(4) 4-6 A classroom poetry contest pits "wordsmith" and contrarian Benny against his accidental rival, Claudine, and "polarize[s] the seventh grade." Benny's grandfather's stroke and Claudine's dog's death unite the two. Fart jokes and wordplay coexist, sometimes uncomfortably, in Benny's first-person narration, and Benny alternately seems surprisingly young and wise beyond his years. Still, Johnson creates a goodhearted, realistically complex middle-school character.

Reviewer: Rebecca Fox

(3) YA Lucas is powerless to stop his friend Derek's wicked stepmother from dragging the family onto a reality television show called Loserville. Always a little unpredictable, Derek starts to really unravel after his appearance. The story is told in a spare, unemotional style, and its strength is its characters, most of whom are on the edge and some of whom can't bring themselves back.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) YA A sixteen-year-old narrator relates how he and his brother are held responsible for a hit-and-run accident actually perpetrated by their stoned rich friend. The story unfolds in a nonlinear way, with the narrator composing alternative endings for parts of his life, fragmented by his mother's death and his father's disappearance. Realistically clipped dialogue is interspersed with poetic description and introspection.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute