"Bystander," by James Preller

My cousin gave me an interesting book titled "Bystander", by James Preller. (Thank you, Kerry!) If you read the Jigsaw Jones mystery series when you were younger, you have already read some of Mr. Preller's work. "Bystander," however, is grown up subject matter and is more appropriate for students about to enter middle school--you!

When 12-year-old Eric moves to a new town, he thinks his only problems are fitting in at his new school and dealing with his parents' separation. Boy, is he wrong. Eric gets mixed up with the local bully, Griffin, and goes from being a witness to a target in no time. Does Eric stay a victim? Can he do anything to keep others from becoming victims, too? You'll have to read "Bystander" to find out.

I liked this book, because the topic is timely; we just had a discussion about bullies the week before I received it. Mr. Preller includes a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King on the book jacket. It says, "In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Then he writes, "Let's all make some noise." What do you think Dr. King and Mr. Preller mean?

Missing Volume Found!

Students: You will be thrilled to learn that I now have my hands on "The Great Brain Reforms." Actually, my son does. His grandparents looked high and low for the out-of-print book, and presented it to him as an early birthday gift. As soon as he finishes it, I'll bring it to our class library. We'll do a drawing among those kids who have read all of the others to see who will get the book first. Why did these books go out of print, anyway? I feel a letter to the publisher coming on. . .

Speaking of terrific humor books, I just read "43 Cemetery Road: Dying to Meet You, " by Kate Klise, recently. Written in letter format, with plenty of quirky illustrations, it was silent-cry funny. Have you ever laughed so hard that you did the "silent cry"? If not, too bad for you! Sounds like you need to check out one of the books mentioned above. Also, I hear Klise's other books, including "Regarding the Bees" are hilarious as well. There is a whole "Regarding the. . ." series, and I will buy up as many of these at next week's book fair as I can. As soon as we get finished with "Everest: The Climb," I'll read one of Klise's books to you.

I've heard "The Enclyclopedia of Immaturity" is a knee-slapper. I haven't read it yet, because I'm afraid I'll open it and find my photo in there. . . What great humor titles can YOU recommend?