WHAT LIFE LESSONS CAN A PERSON LEARN FROM BULLYING?

After a brief suspension, Julian Twerski is exempt from writing a Julius Caesar report.  Instead, his English teacher and father ask him to journal the events of his middle school life.  Since academic success comes so easily to Julian, he thinks this project will be a breeze.  When he starts, he focuses on journal basics: who, what, when, where, why and how.  He documents his time with his best buddies and his best friend's feelings towards a girl at school.  As the days pass, his writing starts to change when he journals about his discovery of first love, or his experiences with the neighborhood loner, Stanley Stimmel.   Julian reflects more frequently and more intensely about his interactions with his best buddies, Stanley, and the irresistible Jillian, and he learns a great deal about empathy, remorse, and heartbreak.  

The reader cannot help but get drawn in to his reflections, regrets, and growth.

From first time junior novelist, Mark Goldblatt, Twerp sheds light on how a group of middle schoolers can be friendly towards some and be troublesome for others.  Twerp is best for 7^th grade and up.

WELCOME TO THE FLIRT CLUB

Flirt Club by Cathleen Dal

Are you tired of attending the usual Art or Ceramic club at you school?  Than perhaps you should try the Flirt Club!Two best friends in eight grade have absolutely no idea how to talk to boys or even how to make eye contact.  Even if the boys at school try to talk or make an eye contact with them, it is almost a guarantee that the girls will either walk away or say something unintentionally offensive to them. However, all that changes once the girls form a secret flirt club and invite all girls who are in similar situations to help each other.

So get ready to read the secret locker notes, private journal entries and the many private thoughts of girls who are going through the regular motions of heart breaks, insecurities, body image issues and more.  The book deals with pretty much everything related to girls, but the fun part is that it is written in a humorous, clever and unique way.  You will not want to put it down until you read the very last word.

For grades 7^th and up.



A GRAPHIC NOVEL YOU WILL NOT FORGET!

I usually don't read a lot of graphic novels... But all that will probably change because of this awesome book.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang teaches us once again that we as humans are not different from one another after all. The plot of the book is emotionally driven and the characters are very identifiable.

The illustrations are as expressive as the story but yet have a beautiful subtlety. Once you grab this book, you will not want to put down until you have read the very last page.

For grades 7 and up.