FINISHED:

Laser, Michael. (2008). Cheater: a novel. New York: Dutton Books/Penguin.

[Read for ACL review. Will post my review once it is written.

Voila:

Karl is the smartest kid in his high school - destined to be the valedictorian - and, thus, is recruited as the “answer man” for a band of popular kids who have a cheating ring going. Finally convinced to take part after being seduced by one of the prettiest girls in school (could she really be into Karl, or is she just doing whatever it takes to to get him on board?), Karl is thrown into a world of high-tech gadgetry (including a pen with a camera in the tip which sends the image to a wrist watch) and ultimately has to decide whether or not he should divulge the names of his fellow cheaters to a Vice Principal who seems just as criminal and crooked as the students he hopes to catch in the act. While not the first YA novel, and, quite likely, not the last, to deal with cheating, this one has some interesting examinations of how Karl’s working with the popular kids affects his friendships with his original group of friends, and the value of grades and how they affect an entire community. Karl himself is a well-rounded and fleshed out character whose inner struggles dominate the majority of the book, and, though the Vice Principal comes across as a bit overly diabolical, the rest of the characters come across as genuine. In addition, the 3rd person narration is funny and fresh, with each chapter beginning with a different rule for cheating which, ultimately, informs the events of that chapter. This is a novel of high school which might get a kid to examine the pros and cons of cheating and come to conclusions for themselves.]


STARTED:
Iserles, Inbali. (2008). The Tygrine cat. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

[Reviewing for ACL. First impression is that it looks like it's going to be in the Redwall / Warriors vein.]

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