No More Dead Dogs by Gordan Korman

Wallace Wallace (no, that's not a typo) doesn't lie. He absolutely refuses to lie. His father lies all the time to Wallace and about silly things. Since Wallace hates that his father lies constantly, he decides to NEVER lie. A decision that will get him in to a ton of trouble later, especially when he has to write a review on a book called Old Shep, My Pal (not a real book) and hates the book with a passion. His English teacher, Mr. Fogelman refuses to accept the paper and makes Wallace attend rehearsals for the upcoming school play, Old Shep, My Pal directed by the one and only Mr. Fogelman (go figure). Needless to say, this does not go very well. While on detention, Wallace Wallace can not even play football. (He was last season's hero, accidentally.) For Wallace, banishment from the team is horrible, but he refuses to jeopardize his morals to lie about a book he absolutely hated. Even when his team starts to turn away from him and someone starts to sabotage the play, Wallace sticks to his principles and refuses to lie. When the sabotage points to Wallace, he continues to tell the truth and eventually becomes the school pariah.

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No More Dead Dogs is a decent book. I have to admit, I hated 2/3 of the book, but eventually began to like it a little. I was annoyed by the constant pov shifts-- from Wallace to Rachel to Wallace to Rachel to Wallace to Trudi to Mr. Fogelman, it was excessive. The chapters were short, so by the time I was able to get into one characters head, it was time to shift to another person. I think Gordan Korman would have been better off keeping this story in one P.O.V. instead of five.

The part of this book that aggravated me the most has to be Wallace Wallace being punished for telling the TRUTH!!! Honesty is probably the most important character trait a person can have and what does this book do, it trashes honesty. First with Wallace's father lying all the time to look important to his son, then the English teacher refusing to accept an essay because he doesn't agree with it, to Wallace's team trying to get him to lie and say he loved the book. Throughout No More Dead Dogs we are shown that honesty is not as important as pleasing other people and that's wrong.

Punished by David Lubar

What do 7 oxymorons, 7 anagrams and 7 palindromes have in common? The cure to a crazy punishment.

What do you get when a child runs through the refrence section? A "pun"-ishmnet filled with horrifying bad jokes and a crazy quest. Logan Quester ends up being punished after his best friend decides to play tag. Chasing his friend causes Logan to run into Professor Robert Wordsworth and his "pun"-ishment begins.

I love this book. Kids will learn these crazy types of words in a way that a teacher might not imagine.

Who Shrunk Daniel Funk Book 1: Attack of the Growling Eyeballs by Lin Oliver

Okay, so I know this title is a little crazy. When I first saw it I didn't know what to expect. Seeing Lin Oliver's name on the cover immediatley drew me to the book because I love her work with Henry Winkler's Hank Zipper books, so I decided to pick up the book and read. I have not regretted my decision at all. Daniel Funk at first seems to be a normal boy. He's involved in sports, annoys his 3 sisters and plays video games. Very typical right down to his incredibly messy room (of which he includes a diagram). After letting out a goulash smelling burp, Daniel does something atypical for a boy. He shrinks Suddenly his sock mountain seems to be as tall as Mount Everest, and the Creature Condo with the familiy pets looks like a danger zone.

I am quickly falling in love with this story and eagerly am anticipating the next book in the series which comes out in September. Lin Oliver has shown once again that she can capture the voice of the young male and make us want to read more.

Prince of Underwhere by Bruce Hale and Shane Hillman

Bruce Hale and Shane Hillman are potty humor geniouses! This book is about Zeke, his twin sister Stephanie, their neighbor Hector and Hector's TALKING cat. While the kids are running from two "spies" the go through a portal to the land of Underwhere. Zeke is discovered to be the Price of Underwhere and a zany adventure begins.

I loved this book. When I finished reading I was desperate to read more. Bruce Hale and Shane Hillman have begun a hilarious new series that tween boys are going to love to devour. Even some of the tomboyish girls will enjoy the bathroom humor that is literally on every page of this book. I give Prince of Underwear to big thumbs up (which equals 5 flushes on the flush scale.)