VVMBookBlog

Nastybook by Barry Yourgrau

This is a nasty book in the terms of gross. It is a collection of 43 short stories (tales?). This is definitely a book that only middle school students would appreciate. There are stories about: students learning on the roof of school, kidnapped teddy bears, boys picking their noses, a boy and a girl kissing and getting their braces stuck, a nagging mother, etc. Simply stated it is a book for middle school humor. As I have mentioned before books of short stories are great for reluctant readers because if one story is boring, they can go onto the next story.

Last Summer with Maizon by Jacqueline Woodson

Maizon and Margaret are friends and live on the same block in Brooklyn. Margaret lives with her mother, father, and little brother while Maizon lives with her grandmother. The two are great friends, but life is about to change. While Margaret is going through family struggles, Maizon has the opportunity to go to a private school. At one point Margaret wants to know the difference between best friends and old friends. Will the two remain best friends or become old friends?

This is truly a book about friendship. Maizon’s grandma gives advice about friendship: “Sometimes being a friend is harder than you think… a friend is someone who knows when to be there and when not to be.”

Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Joey is on a school project when he disappears. Actually he gets lost which is not unusual for him. The problem is he gets lost in another world (dimension) by merely walking into it. When he gets into this other dimension, he views a struggle between good and evil and trys to help. Of course he’s the same boy that got lost on a school assignment, and his first assignment in this new dimension doesn’t go well either. Finally Joey is given a chance to go back to his old world. Actually he is forced to go back to his old world, but in this fast paced book things change. Interworld is full of adventure and colorful characters. If you like science fiction or fantasy, you will certainly like this book. It also may be a book for those wanting to try science fiction.