Author to Watch: Donna Gephart

I recently ran across a couple of books by Donna Gephart that I knew I wanted to read. I had seen the cover and title of As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President! Who wouldn't want to read a book with a title like that? And then I saw a review on another book. I didn't realize until I went to pull those off the shelf that they were by the same author. Here's the caption on the cover of this one: Dealing with an ex-best friend, a new girl best friend, and a heartbreaking hamster, David Greenberg is learning...How to Survive Middle School. And on the cover is a real hamster holding a microphone. Again, with a lead-in like that, of course I wanted to read it! A heartbreaking hamster who apparently can sing, too???

Anyway, I was not disappointed. Both books are from the point of view of a middle-schooler (one is a boy, the other is a girl), and the reader gets to experience all of the fun, difficulty, heartbreak, and fear along with the main characters. I highly recommend them for 4th grade and up, and I know I'll be watching for Donna Gephart's next book, Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen!, publication date pending.