For this week’s marvelous Middle Grade Monday here’s something a lot more recent, SCHOOLED by Gordan Korman. I love to see a middle grade book that will appeal to boys who haven’t bought into the whole school of magic thing. SCHOOLED is funny and exciting but firmly grounded in the real world. But the unusual upbringing, the main character, Cap, gives the book an almost magical realism feel. He’s such an exceptional kid. It reminds me of one of those books where an alien or a mythical creature finds him or herself trapped on Earth and has to endeavor to learn our ways.
Here’s the blurb on SCHOOLED from Goodreads.
Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza, or even heard of a wedgie. But when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.
40,000 words, with a reading level of 4.9, SCHOOLED is an easy read, despite having a pretty mature and sophisticated storytelling style and premise. I would recommend it for anyone, but in particular, reluctant boy readers aged up to 14.
For this weeks’ I-can’t-wait-to-read I’m going with a recent UK release that doesn’t seem to have a US relase date yet, but is available from Amazon.ca. HOW TO MAKE A GOLEM AND TERRIFY PEOPLE by Alette J. Willis. What can I say? Great title, great cover, great premise. This one sounds super fun.
For other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday posts check out these blogs:
- Joanne Fritz @ My Brain on Books
- Ben Langhinrchs @ My Comfy Chair
- Sherrie Petersen @ Write About Now
- Brooke Favero @ Somewhere in the Middle
- Myrna Foster @ Night Writer
- Ally Beecher @ Kid Lit Frenzy
- Barbara Watson @ Novel and Nouveau
- Deb Marshall @ Just Deb!
- Anita Laydon Miller’s Middle Grade Blog
- Michael G-G @ Middle Grade Mafioso
- Natalie Aguirre @ Literary Rambles
- Ms. Yingling @ Ms. Yingling Reads
- Jennifer Rumberger
- Pam Torres @ So I’m Fifty
- Mary @ Writer’s Butt Does Not Apply to Me
- The Accidental Novelist
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happy middle grade monday! i’ve been looking for more upper middle grade books, and this one sounds quirky and fun. will definitely check it out 🙂
My kids both read this one for a book club (where they also got to tie-dye shirts). Books that run on the premise of finding your way when you don’t fit it are superb, in my opinion.
I added both of these books to my wish list. 🙂
SCHOOLED sounds right up my alley but also makes me sad b/c I wrote a screenplay with a very similar presence (home-schooled hippie boy living in a camper van, father in hospital, boy starts public school). Ever since I finished the script, I’ve been thinking of turning it into a novel – – I may have to drop that idea. Durn!
Love the title, cover, premise of the golem book, too.
Read the book, make yours new somehow. Or find out who bought the film rights to the book, and send them your screenplay as a writer for hire.
You are right and I know better. 🙂 It’s just that initial “oof” in the gut when I see something like that.
The Truth is that you could give 12 writers the same idea and you would end up with 12 different novels. I’m sure mine already has my own twist.
And also, SCHOOLED was a minor success for that publisher. Another publisher might be eager to have a success like it. How many Twilight copies were there? About a million?