Summer at Forsaken Lake by Micheal Beil

This book was recommended to me as a mystery, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Nicholas and his sisters must leave New York City to spend the summer with Uncle Nick in northern Ohio. Boring! However, Nicholas meets Charlie, a girl about his age with a killer curveball, and they discover that their family's pasts have some connections. Nicholas's dad was accused of causing an accident that could have killed Charlie's mom. Nicholas and Charlie do some investigating and realize that someone else was behind the boat crash. They set out to uncover the mystery and form a strong bond in the process. Will their parents rekindle their childhood bonds too?

This book has a nice easy-going plot. It's not super suspenseful, although the rescue of a damaged sailboat, in the middle of a severe storm, had its moments. I enjoyed the interaction of Nicholas and Charlie, and the twins were very entertaining. Although the plot had a mystery, it unfolded pretty much the way I expected.

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald

I found this book on the frequent-reader list in our school library, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Throughout the book, Charlie Joe gives tips on ways to avoid reading, the perils of reading, and reasons people should not make reading a habit. In between tips, Charlie Joe does his best to not read books, at all. It's gotten to the point that people expect it from him. His friend, Timmy, used to help Charlie Joe by reading class assignments for him, but then they get caught by their parents. Charlie Joe survives that assignment, but he has a major presentation coming up with a lot of required reading for research. He comes up with another strange plan to avoid the reading, but will he get busted, again?

If you don't know the meaning of irony, this book is a classic example. I mean, you're reading a book about not reading a book! The author created an amusing plot, and it was very entertaining.

Nerd Camp by Elissa Weissman

This book was recommended by our school librarian, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Gabe is accepted to attend a six-week summer camp for gifted enrichment, a nerd camp, but he wants to keep it secret from his soon-to-be stepbrother, Zach. He's afraid Zach won't like him if he finds out. Gabe keeps a record of things he does at camp to figure out if he's a nerd who only has nerdy adventures. However, Gabe has a great time at the camp and writes letters to his friends and Zach about the things he is doing. A girl named Amanda tells him that they're destined to be together, because they often end up doing the same activities, no matter how hard Gabe tries to avoid her. The one thing all of the campers are looking forward to is Color Wars. The week-long competition is full of challenges to decide the winning cabin for this year. Gabe must kayak to Dead Man's Island, in the middle of the night, to help his team win, but he finds a surprise along the way.

Gabe is a great character as he battles with his internal conflicts. He tries to impress Zach by showing him that he's not a nerd, but he wonders if it's worth it since Zach writes worse than a little kid and hates reading. I like how his character changed as he got to know Amanda better. She even shows him that he's looking at his life backwards; he does adventurous things that happen to be a little nerdy.

Guys Read #1: Funny Business Edited by Jon Scieszka

This book is a collection of humorous stories, written by well-known authors, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Authors such as Jack Gantos, Eoin Coffer, David Lubar, and Christopher Paul Curtis contributed stories to this book. The stories start off sounding almost like memoirs, realistic narratives about the author's lives. Most of them stay realistic fiction, but there are some moments of fantasy/science fiction. The topics range from a wacky friend with the idea of wrapping the author in adhesive bandages like a mummy, to brothers pranking each other, to aliens being defeated with the power of broccoli, to a crotchety grandfather with a long stick for whacking the kids.

I enjoyed the chapter about a boy writing letters back and forth with an author to complete a school assignment. As a teacher, I could identify with both characters, especially the boy who just wanted to get the assignment over with. The chapter about the turkey was a bit strange. The father bought a turkey to help make his son more manly, but the boy was convinced that the turkey wanted to kill him. The boy ending up out-"foxing" the turkey.

Fourmile by Watt Key

This book was recommended by our school librarian, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Foster lives on a run-down farm with his dog, Joe, and his widowed mother. His mother is dating a mean, dangerous man, and Foster does not get along with him at all. Then, a stranger is walking by and ends up living in the dilapidated barn for awhile. The stranger is a former special forces soldier who seems kind and helps to fix up the farm. However, the stranger is hiding something about his past, and Foster's mother warns Foster to keep his distance from the stranger. His mother's drunken boyfriend isn't happy about the stranger staying there, and a showdown between the two men will be impossible to avoid.

The author did a nice job of developing several conflicts at once. Foster had trouble dealing with his father's death, the mom had trouble with her new relationship, and the stranger had hidden issues of his own. The drunk boyfriend added suspense to the plot. I liked how all of the characters grew and dealt with their problems, except for the boyfriend. He never learned his lesson.

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

This book was given to me by a student, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Sig lives in a remote Alaskan cabin in 1910 with his father and older sister, however his father falls through some ice and freezes to death. A stranger with a gun shows up and says Sig's father stole some gold from him. Sig has no idea about the gold, but the stranger doesn't believe him. The situation gets a little more intense when Sig's sister returns from town, and he realizes no one is going to come with help. Sig knows his father has hidden a gun in the storeroom, but is he willing to use it to kill a man?

I found the setting and conflict interesting, because they're not common in novels. Some readers might not like the book, because there are a limited number of characters and settings. The setting has flashbacks to 1899, but most of the story occurs in the cabin during winter. The plot doesn't have a lot of action, but it does create suspense. Sig shared many of the beliefs of his religious mother and stepmother, so it made solving the problem a bit more complicated.

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

I was attracted to this book when I saw some of my students reading it, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Donovan Curtis is always getting in trouble; he doesn't think about consequences before he does things. If he did, he wouldn't have whacked the statue of Atlas and sent a huge ball crashing through the gym doors. The superintendent catches him, but Donovan is mistakenly placed into the building for gifted students before he can be punished. Donovan is definitely not gifted, but he finds the new school is a great place to hide out. His classmates and teachers know he doesn't belong, but they never consider that the district might have made a mistake. Donovan is able to help his classmates in ways they'd never expect, and he is the best controller for Tin Man, the school's entry into the robotics competition. Donovan has mixed emotions about the geeky kids at his new school, and he's getting razzed by his best buddies from the old school. Will the good he brings to the gifted school outweigh the problems he creates? How long will it take before the superintendent finds him again or he's discovered to be ungifted?

The plot of this book provides humor as Donovan does his wacky antics. His classmates sense that he's not gifted, but he makes them feel kind of normal. Noah is a great character. He has an IQ over 200, but does his best to fail. He almost becomes obsessed when Donovan introduces his to Youtube. The night of the school dance, he shows up dressed like a WWE wrestler. The author presents the story from different points of view (Donovan, Noah, the superintendent, teachers, etc.), and it works. I liked how all of the personalities came together for a surprising conclusion to the plot.