Middle School, the Worst Years of My LIfe

James Patterson & Chris Tebbetts

Laura Park, Illustrator

Little Brown, 2011

281 pages

Grades 5-7

Humor

Rafe is starting middle school off with a bang. He and his sole friend Leonardo have decided to make a splash and liven things up by breaking every rule in the school handbook. Leonardo is keeping track of points and issues the challenges and Rafe executes the stunts. This has put him on the radar of the school administration, as well as the class bully. Rafe want to impress his good-girl crush and hopes to get her attention--which he succeeds at, though not the way he envisioned. Meanwhile, homelife is less than stellar with Mom's boyfriend Bear lounging around the house and barking orders, all while mom has to work double shifts to support them. Rafe's stunts and doodles in his top-secret notebook keep him going. Everything changes when the bully gets ahold of the top-secret notebook and starts to extort cash from Rafe. To make matters worse Rafe's poor academic performance is catching up with him. Will Rafe be doomed to spend the rest of his life in middle school?

James Patterson is not concerned with winning awards with his books for young people. He is determined to write books that kids will want to read. This series starter, though over ten years old, continues to be a hit among my middle graders and an easy sell. The premise alone will attract reluctant readers, but throw in the comic-like illustrations and you have a hit. The copy I picked up from my library has pages gone soft from use, rips everywhere, and a spine that stays open wherever you open the book: a sign of many repeated reading. Yes the main character is fresh and a committed underachiever along the lines of also popular Big Nate, but the story is genuinely funny. Readers will feel powerful and confident knowing that at least they aren't as bad as Rafe, who even at his worse, is grammatically correct and not doing a disservice to floundering readers. Rafe proves to have a kind teacher who saves the day, an understanding mother with the patience of Job, and a surprising ally in his goodie-goodie crush. I appreciate that Patterson gives credit to his co-writers, in this case Chris Tebbetts, and helps new talents in the profession get a step up. Over-all a continued winner that kids will read and look for the sequel.