Well, That Was Awkward by Rachel Vail ~ Review

Gracie has never felt like this before. One day, she suddenly can't breathe, can't walk, can't anything and the reason is standing right there in front of her, all tall and weirdly good-looking: A.J. 

It turns out A.J. likes not Gracie but Gracie's beautiful best friend, Sienna. Obviously Gracie is happy for Sienna. Super happy! She helps Sienna compose the best texts, responding to A.J. s surprisingly funny and appealing texts, just as if she were Sienna. Because Gracie is fine. Always! She's had lots of practice being the sidekick, second-best. 

It s all good. Well, almost all. She's trying.

Well, That Was Awesome!

Hello, new favourite book :)

Well, That Was Awkward is one brilliantly funny, very clever, unputdownable, grin-worthy absolute blast of a book. Oh my gosh, I loved it so. 

Well, That Was Awkward is a charming loose retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac ~ always a fun premise to remake for teens of today ~ who are texting and emoji-ing all over the place. It's a real feel-good story with delicious puns, quick witted humour, a tortoise (and a rabbit), a suddenly cute boy, best friends, epic inside jokes (Never. Gonna. Happen.), and the perfect amount of depth to flesh out all the characters. The characters are in grade 8 and they are perfectly awesome.  Oh, and the parents were also complete classics! I love when parents are just as funny and original as the teen characters (shout out to all you awesome parents out there! Haha). 

True to the title, there were many hilariously awkward moments, so this should be your next read when you're in the mood for some LOLs (haha). I seriously loved this ~ it's a perfect blend of some of my fave things in fiction: light-hearted fun with the perfect amount of angst, awkward shenanigans, characters who are my people, and a plot which builds in anticipation to a sweet. sweet climax and charming and cool resolution. 

Note: this is a perfect one for all the MG readers out there, as well as YA readers - and adults who love to smile and reminisce about those awkward early teen years, haha. 

Well, That Was Awkward @ goodreads

Diary of a Wimpy Kid & Origami Yoda - MG Goodness :)

Reuben :)

So it was my son Reuben's 8th bday last week. Whoo Hoo! He got a bunch of books - most of which we've since read. My son Sam is 9 and he immediately snagged some of Reub's new stash of books too.

Here's what my boys are into - a couple of MG boyish recs :)

He got all four Diary of a Wimpy Kid Books. They are hilarious and have the coolest cartoons in them. Sam read the first three in three days curled upon the lounge amidst holiday noise and chaos, completely absorbed.

And then when we were out Sam spent some of his savings on the Do It Yourself Book. I absolutely recommend them!

Sam spent an afternoon scribbling away in this - I haven't read it, haha, apparently it's PRIVATE :)

opening in book one

Book five is coming out in November (and the boys are planning to buy it...)

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

I read a couple of chapters of this out loud to all three of my kids every day. They loved it. It's right in the pocket for their age level - they love hearing about kids just a bit older than them getting caught up in all sorts of ridiculous and embarrassing situations. They laughed a lot and snickered at some of the stupider characters. Funny funny stuff.

The story is presented in case files for all different characters and each case file has a slightly different voice/feel to it - which was perfectly fun for reading aloud and getting dramatically carried away with. There's cartoons scattered throughout and instructions on how to make your own origami Yoda.

This book is so original - a paper origami yoda that gives advice to middle school kids and possibly uses the force? Crazy genius. It really is made of win :) Plus, Yoda always talks in Yod-ese: "

Awesome post on designing the book cover for Origami Yoda

Sam bought this Star Wars book for Reuben - I think because he wanted it for himself, haha. They love stuff like this - copying the pictures and flipping through it in bed.

My parents visited and let my kids choose something at the shops (anything: toys, dvd's, etc - both my boys went straight to the book section :) and Reuben chose:

Which he has "already read" haha. Which he means he's studied every single page and skimmed the info. It's a very funky book -kinda addictive actually with some freaky stuff in there - my kids love stuff like that.

Reuben also got some Doctor Who activity books :) You can't go wrong, eh? :)

Any cool middle grade books you've read recently?

Any you recommend that you think my kids would love? 

(my boys are 8 & 9 and my girl is turning 6 this week)