The only thing I looked at last night was Nick Hornby's Slam, which would be very good for high school but not middle school. It sounded so good, though, that I had to read until it became apparent that, oddly enough, a book about a 15 year old who gets his girlfriend pregnant is going to have things inappropriate for the average 6th grader. Well done, though.Since I read anyway, I love to find challenges like the one at:
http://callapidderdays.blogspot.com/
This blog has a lot of parenting issues and is slanted toward Christian mothers, but had some good reviews. I've been trying to keep up with blogs, and it is difficult to find ones that are only dedicated to middle school books.
Still, a challenge is a challenge! I'm up for it!
(I, too, looked at The First Part Last, and seem to recall it had some gratuitous language. I prefer Hanging on to Max or even No More Saturday Nights.)
Another book along that theme -- teen gets girlfriend pregnant -- The First Part Last by Angela Johnson. I read about this one somewhere (don't remember where) and thought it sounded intriguing. Since I read it a while ago, I don't remember thinking, "Oh this writing is Godawful"... I liked it, but, again, it's more high-school themed and high school language (I don't recommend it for middle school students). Even as a "conservative" Catholic mom of two (yikes -- nearly teen!) boys, I found this book to be very realistic in it's plot, characterizations and theme. It's also quite sad...
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