Confessions of the Ungifted...

So far this summer, I've read 28 books!  How many have you read?  The most recent two books I've read are Ungifted, by Gordon Korman and In Front of God and Everybody: Confessions of April Grace.

Ungifted follows Donovan Curtis who is always in trouble.  If he sees something that looks like fun, he goes for it without thinking of it and it usually lands him in a world of trouble.  For instance, when he decides to hit a statue holding a globe near his school in the backside and the globe, which is held by only one rusty bolt, gets loose and rolls into your high schools gym, destroying the floor.  Oops.  Caught by the superintendent of his school district, Donovan knows he is going to be in big trouble, but the superintendent accidentally places his name on a list of students who are going to be assigned for the district's school for gifted students.  Donovan knows he is not gifted, but decides to go and hide out there until the superintendent (hopefully) forgets all about him.  Donovan somehow manages to befriend the gifted kids, who see him as the only "normal" student in their school and he joins their robotics club.  Donovan learns how to control some of his impulses and starts to learn more about what it means to truly be a friend.  This was a fun and funny story.  I highly recommend it!

I also just finished In Front of God & Everyone...  I picked it up at the library because I liked the cover.  After I got it home, I realized it was a Mark Twain Award nominee for this year, so I knew it must be pretty good.  April Grace lives in the country outside a small town in the Ozarks of Arkansas.  She lives with her parents and older sister, and her Grandma Grace lives right next door and is at April Grace's house more often than not.  It's summer vacation and new neighbors from San Francisco, California move in, or try to, next door.  The place is so run-down, though, that April Grace's parents invite them to move in until it can be fixed up.  Now these folks are snooty and look down on April Grace and her "hillbilly" family.  There is also Mr. Rance, who is trying to romance April Grace's grandma, but April Grace has her suspicions that he is up to no good.  This is a humorous account of how April Grace deals with her parent's guests and the over-the-top gentleman who is going after her Grandma.  This was a quick and very entertaining read.  April Grace is quite the funny narrator and I found myself laughing out loud at her use of grammar and colloquial sayings (file that away - we'll talk about what that means next year).  I loved this book!

We're about halfway through the summer.  My goal is to read 60 books and I'm not quite halfway there, so I'd better get moving if I'm going to reach it.  If you want, comment below & tell me what you've been reading this summer!