Heroes vs. Villains and GFRR: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF BERNETTA WALLFLOWER

Thanks for Jackie and Dani for this bloghop. My favorite hero and villain come from the same movie/book: The Princess Bride. As Janette Ralston said as LDStorymakers, "You're hero is only as strong as your antagonist."

Today's Golden Five Recent Read is Lisa Graff and her book, The L & C of Bernetta Wallflower. Instead of the traditional headshot I couldn't resist showing this picture of Lisa finding her books in the library. That's gotta feel great, right?

Goodreads:
Bernetta Wallflower is having the worst summer on record. After her ex-best friend, Ashley, frames her for running a school-wide cheating ring, Bernetta can't convince anyone that she's innocent. Her parents ground her until her tonsils grow back, and she's not even allowed to go to her father's magic club, Trunk Number Eight, where she performs every Saturday as a magician's assistant. But what's most terrible of all is that Mount Olive, the private school Bernetta has attended since kindergarten, has decided to take away her scholarship for seventh grade. If Bernetta wants to return to school, she'll need to find $9,000 in three short months. It seems hopeless . . . until Bernetta comes up with a plan that involves a lot of lying, a little bit of trickery, and a mysterious stranger with chocolate-brown eyes.

This is a comic and touching story about losing your footing and finding your way again from the author of "The Thing About Georgie."

My Take:
Such a fun read. The characters had so many great quirks. I'm a total sucker for an MC that loves to read. Not only does Bernetta love reading, but she chews the edges of her books, so her favorite copies have very little white space around the text. And all the names she called her little brother, Collin. Even the nail polish with her older sister. (Okay, I admit it, I'm in love with her entire family) I would have LOVED being in middle school with Bernetta and hanging out at her house after school watching her dad perform magic tricks. Even if you don't normally read MG books, I hope you're give Bernetta a try. My words aren't enough to express how Golden this read was.

Note:Although this book was in the YA part of my library, Bernetta is twelve years old, so I would consider this book upper middle grade.

Have you read Lisa Graff? This is my first of her books, but she has a bunch of good ones out there and like the authors I've highlighted thus far this week in GFRR, I'm looking forward to devouring more of Lisa Graff's books. I'll try not to chew on the edges.