My Dog, My Hero by Betsy Byars et al

I didn't realize that Laurie Myers, one of the other co-authors of this book, was Betsy Byars' daughter until I read Surviving Brick Johnson, which Myers wrote on her own.  

I can't imagine why I missed this title.  It fills that all-important middle reader category, children who are beyond Junie B. and Magic Tree House series books, but aren't quite ready to jump into the ambitious middle grade pool of books.  Most kids hit this point somewhere in the third grade.  This one is cool enough to appeal to fourth graders, too, which is great.  

The illustrations are lovely, but totally not necessary to paint a picture of the characters, neither dog nor human -- the words are descriptive enough, quite a feat in less than six pages per chapter.  

I suspect this book will fly off my shelves... and I'm looking forward to testing my theory!

Booklist said: "Drama, humor, excitement, and love fuel these short, well-written stories that are certain to be relished by dog lovers. The selections can also provide students in English classes with excellent examples of point of view, characterization, and plot construction."

Awesomeness: 5/10

Wordsmithing: 3/10

Personages: 6/10

Mesmerizitude: 6/10

I read this for the Spring Reading Thing.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson

Okay, so, my relationship with James Patterson is as a serial killer novel writer (Kiss the Girls, Along Came A Spider).  So I was really surprised when I heard he'd been writing novels for teens.  I'm a little out of touch, being at the elementary school, but I like to read teen novels because, gosh, they're good!  

This one... well, I wouldn't say it's good.  The blurb says "Spider-Man meets Men in Black," which is a very accurate description.  It's scary. It's gory.  It's fast.  It's even funny, at times. It's also very simply written.  The chapters are each three pages long.  The language is easy.  I would guess the lexile level is around 800, or less... (running to Titlewave to check -- ha!  680; that's third grade!).  There's no discernible character development, and all the supporting characters are flat as construction paper.  

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's clearly written for low level readers, but in such a way that most teen readers would still really enjoy it. Heck, I enjoyed it.  So, I guess that makes it good!

It's hard to find hi-lo books in such a convincing, appealing package.  This one works.  But, unfortunately, I think it's too scary and gory for most elementary school students (this coming from a girl who read Steven King at eleven), so don't reach for this as a hook for your third or fourth grade reluctant readers.  

Awesomeness: 5/10

Wordsmithing: 2/10

Personages: 2/10

Mesmerizitude: 7/10