Derek's perfect summer was ruined. His mother did not want to have fun. She wants him to READ! His best friend goes away for a great vacation back East, and he gets to go to a learning camp so he can learn to enjoy reading "real" books. Then he finds out that he almost died when he was a baby and he may have caused the death of the babysitter. He's obsessed with finding out what happened, but his mom is also determined not to let him. A funny look at one boy's wreck of a summer with stick figure commentaries on the side. My Life as a Book by Janet Tashijian is great read for 5th-8th grade.
