Book Review: Schooled

I finished my second book of the new year today. I picked it up quite by fluke yesterday and have to say it was a fun distraction for me! This book is published by Hyperion Books and is geared for the middle school crowd.

You might be asking yourself just HOW it fell into my hands? Yesterday I was headed to the gym and looking for another book I am currently reading to while away the minutes on the ellipticle. I couldn't find the current title, so I picked this book up from a pile of potential reads that I've made for DS 3.

After reading this post at Lauren's, I reminded myself that I REALLY want to read more adolescent literature. I'm VERY out of the loop in this area and thought now is as good a time as any to get started. If you have a teen or tween, you may want to check out this website: Teen Lit Review for some Christian perspective on current titles.

Schooled is a book written about a 13 year-old boy, Capricorn Anderson, who has been raised by his Grandmother who is a hippie "stuck in the 60's". She is still living alone in a former commune and has home-schooled her grandson as she sheltered him from the world. The story takes place as she is injured and he's suddenly thrust into a local middle school and experiences total culture shock because his hippie lifestyle collides with that of eighth graders in 2007. It is a very realistic look into the culture and "pecking order" that exists for students in middle school and deals with bullying and peer pressure quite well.

Throughout the story is woven the important message of being true to yourself. Ultimately, I think you could sum up Cap Anderson (and this book) in one Beatles' song phrase: "All You Need Is Love".