Karen Pokras Toz

Karen has me hooked. I love a good romance as much as the next girl, but sometimes I just want something that’s fun and filled with a little less drama. Something that takes me back to being a kid, and even gives me a little insight into my own kids. I even sent Karen a message after reading a line telling her that I actually laughed out loud because it sounded *exactly* like something an eleven-year-old boy would say.

I was eagerly awaiting the third book in the Nate Rocks series, and I was not disappointed. In Nate Rocks the School, Nate and his friends are frantically trying to raise money for the class trip to New York City. (Can’t wait to read about that trip! No boring vacation slide shows for Nate.) Babysitting, car washes, trips to the mall… Let’s just say that Nate & Co put the “fun” in fundraising.

Part of the reason I was so eager for Karen to finish this book was because my eleven-year-old boy was driving me crazy asking when it was coming out. So after forcing me into author-stalking for months (good thing Karen and I are fb friends; makes the stalking much easier), what did he think of Nate Rocks the School? “I liked it, but I liked Nate Rocks the Boat better because the girls weren’t in it as much.” Mind you, he likes it enough to bug me about buying the paperback.

I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

Karen has an amazing way of getting into the mind of a middle-schooler. This is exactly how I remember feeling as a 13-year-old: scared, insecure, and trying to figure out yourself and the world. This book brings it all back. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but it does mean that Karen is a fabulous writer who is able to pull out real emotions.

This amazing book cuts to the heart of bullying: Scared and insecure kids hurting other scared and insecure kids to try to make themselves feel better. This is a book that kids will enjoy and identify with, but it’s not to juvenile for parents to read. This would be a great book to read together to start a discussion about bullying and treating others the way you would like to be treated.

I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

My review:
Reading books for this age group now that I'm a mom is a little weird. In one scene, Nate's father is recalling an incident involving his own father, a marshmallow, and a microwave. My first thought was, "They wouldn't have had a microwave back then." Except that *I* have a ten-year-old, which makes me around same age (if not older than) Nate's parents. And we had a microwave "back then". I know I'm getting old when I'm closer to the age of the parents in the story than the kids.

Poor Nate has to deal with his mom's bad cooking, an annoying older sister, and a tattle-tale classmate, when all he really wants to do is draw. His sister irritated me, and his oblivious parents weren't much better. But I loved that the whole book wasn't a constant complaint about his family. It's not completely horrible in their home, and their Christmas morning traditions sound like a lot of fun. I loved the ending, too, but of course, I won't tell you more about that. :-)

The 10-year-old's review:
It was a really good book. I read it four times. (What he doesn't say is that the afternoon it came in the mail, he and the book immediately disappeared for a couple hours. After he read it, he allowed me to read it, but I had to give it right back.)

I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)