Slob by Ellen Potter (199 pages) ***
Owen opens this novel by describing himself as an overweight twelve-year-old genius. He hasn’t always been overweight, but the past two years have been very difficult for him and he’s taken the stress away by eating. Oreos are his favorite food, but his mom has put him on a diet and has limited him to three Oreos each day. Those three Oreos are the only joy in Owen’s day, especially when he has to attend gym class and be harrassed and humiliated by the teacher. But those three Oreos keep getting stolen from his lunch sack. Each day, Owen sets a new trap to catch the thief, but each day the thief manages to bypass the traps. He is convinced that the thief is resident troubled youth, Mason Ragg, who is said to carry a switchblade in his sock. When Owen isn’t at school, he spends his time inventing things. His most precious invention is a television that can pick up old signals and possibly uncover the mystery of who killed his parents. At times funny, ironic, and poignant, this novel will tug on your heartstrings while you live vicariously through the genius of Owen.
Miss Simer’s Rating: ***
Ten years after the attack by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, reporter David Cullen gives the public all the details about what really happened that April morning at Columbine High School. Cullen outlines not only the events of that day, but the years leading up to the attack and the aftermath of the tragedy. Cullen’s no-holds-barred look at the deadly school shooting dispels many myths created by the media and eyewitnesses, including Cassie Bernall’s martyrdom, the angle that the boys were bullied and out to kill the jocks, and the description of the boys as being members of the Trench Coat Mafia. Cullen researched this novel using police reports, the boys’ own journals and videos, eyewitness accounts, interviews with friends and family of the victims, and legal documents. Though some of Cullen’s novel is difficult to get through (i.e. reading the boys’ own writing about how and when they were going to kill everyone), it is definitely worth reading. It gives new insight into the tragedy and puts faces on the victims and their families who have been living with this pain for ten years.
Teens Omar and Becky have been best friends since early in their childhoods. They’re outcasts in their school and have been tortured by school bully, Kyle, for years. When a new student, Akhil, arrives and is different from any other student they’ve ever encountered, Becky and Omar befriend him. Akhil has strange scars up and down his arms, he refuses to sit in the chairs in the classroom, talks back to his teachers, and is the first boy to give Becky a flirtatious flutter. But, Kyle sees Akhil as fresh meat and his impending plan puts not only Akhil in danger, but everyone at the school that he has on his hit list. With an interesting approach to school violence by comparing it with a wolf pack, this novel will make the reader wonder about how far bullies will go and what students can do to stop them before it’s too late.
Thirteen-year-old Evyn, her older brother, Mackey, and her dad, Birdie, have been a threesome since the death of her mother twelve years earlier. Although Evyn was too young to know her mom, she still talks to her at night as if she’s there. She tells her mom about any problems she’s having with friends, concerns about schoolwork, and worries about her father’s love life. When Birdie tells Evyn and Mack that he’s getting married to Eleni, a woman with six of her own kids, Evyn is completely dumbfounded. Suddenly her life is turned upside down - they move from Maine to Boston, she attends a snobby private school, her brother becomes popular, and her father changes his nickname to Al. With all these changes, Evyn doesn’t know what to do with herself! She isn’t making any friends at her new school, her best friend from Maine seems to have dropped Evyn since she moved, and the popular girls use her to find out private info about Evyn’s “hot” stepbrother. Nothing is going her way. Then, she gets some even more surprising news from Al and Eleni - they’re having a baby! This novel is a roller coaster ride of teenage drama, but it never feels forced. It seems entirely realistic and describes the ups and downs of having an untraditional family. 
Mia is entering ninth grade with a new look and a new attitude. No longer will she be “Mia the Meek!” She has decided this will be the year she is popular and gets a boyfriend. Hindering her plan is her new neighbor, Tim, a fast-talking, arrogant, yet handsome guy. He and Mia immediately have a mutual dislike for one another, but she tries to ignore him so she can focus on Jake, her crush of five years. Mia is ecstatic to learn that Jake and Cassie, the most popular girl in school, have broken up. She thinks it is finally her chance to make Jake notice her. Meanwhile, Mia’s best friend has nominated Mia for class president - and she has to run against Cassie! The questions linger… Will Mia have what it takes to win the election and the boy of her dreams? Or will she fall on her face? Find out in this humorous look at a girl longing to change her image and boost her self-confidence.
Greg Heffly, a middle school teenager, writes about his life in a journal, not a diary. He is a wimpy and gets bullied at home and at school. His parents don’t really care about him because they pay more attention to Manny, his little brother. His older brother, Rodrick, bullies Greg at home and at school. Greg writes almost daily through a whole school year about everything that happens in his everyday life. He doesn’t like school that much because bad things happen to him. Most of the kids are bigger, meaner, and smarter than he is and he hates it. He also writes about crazy adventures with his friend Rowley, the class clown. There are lots of great illustrations and funny moments in this book. I thought the book was pretty funny to read. If you want to read and laugh at the same time, then read “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.”
Shug is about a girl who is starting Junior High School and is finding out that she has her first crush. Her mom is an alcoholic and her dad is never home. She has an older sister, Celia, and Shug thinks that she is beautiful. Everything is going pretty good until she has to start tutoring Jack, a guy who picks on her all the time. A dance is coming up and she doesn’t want to go even though her mom wants her to. At the dance, she overhears her crush say something about her that is devastating. Jack ends up in a fight with her crush, leaving Shug to decide who she really likes.
This novel in poetry format details the series of boys that Sophie dates in order to find Mr. Right. She tends to fall head over heels about any boy that gives her attention, but there is one in particular that she dreams about - but she can never tell anyone about her dreams because he is considered the class “nerd.” When she attends the Halloween dance, a mysterious masked boy dances with her and thus becomes her newest obsession. Who is the mystery boy? Will she ever reveal her secret crush to her friends - or would she be committing a social no-no that she couldn’t overcome?
Logan is hiding a horrible secret. His family has moved to another part of town to try to get away from all the gossiping about him. Even with the move, he is still being bullied and harrassed by the other boys at school and in Scouts, and is constantly called severe names. Logan doesn’t talk to anyone. His parents try to make him talk with a pyschiatrist, but Logan still closes everyone off. The only activity he gets involved with is the school play, and he’s pretty proud of it, but he still keeps his secret. His secret is so terrifying and disturbing that he refuses to admit it, but how long will he be able to hold it in?
