28 Tricks for a Fearless Grade 6, by Catherine Austen (James Lorimer & Company, Sept. 2014). $8.95, ISBN: 9781459406193
Recommended for ages 8-12
Dave Davidson is a good kid who just wants to help his friends. He wants to cure his friends of different phobias, whether it’s about dancing in public or of dogs. He’s positive he has the knowledge to get the job done, and somehow, it kind of does – with a little bit of mess along the way.
This is a book in a vein similar to the Wimpy Kid series, albeit told in the third person. The chapters are set up similar to journal entries (it reminded me of the Nickelodeon show, Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide), the tips give readers an idea of what the upcoming chapter covers (for example: “Tip #3: Friends Don’t Let Friends Break Their Ankles”). Kids who roll their eyes at the thought of sitting down and reading may find this book easier to jump into; the characters are fun and welcoming to a reader, and the amusing situations that come up for the group will appeal to middle grade readers.
For girls who want to read a more female-oriented version of the story, Ms. Austen has a companion book, 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6, which received both the 2012 Quebec Writers’ Foundation Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature and the 2012-2013 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award in English Fiction. The author’s website also has some fun tips for surviving everything from tornadoes to zombie attacks, and information on different phobias. (For all those fledgling Dave Davidsons out there!)
The book will be released on September 1, but you can pre-order it on Amazon right now.
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