7th grader Georges has had to move to an apartment building since his dad lost his job. His mom has had to work double shifts at the hospital in order to try to make ends meet, and the only contact Georges has with her are notes made out of Scrabble tiles left on his desk. His misery at home is compounded by his misery at school. His former best friend, Jason, is now hanging out with the two boys who delight in tormenting him daily: Dallas and Carter. When Georges sees a notice in the basement about a Spy Club, he gets sucked into a world of espionage, breaking and entering, and lies…lots of lies. Things aren’t always as they seem, and Georges learns important lessons about friendship, families, and confronting problems head-on.

This is a terrific book. Readers will find themselves drawn into the myriad of lies just as much as Georges is, making the ending revelations all the more powerful and impactful. The author addresses the issue of bullying with sensitivity, and readers will find themselves laughing and crying as well as being shocked and delighted throughout the book. 

Highly recommended for gr. 5-8.

Visit Rebecca Stead for more information.

12-year old Danny Shine knows that even though he's not on the Loser List anymore at Gerald Ford Middle School, he's pretty close. When new kid Ty Randall shows up and starts impressing everyone with his good looks, environmentally conscious activities, and artistic abilities, Danny's jealousy gets the best of him. Danny and his best friend, Jasper, make plans to raise money for a class trip to the Big Kahuna Water Park, but their plans are shanghaied by Ty who thinks they should raise money for a playground at an inner city school instead. Danny and Jasper plot their revenge by encouraging Ty--whose perfection is marred only by the inability to sing or dance--to sing an environmental rap in their Talent Show.

Filled with humor and plenty of middle school angst, this book will appeal to fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The drawings interspersed throughout the text are cute and clever and add to the overall story. Danny is a likeable character, in spite of his momentary pettiness, and readers will appreciate his growth at the end.

Recommended for gr. 5-8.

For more information, visit H.N. Kowitt.

6th-grader Minnie McClary is new to Mojave Middle School and is trying to figure a lot of really important things out; like why her dad lost his job for doing the right thing; why her uncle came back from the Iraq war and is living in her basement and building an attack helicopter; why kids in her class would draw hateful cartoons of her Iraqi-American friend, Amira; why some parents want to get rid of Miss Marks, the best Language Arts teacher she’s ever had, and the one who inspired her to think about all of these really important questions. As Minnie works through these questions and more, she learns that sometimes people—even 6th graders—CAN answer the hardest questions if they just decide to do it.

What an amazing and powerful message! Minnie had me cheering for her early on, and her actions only continued to impress and inspire me. It is not easy for middle school students to stand up for what they believe—especially if they are new to their school—but from the first chapter, Minnie showed that she had backbone, and she only needed a little bit of encouragement for her courage to fully develop. Miss Marks was everything that all teachers wish they could be: someone who fosters critical thinking and inquiry based learning in the face of standardized tests that do anything but. Her triumph gives me hope.

Highly recommended for students in gr. 5-8.

Visit Valerie Hobbs for more information.