Published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

Summary:  Frederick Fredrickson sees kids in his class as lions, meerkats, or fleas who live on the meerkat’s butt.  He, unfortunately, is a flea, with no prospects of moving up in the hierarchy.  When a prank results in him being cast adrift in a boat, he winds up landing downriver at a weekend camp designed to “transform” boys.  He poses as Dash, an infamous troublemaker, and finds himself accepted by the odd cast of characters he’s grouped with.  When a Category 5 hurricane bears down on the camp, leaving Frederick and another boy stranded there, he discovers the true meaning of courage and what it takes to be a real friend.  290 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  A great choice for reluctant readers, especially boys, with plenty of humor and sympathetic portrayals of kids who feel left out at school.  Illustrations by Dan Santat, who seems to be producing about half a dozen new books every year, add to the fun.

Cons:  I never really warmed up to Frederick.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Published by Random House Books for Young Readers

Summary:  When Lucy Callahan was 8 years old, she was struck by lightning, an event that damaged the left side of her brain and caused the right side to work overtime.  She’s a math genius with a touch of OCD, and has been homeschooled by her grandmother for the last four years.  At 12, she’s ready for college academically, but Nana thinks she needs to develop her social skills.  She enrolls Lucy at East Hamlin Middle School, insisting that her granddaughter go to a regular school for one year, make one friend, participate in one activity, and read one book that’s not about math.  At first, this seems like an impossible goal, as Lucy’s classmates stare and make fun at the way she has to sit and stand three times before taking a seat and wipe down her desk and locker with Clorox wipes.  But Lucy hides her genius abilities, and slowly begins to find a place for herself at school.  She makes a couple of interesting friends, and the three of them start volunteering at an animal shelter, where Lucy falls in love with a dog named Pi.  But when one of her new friends tells some other girls about Lucy’s math skills, she feels betrayed and isn’t sure she’ll get through the year.  Can the brilliant and quirky Lightning Girl truly find happiness in middle school?  Includes additional information on pi and the Fibonacci sequence. 304 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Lucy is an unusual but engaging narrator, and readers will cheer her on as she navigates the difficult pathways of seventh grade while remaining true to herself.

Cons:  I was hoping to learn the identity of SquareHead 314, an online friend on a math site where Lucy spends a lot of time, but that didn’t happen.

Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Summary:  When the seventh graders at Wolf Creek Middle School are given the assignment to submit their writing to be put in the town’s time capsule, Nora expects to write about field day and the Fourth of July cookout.  But when two inmates escape from the prison housed in Wolf Creek, everything changes.  The story is told in texts, letters, news articles, and other materials mostly created by Nora, her best friend Lizzie, and new girl Elidee.  As events unfold, Nora begins to see that her town is not as idyllic as she first thought.  Elidee, an African American girl whose brother is in the prison, has experiences at school and in town that highlight some differences between being a black and a white resident of Wolf Creek.  By the time the two inmates are caught, Nora realizes that life will never be simple for her again…but that it has gotten a whole lot more interesting.  448 pages; grades 4-8.

Pros:  The different types of writing will keep readers moving quickly through the 400+ pages; all the girls’ stories, but especially Elidee’s, highlight subtle racism and white privilege and how it affects people of both races.

Cons:  The message sometimes overwhelms the story, and Elidee at times comes across as a bit too good and too “woke” to ring true for a 13-year-old.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.