Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick

Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick is about San Lee, an 8th grader who recently moved to ""Nowheresville." He and his family have moved around a lot - mostly to run away from whatever state has a new warrant out on his dad. When his dad finally gets busted and thrown in jail, San and his mom end up on their own, poor and barely getting by. San decides to reinvent himself at his new school, and begins practicing Zen. After doing some research at the library, he has a decent handle on some of the basic principles. He sits on a rock and meditates, he spouts quotations from famous Zen Buddhists, he even begins making up his own philosophical ideas. One thing leads to another, and San ends up using his "Zen" principles to coach the B basketball team as they challenge the A team to a charity game. As San becomes more and more involved with people (including a special girl) at his school, he becomes afraid that his fake Zen routine will be exposed. Someone has been leaving strange notes in his locker, his new girl "friend's" step brother has it out for him, and his mom keeps trying to butt in by buying him new clothes (so not Zen) and wanting to meet his friends. This is a problem because San was adopted from China as a baby and his parents are caucasian. His mother's appearance would blow the whole idea that San's Zen ideas are based on his cultural background and upbringing.

I chose this book because I really liked Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, but the same author. I liked Zen, too! Even though San's house of cards eventually fell all around him, I believe he came out of everything as a better person. He really started thinking like a Zen Buddhist by the end, and seemed to change as a character. I connected with San, and that is what tells me that this was a great book!