Big Nate in a Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce is about Nate, a wise-cracking, mischief-making 6th grader who just can't seem to catch a break. That is, until he opens a fortune cookie and finds out that this one day only, he'll "surpass all others". The entire day at school Nate focuses on that fortune, trying to figure out what special talent he has, or record he can break, or SOMETHING he can do to surpass all others. All that ends up happening, though, is Nate gets in trouble in all of his classes and ends up with detention slips from every teacher - including the principal!
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne is a collection of stories about a boy named Christopher Robin and his friends in the 100 Acre Wood - Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eyeore, Kanga, and Roo, and Rabbit and all of his friends and relations. Each of the ten chapters tells a different story about the adventures and 
misadventures of these characters. The stories are based on the author's son, for which Christopher Robin was named, and his collection of stuffed animals (see the photo on the right). Winnie the Pooh was originally named Edward! He was renamed Winnie after a black bear who escaped from a zoo in Winnipeg during WWI, and Pooh after a swan Christopher Robin had named Pooh. I read this book with my son and enjoyed the stories as much as he did! The writing is really funny, for people of any age, and the illustrations are amazing.
Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight is the story of Frankie and his quest to never clean again. Frankie is an incredibly creative boy who turns just about everything he does into an awesome adventure. So, while he has every intention of cleaning his room so he can go hang out with his friend Kenny, he ends up on an exciting quest to save the world from a gigantic robot. That's when he decides (and his mother actually agrees!) that he will not clean his room ever again... it just gets messy again anyway, so what's the point? Everything goes downhill from there, especially when Frankie decides to stop cleaning himself, too! His clothes are stinky, he's stinky, his room even becomes somewhat dangerous! The night Frankie decides to do something about the growing disaster is the night he and his faithful sidekick Argyle (his dog) enter the Closet of Doom for one of the biggest adventures of his life!
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry is about... well, a lot of things! In this story you'll find an orphaned infant, a bereaved widower benefactor, 4 siblings who desperately wish to be orphans, a mother and son who survive an avalanche, a set of parents who desperately wish to be rid of their children, a lonely postman, and much, much more! What could all of those people possible have in common? Read The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry to find out!
Swindle by Gordon Korman is about Griffin Bing, the "man with the plan". When he and his best friend, Ben, spend the night in the condemned Rockford building the night before it is to be knocked down, they never knew what kind of trouble they'd find. What they did find as a 1920 Babe Ruth baseball card. They took it to the local collectible store and sold it to S. Wendell Palomino (Swindle) for a whopping $120.00. It was only a few days later when Griffin saw Swindle on tv talking excitedly about his belief that he would earn over 1 million dollars when he put it up for auction! Griffin immediately devised a plan to get the card back, hoping he could sell it and save his family from financial ruin. Unfortunately, things didn't go exactly as planned - from a vicious attack dog, to a friend with narcolepsy, to a nosy neighbor - things just kept going wrong!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is about Greg Heffley and his adventures (and misadventures) as a middle schooler. The story is told via Greg's journal (NOT a diary), and is complete with his own illustrations! Poor Greg - when he's not protecting himself from getting the "Cheese Touch", he has to deal with getting chased by high schoolers bent on stealing his Halloween candy, getting kicked off of safety patrols for chasing the kindergartners with fresh worms, having his dad smash up his snowman head (after he kicked his younger brother's snowman at his brother's head), or having his mom substitute for his teacher. These are just a few of the hilarious events that happen throughout this hilarious book about a wimpy kid.
Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman is the sequel to The Schwa Was Here. This one features Antsy (post-Schwa) working at his parents' new restaurant, Paris, Capisce?, and living the life of a typical freshman. While rushing to the Thanksgiving Day parade to watch as the Roadkyll Raccoon balloon flies out of control, Antsy learns some disturbing information about his friend, Gunnar Umlaut: he is dying of Pulmonary Monoxic Systemia. Antsy is so moved by how brave Gunnar appears, that he wants to do something for him. Thus the idea of donating time is born. Antsy writes up a contract donating one month of his own life to tack on to the end of Gunnar's. Unbelievably, the idea catches on and soon Antsy is busy writing and rewriting contracts for everyone from kids at school to the superintendent! Everything falls apart, however, when Antsy discovers that Gunnar isn't actually sick. He made it all up. Antsy has to work on a way to resolve his problem, all while dating Gunnar's older and beautiful sister, earning back his family's trust after a disasterous evening at Paris, Capisce during which Antsy poured a pitcher of water over a New York senator, and entertaining his awful Aunt Mona. Just when things seemed like they couldn't get any worse, they do...
If You're Reading This, It's Too Late by Pseudonymous Bosch is the sequel to The Name of this Book is Secret. In this one, Cass and Max Ernest are desperately trying to prove that they have what it takes to be members of the Terces (secret spelled backwards) Society. Through their adventures, they find a mysterious ball that allows them to hear sounds clearly, even if they are being made far, far away. Cass is able to use this ball to call the homunculus, a strange little creature that was created over 500 years ago. A mean old guy named Lord Pharaoh grew the homunculus in dung! When Lord Pharaoh died, the homunculus buried him with all of his his secrets. So, of course, the evil members of the Midnight Sun are after them! The only way to the secrets is through the homunculus, and the only way to him is through Cass and Max Ernest!
