because of this, each chapter is written by a different student--with comments and drawings added by Tommy and his friends.

One would think that Origami Yoda would be something stupid created by the weird kid Dwight, but Origami Yoda isn't at all like Dwight; rather, he seems to be wise and full of good advice! So if Dwight was actually putting words into Origami Yoda's "mouth", wouldn't everything it said be stupid and weird? This is the dilemma the kids in Tommy's class face.

Recommend this to any reader who likes the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series OR Star Wars movies.

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The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1), by Maryrose Wood

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Miss Penelope Lumley, having graduated from Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, interviews for a position as governess at Ashton Place. Strangely, Lady Ashton doesn’t provide much information about the children during the interview; in fact, she seems to avoid talking about them at all. But before she knows it, Penelope is signing the (very generous) contract and is hired!

During the interview and while she’s getting situated in her new room, Penelope hears a strange sort of howling. Having a soft spot for animals, she decides to follow the noise to see if she can locate the source of the poor creatures. In the barn, she finds who is making the noise and she is quite shocked—three children are howling! It turns out that Sir Ashton found the children while hunting—apparently they were raised by wolves—and he decided to keep them. He and Lady Ashton are only recently married, and she has no desire to raise three feral children…hence, the hiring of a governess. Now it falls to Penelope to teach the children how to speak English, wear clothing…basically, how to be human beings! This will be no easy task, but Penelope is not a quitter.

This is a great book! It’s very entertaining—readers will enjoy reading about the wild children and how Penelope lovingly handles them. This is the first book in the new series The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. Readers who liked this book might also like The Willoughbys (Lowry) or The Collected Tales: Nurse Matilda (Brand).

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The Fast and the Furriest by Andy Behrens

The Fast and the Furriest by Andy Behrens


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
12-year-old Kevin feels like  he has a lot to live up to: his father is a famous former Bears player and his younger sister is a super soccer player.  Kevin, on the other hand, isn’t good at sports at all. Needless to say, his father is not pleased with him.

Kevin prefers staying in the basement with his video games and his lazy dog Cromwell.  While flipping through channels on the tv one day, Kevin comes across a dog agility competition.  He was about to change the channel when he notices Cromwell’s  reaction to the show; he appears excited!  Kevin is shocked by Cromwell’s behavior after this; Cromwell now seems to want to run around and jump through the tire swing in the backyard.  Kevin’s best friend Jack suggests that they find an agility class for them to join as an outlet for Cromwell’s energy.  Kevin is skeptical, but he goes along with the idea (despite the fact that his dad is adamant that dog agility is not a real sport).

This is a great book!  Kevin is a very likable character with funny responses to those who try to make fun of him for being so bad at sports.  Cromwell is entertaining, too.  Readers who enjoyed this book might also enjoy The Problem with the Puddles (Feiffer) and Dog Lost (Lee).

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11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

11 Birthdays - Audio Library Edition by Wendy Mass


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Amanda and Leo have celebrated their shared birthday together since their first birthday, and
they are each other’s best friend—that is, until Amanda overhears Leo say something mean about her to his friends at their 10th birthday.  Angry and hurt, Amanda hasn’t spoken to Leo since that day.

Now it’s a year later, and Amanda and Leo are both turning 11—but they will celebrate their birthdays separately for the first time ever.  Amanda is glad when her birthday is over and can just forget about her awful day—if she has to hear about Leo’s cool party one more time, she is going to lose her mind!  When she wakes up the next morning, she’s happy that it’s finally Saturday and her and Leo’s birthdays are behind her.  But the strangest thing happens…when she wakes up, it’s not Saturday at all—it’s Friday (and her 11th birthday) again!  To make things worse, when she wakes up the next morning…and the next morning…it’s still Friday!

No one besides Amanda seems to notice that she keeps living the same day over and over again; everyone else is living Friday for the first time—that is, except for Leo, who she learns is living the same day over and over again too!  After a year of not speaking, Amanda and Leo work together to figure out why every day is their 11th birthday.

This is a very cute book that might call to mind the movie Groundhog Day.  Amanda is very likable (as is Leo, once he’s forgiven).  Readers who enjoyed this book might also enjoy Take Two (DeVillers) or The Secret Language of Girls (Dowell).

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My Rotten Life by David Lubar

My Rotten Life by David Lubar


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Nathan thinks he has a rotten life...but things get much worse after he gets some experimental liquid called “Hurt-Be-Gone accidentally spilled on him!  After that, parts of his body start losing feeling, he stops digesting food, and he doesn’t need to go to the bathroom!

His friends Mookie and Abigail help him get the ingredients for the mixture that will stop him from becoming a total zombie—ingredients that include a scale from a rare breed of fish and a strange mushroom.  The problem is, he must have at least a little bit of feeling somewhere on his body for the mixture to work.  The more time that passes, the more he losses feeling everywhere!  Will the mixture be ready in time for him to use before he become a walking dead boy?

This is a funny story with very likable characters.  Nathan’s friend Mookie was probably my favorite with his laid-back attitude.  Even Nathan, who is very unhappy about becoming a walking dead boy, deals with his zombie-ness as best as he can.  It appears as though a sequel is on its way.  Recommend this book to those who enjoy the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (Kinney) and the Captain Underpants books (Pilkey).

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