Pretty Ugly

Do you "Bluford"?  If you haven't read the Bluford Series published by Townsend Press(www.townsendpress.com), then stop what you are doing and read it now.  For people who like realistic fiction and series, this is a great series.  It takes place in a high school in California called Bluford High. Each book is about a different character in the series.  In December, our classroom received a box of donated books from Donor's Choose. org(http://www.donorschoose.org/lizzeglin).  Most of the books were on the topic of bullying.  I ordered several copies of a new Bluford High book called Pretty Ugly.  The author is a new one to the Bluford series: Karyn Langhorne Folan. 

The book centers around Jamee Wills who is struggling academically but who is gifted athletically. Jamee is trying out for the Bluford cheerleading squad but is already failing her math class.  At practice, Jamee meets a new girl named Angel.  Angel doesn't quite fit in and is getting bullied by another group of prospective cheerleaders. To top things off, Jamee's mom is pregnant and everyone is comparing her to her perfect sister Darcy.  Does Jamee risk everything to help a new friend and get on the squad?  I am excited to read more Blufords from this author.  On the back cover, it says that Breaking Point is out by Karyn Langhorne Folan AND Paul Langan, author of The Bully!

Slob by Ellen Potter

I've read a lot of great books this summer. However, I was really surprised by Slob by Ellen Porter.  This novel is setting in New York City in present time. The genre is realistic fiction.  The main character is an overweight 12 who get bullied at his progressive NYC school.  For some reason, Owen is making a machine called Nemesis. I liked the first person point of view and the inner dialogue of  the character.  Although this book was sad at times, it was also very funny. I thought he was trying to get free cable.  Boy, was I wrong! I never could have guessed the direction that this book took. All I can say is that this is a must read.