Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes

2011/150 pgs

About the Book: Joylin is finding herself at the crossroads of middle school. She's always been content the way she is, playing basketball and enjoying her friend's. But now her best girl friend is flirting with her best guy friend and basketball seems different. Then Joylin notices Santiago and suddenly her clothes aren't right, she wants Santiago to notice her, and Joylin is feeling a bit left out. Why does middle school have to be so confusing?

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: Planet Middle School is a short and sweet novel in verse. I listened to this book on audio and while I could tell it was written in verse, it still worked well on audio. I really enjoyed the narrator and she really drew me into the story and made Jaylin come to life.

The book itself is short (the audiobook is just over an hour), but I felt with the narration the character's came to life. I felt for Jaylin and the confusing time middle school can be. She's always been a bit tomboyish and now that she's interested in Santiago, she feels she has to change.

Because of the length, the book wraps up fairly quickly with Jaylin learning a lesson about life a bit too easily. I did like that the ending is not fairy tale-ish but instead rings true and realistic-and Jaylin is OK with that. I think the subject matter of navigating the tricky time of change in middle school is covered nicely. Give this to tweens looking for a quick, relatable a read.

The Hot List by Hillary Homzie

256 pgs/ 2011

About the Book: Sophie can feel her friendship with best friend Maddie changing now that they're in seventh grade. Maddie is hanging out with popular girl Nia more and Sophie will do anything to keep things the same. So when she suggests posting their secret "Hot List" at the school, Sophie thinks their secret will keep them close. Instead, it propels the "Hot List" into the ultimate decision list for the middle school and now someone else is adding to the list. Not knowing what else to do, Sophie makes a bet with Nia that she can get anyone on the list. So Nia challenges Sophie to transform dorky, not cool Squid into a Hot Lister, or else embarrass herself in front of her crush.

Sarah TeenlibrarianSays: At it's core, The Hot List is a story about friendship. Middle school is a strange time to navigate friendships as people change and find new interests, and Hillary Homzie nails that awkwardness perfectly. You don't want to give up the friends you've always known, but how do you let go and make new ones? And can you actually be friends with someone new? And what about being popular and cool-doesn't that count for everything?

What I liked most was the story with Squid and being true to yourself. This isn't a makeover story where the makeover changes them for good, but instead, the makeover helps them see what was best to begin with.

At times the story seemed to not know exactly what it wanted to be, but it got there in the end. Sophie learns to be confident, which I think middle schoolers can relate to. A fun, light tween read perfect for readers looking for a book about tricky middle school friendships.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

by Tom Angleberger. 141 pages.

Tommy and his friends face the usual dilemmas facing many sixth graders: the opposite sex, parents, school, the opposite sex, friends, sports and the opposite sex.

Enter Dwight, who rarely does anything right, is always in trouble, gets harassed by other kids and picks his nose. And who is also an origami master. Dwight is the creator and voice of Origami Yoda, a paper puppet. Yoda gives cryptic, very Jedi-like advice to Tommy and all his friends, including Mike, who is driven so insane when playing softball in PE it makes him cry, and Quavondo, who wants to lose his nickname of 'Cheeto Hog.' But Tommy needs to know -- is Origami Yoda real? Can a loser like Dwight, who isn't even smart enough to take Yoda's advice, be the voice of Yoda? To learn if Yoda is real, Tommy's solution is to take a scientific approach -- collect stories from all of his friends and acquaintances into a case file, acquire comments from a confirmed Origami Yoda non-believer, and study the evidence. Because Tommy needs to know the answer -- if he takes Yoda's advice and it's wrong, Tommy is DOOMED.

This is such a fun book to read. Tommy, Sara, Kellen, Lance, even Dwight and Harvey are such believable and relatable characters. All of them remind me of kids I knew in middle school -- Dwight is Jeff Jacoby reincarnated! Middle-schoolers will relate to these very real, very likable characters and be fighting to follow Angleberger's Yoda-folding directions and struggling to provide Jedi-warrior advice.