I Funny: A Middle School Story by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

A kid who wants to be a stand up comic, reminds me of my own childhood dreams a bit. As a teen I listened to some of the classics: George Carlin, Robin Williams, Steve Martin. I like to make people laugh to this day. But the main character in the book, Jamie Grimm, has one big difference from my own youth: he’s in a wheelchair.

He lives in New Jersey with an aunt, uncle, and dangerously spiteful cousin. He works after school in another uncle’s diner, where he tells jokes to the customers. Uncle Frankie tells him about The Planet’s Funniest Kid Comic contest. Keeping it a secret, Jamie decides to go for it.

There’s more to this book than just laughs. Jamie, even though in a wheelchair, is still bullied and picked on. And there is a painful secret that eats at him. He uses the comedy and the jokes to hide the real person he is inside. Middle school kids can identify with him because he has doubts and identity issues that all middle schoolers deal with.

Ultimately this book is one I really like because it has heart. It’s a going to show up in the classroom library very soon. I am looking forward to reading the sequel—as soon as my daughter is finished with it.

No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman

Gordan Korman is one of my favorite writers for young adults. He has a sense of humor that resonates with my own. And, the one time I met him (years ago), was a heck of a nice guy. In this book he takes on one of the most common tropes of young adult fiction: whenever there’s a story which stars a dog the dog dies at the end.

The star of this story is, luckily, not a dog. It is Wallace Wallace, an eighth grade football player with an absolute refusal to ever be anything but 100% honest--coupled with a complete and total lack of tact. As might be expected, the two do not make him a lot of friends. This is especially true when he writes a book report on his English teacher’s favorite book. Wallace doesn’t like it and he is not gentle in his criticism. This prompts his English teacher to give him detention--and keeps him on detention until he changes his report to reflect the teacher’s views of the book.

This knocks him off the football team where, through a fluke play the season before, he is considered a hero by everyone except himself and his ex-best friend.  Instead of football, he is forced to sit and watch as the English teacher directs the school play. Which, of course, is based on the book he and the teacher disagree over.  And Wallace Wallace has some ideas he just can’t help sharing…

Although I personally find it personally and professionally galling to see an English teacher portrayed this way, I have to admit it makes for a good story. As Wallace and his teacher try hard to out-stubborn each other, things get stranger and stranger. It was difficult to see how either one could back down without looking silly. The tensions between Wallace, his friends, the football team, and the drama club are realistic for a middle school. I could see much of what went on as true-to-life. The parts Korman exaggerates are done for comic effect and to heighten the dramatic tension.

This is a book I am already processing to put into the classroom library. It’s worth a quick read.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

I had heard a lot about this book and how wonderful (no pun intended) it was. So, it was with a grain of salt that I downloaded the audio to listen to. After the hype, this book had a lot to live up to.

It did.

Auggie Pullman is an exceptionally bright kid. He has been homeschooled up to now because he was born with a severe facial deformity. Now, however, as he is about to enter the fifth grade, his parents want him to try going to a real school. They bring him to Beecher Prep. This is a private school where the headmaster is very welcoming and assures Auggie and his parents that he will fit in. He is introduced to three current students: Jack, Summer, and Justin. They are to show him around the school.

And so begins Auggie's great adventure. The book follows Auggie through his year at Beecher Prep with a series of first person narratives. The story is told from several viewpoints including Auggie, his sister Via, Jack, and others. With each different point of view, we see deeper inside the various characters. It is not just Auggie with his physical deformities that needs a deeper insight and understanding.

I listened to the audio version of this book and was struck by the way the narrators, Diana Steele, Nick Podehl, and Kate Rudd, were able to make each character come to life with a distinctive voice--both literally and figuratively. It made the listening experience much richer for me.

This one is definitely destined to wind up in my classroom library. I give it my highest recommendation.

Big Nate: Say Good-Bye to Dork City by Lincoln Peirce

My daughter turned me on to the Big Nate books. She loves them. I had seen some of the kids in my classes reading them, too. So I tried some of them. And I got a lot of good laughs. The Big Nate books seem to come in two types: long-form graphic novels and series of shorter comic strips. This one is the shorter comic strips.

From sadistic soccer coaches to health food Halloweens, Nate and his friends rock the sixth grade life. In the central set of strips, Nate works his way into the posse of the coolest kid in school. There he learns that getting what you want is sometimes a double-edged sword.

It is a quick, light read. It is fun and enjoyable. If you have read Big Nate before, there won’t be any bad surprises. If you haven’t read Big Nate yet, it is a good introduction. This one goes into my classroom library.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly adapted and illustrated by John Green

I have a secret. It may seem odd for an English teacher to admit: I don’t really care for most literature before the 20th century. It usually moves a little too slowly for me. If you like it, great. It isn’t my favorite. So, when I find a version of a classic that not only do I kind of like, but I think some of my students might like as well, I doubly enjoy it.

Dover Classics, the people who print very modestly priced classic literature, has a graphic novel division. I didn’t know that before I found this book. It is an abridgment of the original, but the adaptation has stayed fairly true to the original work. The language is not simplified, and I like that. There are worse things than occasionally having to look up a word or two.

Unlike the original, this is not told in a series of letters. It is more straightforward. The narrative is a bit easier to follow, but still gives the flavor of Mary Shelly’s work. It is a decent read.

The illustrations are all in black and white. At the beginning of the book there is an implied invitation for the readers to color the book for themselves. That is something I would never have thought of, a Frankenstein coloring book.

I am find myself ambivalent about this one. On one hand, the lack of color was disappointing and it was not as compelling as I had hoped it would be, nor as dark as I had expected. On the other hand, it was a quick read, it kept the flavor of the original, and it is a good introduction to the original work that could lead reluctant readers into deeper waters. I’d put it into the classroom library.

Samurai Jack Vol. 3: Quest for the Broken Blade story by Jim Zub and art by Andy Suriano

I liked the Samurai Jack TV show. It was fun, but always had a serious undertone to it that I could tune into. The main character is a tragic figure. Pulled from his own time into a twisted future by the evil magic of Aku. In this future, Aku is the supreme ruler. And only Samurai Jack wielding his magic sword stands against him.

In a failed effort to return to his own time, Jack’s sword is broken and the magic of it is gone. Aku feels this and alerts the world to be on the lookout for the “defenseless” samurai.  Then Jack is in hiding, remembering his father and the story of how the sword was forged. Jack is a broken man. The sword he was entrusted with, one of the only things able to stand up against Aku, has been broken.

As he struggles through the world, he eventually meets Muninn, who we are expected to know is one of Odin’s ravens. He leads Jack to a place of judgment. It is to be determined whether or not he is to be entrusted with this blessed blade. It is pointed out to him that he was never tested; the sword was bequeathed to him.

I think this is my favorite part of the story as it goes to what I see as the heart of martial arts. It is not just being able to fight, it is knowing when to fight (or not)—why to fight (or not).

I haven’t followed the series up to this point; volume three was my first taste of Samurai Jack in graphic novel form. It does make me curious to go back to read the first two volumes and to keep an eye out for future stories. In addition to the fine story, the artwork left a surreal feeling to all that was happening. The world warped under Aku’s influence easy to see. I gotta give this one a strong recommendation and a suggestion to read it more than once in order to see some of the subtleties.

Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files: War Cry Collection by Jim Butcher and Mike Powers

I am a long time fan of the Dresden Files. Jim Butcher writes a great book. And in War Cry he, along with Mike Powers, has written a great graphic novel. Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard is one of my favorite characters. He is smart, stubborn, and a congenital smartmouth. He just doesn’t know when to quit. And for what he’s up against in this graphic novel, that’s gonna come in handy.


It’s sort of an “untold story” of the war between the White Council and the Red Court of vampires. Harry, a new Warden, is taking several inexperienced new Wardens in a mission to Iowa, in the winter. The Venatori Umbrorum, a group of scholars, is under attack by the Red Council. Harry and the Wardens are not sure why, that wasn’t covered in their orders.

The vampires drastically outnumber Harry and the group he is protecting. There are several battles and the artwork on these is wonderful. It is one thing to read a description of the way spells work in the novels, seeing it in this graphic novel takes it up a notch.

What I find impressive about the story is that Butcher and Powers stack the deck against Harry and company over and over. And how every time Harry finds a way to beat the odds that I did not see coming. I value being surprised when I am reading a good story. And this one had plenty of them. Plus I loved seeing Thomas in action and I just can't get enough of Warden Ramirez. Perhaps one day there could be a spin-off story starring him? I'd read it.

If you haven’t read any of the Dresden Files, you won’t be lost. This is a good stand alone story. If, like me, you are a fan, it is a fine addition to the Dresden Files canon. I recommend giving this one a read.