"Big Nate: I Can't Take It!" by Lincoln Perice

Big Nate is back, but this time in color! Just like the other compilations of the Big Nate comics, this one is excellent, but I did have one complaint. My library recently got a bunch of the Big Nate books that could be checked out on the Kindle and I powered through the ones I had not read. A few days later I Can't Take it became available for checkout and I discovered that it had quite a few repeats from All Work and No Play and Big Nate Makes the Grade. Had I not read these books so close together, I may not have noticed this, but since I did, I am a little disappointed. Now I don't have knowledge of the number of comics that have been produced, but I would assume that there would be enough material to not have so many repeats. But despite this, I did enjoy the book quite a bit. It was really nice to see the comics in color, it definitely brought new life to the comics.

I am glad to see these compilations because I think they are a great introduction for readers that are ready for longer books, but that may not be quite ready for full chapters. Most of the stories are contained to an individual  strips, though many of the jokes get revisited again and again (my personal favorite is the debate over which is better; cats or dogs). Big Nate is perfect for reluctant readers and I like they can be shared with the whole family (and it's nice that they don't have to be read in a specific order). Readers just won't be able to get enough of Big Nate!

Happy Reading!

"Dork Diaries" by Rachel Renee Russel

In case you haven’t heard, this series is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid for girls.  Nikki documents in her life through journal entries and pictures.  As much as I love Greg, I was glad to see that Nikki is the complete opposite of him.  Nikki is smart, polite and a pretty average middle schooler.  She often finds herself facing embarrassment at the hands of the school’s most popular girl, Mackenzie.  She does crazy things like painting an old hearing aid so that it looks like a blue tooth device- and develops a rash for her efforts.  

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life focuses as Nikki develops her friendship with Chloe and Zoey.  The three work in the school library (though it seems like they spend more time gossiping that shelving, but that makes sense for their characters) and accidently develop a “tattoo” business that ends up taking over all of Nikki's time.  Sometimes they have a difficult time maintaining their friendship, but of course everything works out in the end.

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl  finds Nikki involved in the planning of her school’s Halloween dance.  But wouldn't you know it, she ends up putting herself in a situation where she will need to be in two places at once.  How does she change this?  By making it so she now has to be in three places- all at the same time!  This sort of thing is what you will find all over this series.

I really enjoyed these books.  I see a lot of girls reading the Wimpy Kid books but have also run across a high number of girls that aren’t interested in that humor.  I usually point those girls towards Rachel Renee Russel's books and usually find that these are right up their alley.  I like that they don’t really have any questionable content but are still a lot of fun.  I hope to find the time to finish the series.

"Big Nate: Out Loud" by Lincoln Peirce

Oh how I love Nate! Lincoln Perice's Big Nate Out Loud was not a disappointment. This book is a collection of comic strips that were originally published in newspapers.  I read this one on my kindle was was very pleased to find that it was formatted in a way that was easy to read (I have come across several books that are formatted horribly and are nearly unreadable).  Big Nate always has some grand scheme up his sleeve- from figuring out how to organize his locker (hypnosis seems like a good plan) to helping his father plan for a 10K marathon. He never fails to make me laugh. There's not a whole lot can say about these books other than I really enjoy them.  Nate is a very realistic character.  He's often getting into mischief and trying to get out of doing homework but is overall good at heart.  It's yet another set of books that I highly recommend for reluctant readers.  If you haven't already picked up one of the books featuring Nate, you missing out.  Give them a shot- you won't regret it!


Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life" by James Patterson

This was my first James Patterson novel.  Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life wasn't quite what I expected.  I found it to be the kind of book that would appeal to the slightly older Diary of a Wimpy Kid crowd.  Rafe Khatchadorian is on a mission- a mission to break every rule in the school handbook.  Each rule broken will gain him points.  This point system is the only thing that is going to get him through the year.  Nothing could possibly go wrong...right?


This book is filled with zany illustrations- my only complaint with these were that they were a bit difficult to take in the details on my kindle (however this in no way affects the quality of the book).  Rafe is a believable character that I feel kids around his age could relate to.  His mom works insane hours to support her children and worthless fiance (therefore leaving her children to fend for themselves against said finance).  He's is not in any way a fan of school and chooses to spend his time causing mayhem instead of focusing on learning.  It is easy to see why this book would appeal to boys.  I really wasn't sure what I would get out of this book since I hadn't read any of Patterson's other novels.  Most of his other writing still doesn't appeal to me, but I did rather enjoy this read and will likely pick up the sequel, Middle School: Get Me Out of Here!




Happy Reading!
-Melly