This is a book about a school assignment. Sounds boring, right? Well, I think it managed to be as interesting as a book about a school assignment can be. See, there are these 8th graders: Zander, Kambui, Bobbi and LaShonda, collectively known as "The Cruisers" after an alternative school newspaper they produce. The Cruisers, all of them smart but unmotivated when it comes to school, are assigned to play the role of peacekeepers in a kind of mock Civil War going on at their school. The kids playing the part of the Confederacy take things too far, to the point where they offend people, especially the African-American students. Zander (who narrates the book) is one of the few black students at the school and the lead peacekeeper, so it ends up falling to him to put the Confederacy students in their place.

Zander has a unique way of putting things when he's trying to argue his point. For example, he won't get into a fight if he can't see the "win" in it. He keeps his cool as tempers flare over accusations of racism and arguments about free speech, so we get a pretty thoughtful, if slightly detached, discussion of slavery, history, and middle school culture. I wondered as I read if the Confederacy students really were purposely offensive, or if they were just callous or naive, but that's not really the point of the book. The point is how to deal with complex, senstive issues once they've been raised.

The book includes editorial pieces from The Cruiser as well as the official school paper. As I said, it's almost entirely focused on the Civil War assignment, but we do get to learn a little about the Cruisers' home lives. The parts with Zander and his actress mother were nice breaks from the school drama. I've heard there will be three other books to follow, probably one from the perspective of each Cruiser. Will they give up their lackadaisical attitude towards school by the end of the series? Maybe that's not the point... ( )

I would recommend for older students, to encourage thinking about the consequences of their actions. When does role-playing bleed over into real life? How do we develop our personal values and put them into action?

The message in this book couldn't be more heavy-handed. The characters are just sketches and the plot is rather confusing. ( )

While attending an academy for the gifted in New York City, eighth grader Zander Scott and his co-workers on the school’s underground newspaper must find a creative way to stop the growing racial tensions at their school.

This is not a masterpiece like Fallen Angels or Monster, but Myers's gifts as a master storyteller are evident in this first entry of a proposed four-book series. ( )