Author
Jack Gantos, was a keynote speaker at a conference I attended a couple weeks ago. He was hilarious. My stomach hurt from laughing so much throughout his hour presentation, as he described scenes from his life that have worked their way into his stories.
His award-winning book about a boy with ADHD,
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, is not autobiographical, but Gantos’s
Jack Henry stories are based on his own childhood. The first book in this series takes place when Jack is in sixth grade. I started with the last book:
Jack Adrift, considered the “prequel” to the series as it takes place when Jack is in fourth grade.
Since he was a child, Jack Gantos has kept a diary, and each chapter of
Jack Adrift begins with a couple of pages showing handwritten passages from Gantos’s diary. The scenes from his childhood diary and the inter-related chapters are mostly humorous, as Gantos describes his relationship with his family, friends – and especially the crush he has on his fourth grade teacher: Miss Noelle. “I stared up at her dreamily all day long and did everything she asked. When she needed a volunteer I alertly raised my hand before I even knew what she required. If she had said, ‘I need a body to dissect,’ I would have thrown myself across her desk with a scalpel between my teeth.” And some scenes, such as Jack’s attempts to concoct “Genius Tests” for his brother and neighbor to determine who is the smartest, or his efforts to ready a rescued duck for the local “Pet Parade”, are laugh-out-loud funny.
The tone of most of the book is similar to the narrative of the comical feature film
A Christmas Story. But often the chapters take a serious turn as Jack wrestles with a problem. “A Bad Case of Brooding” is particularly poignant as Jack considers whether to take his mom’s advice and talk about what’s on his mind as a way to help himself feel better, or to keep quiet and brood, as his father recommends. It seems the real Jack chose a middle ground: to write about what’s on his mind. His reflections enable others to think along with him and find the humor in life - even when you feel adrift. (Recommended for children in grades 4-7.)
Author Jack Gantos, was a keynote speaker at a conference I attended a couple weeks ago. He was hilarious. My stomach hurt from laughing so much throughout his hour presentation, as he described scenes from his life that have worked their way into his stories. 
Meet Sadie and Carter Kane, in the first book of Rick Riordan's series The Kane Chronicles. The young protagonists, ages 12 and 14, take turns narrating this exciting, action-packed adventure that involves them with Egyptian gods and pharaohs - some evil, some good, and some, well, who can tell? The brother and sister duo grew up in separate households after the death of their mother, so they are just getting to know each other as their story begins. Their snarky observations about each other add to the fun, and they discover together that each has magical powers they thought existed only in ancient myths. Join them as they fight the forces of chaos that threaten to take over the world! 
