Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories-but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar ( Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.).ĭriven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. Palacio's Wonder (2012) and all readers learning how to be comfortable in their own skins. CAV is both a gentle dig at anti-bullying platitudes-words can and do hurt-and a reminder that words can heal.Įlyse's struggles toward self-confidence will resonate with fans of R.J. But as she awkwardly makes new friends, chronicling her progress with (very careful) self-deprecating humor in short chapters and notes to her future self, she realizes, 'You couldn't just read them you had to feel them, too.' The unsteady emotions of middle school are palpable in Cooper's debut, from trying on identities to believing moments that pass like a blush will last forever even teachers learn to grow. When mysterious notes challenge her to try out to lead the sixth-grade class trip, she reasons that winning will net her enough positive comments to cure the itch.

Soon, rashes like PATHETIC and WORTHLESS break out: words Elyse thinks about herself. Good words soothe, while bad ones itch 'more than a thousand mosquito bites.' Her friend Jeg has always protected her from mean comments, but the pressure of a new clique draws Jeg away, leaving Elyse to flounder and fend for herself-as if starting middle school weren't hard enough already. Due to a rare condition called cognadjivisibilitis, anything people say about 11-year-old Elyse appears on her arms and legs-part temporary tattoo, part eczema.

Abby cooper books in order