Search This Blog
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (7)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (2)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (3)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (1)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (8)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (2)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (2)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.* (2)
International:
- Australia (2)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (3)
- China (1)
- England (20)
- France (1)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (1)
- Russia (1)
- Scotland (3)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Saturday, December 26, 2020
Debut MG Novel a Spuderrific Read
4:35 PM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Potatoes have never been good to 12-year-old Ben Hardy. Now that he's living in small-town Idaho in the heart of spud country, he feels positively cursed by his least favored vegetable. A for-instance: after accidentally causing the school mascot to fall and sprain his ankle, Ben is sentenced to finishing out the season as Steve the Spud. There are only two weeks left, but that's plenty of time for all of Ben's popularity plans to go straight down the toilet. If his classmates know he's the one inside the dorky potato man suit? That's it for Ben. He'll go down forever as the nerdiest of nerds. Since that absolutely cannot happen, he vows to keep his substitute Steve the Spud act top secret. What could possibly go wrong?
I've read several dozen middle grade novels for the Cybils Awards over the past few months. Most of them have told heavy, issue-y stories about everything from grief to neglect to homophobia to sexual abuse to drug addiction. While these topics are timely and important, they also make for tough, sometimes depressing, reading. After consuming book after book like this, I was definitely ready for something less weighty. And guess what? My Life As a Potato, a debut novel by Arianne Costner, was just the ticket! It's a quick, funny, light-hearted novel that doesn't pretend to be anything but. Ben's plight might be silly, but it makes for a lot of laughs while teaching some good lessons about honesty, being yourself, and putting in the effort to make the best out of an unpleasant situation. If you're looking for diversity (this is rural Idaho we're talking about); deep, meaningful subject matter (it's hard to be serious about potatoes); or controversial topics (mashed vs. baked?), you're not going to find it here. My Life As a Potato is simply a humorous, upbeat, enjoyable novel. It's never going to win the Newbery, but there's still something to be said for a book that seeks only to entertain. Personally, I loved it. Hand this one to reluctant readers and fans of silly humor à
la Gordon Korman, Lincoln Peirce, and Jeff Kinney.
la Gordon Korman, Lincoln Peirce, and Jeff Kinney.
(Readalikes: books by the authors mentioned above)
Grade:
3 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Reading
Listening
Followin' with Bloglovin'
-
The Story People3 hours ago
-
Sunday Post/Sunday Salon3 hours ago
-
Sunday Salon: October 13, 20245 hours ago
-
-
The Devil Hath a Pleasing Shape by Terry Roberts15 hours ago
-
Haven’t done that yet?17 hours ago
-
Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall18 hours ago
-
Audiobook: The Hotel Balzaar20 hours ago
-
-
-
-
83. The Phantom Patrol1 day ago
-
-
-
Bookish Quote of the Day!!!2 days ago
-
-
A couple of autumn/winter reads2 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
Reading Recap September 20241 week ago
-
-
-
WIP Wrap-up for September 20241 week ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Review: The Duke and I1 month ago
-
Girl Plus Books: On Hiatus2 months ago
-
Sunday Post2 months ago
-
-
-
The Music of 2024: Q23 months ago
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?2 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ▼ 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
This sounds like pure escapism fun. I get the need to broach heavier subjects, but ultimately we read to enjoy it. I think it is important for younger readers to have these options too!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading this one. :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds adorable!
ReplyDelete