Skip to main content

The Truth as Told By Mason Buttle

Image
By DeeDee

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
by Leslie Connor
Katherine Teagan Books, 2018. Fiction. 326 p.

Mason Buttle's family, what's left of them, are still reeling from the "bing, bam, boom"; the death of a grandfather, a mother, and a friend all in the last few years.  Mason also struggles with sever dyslexia and a disorder that makes him sweat profusely. That and his living conditions in the "cumble-down" house make him the butt of relentless bullying from the kids on his bus.  Mason gets by with the help of a compassionate resource room teacher, Miss Blinny, and when he finds a friend in little Calvin Chumpsky, things seem to be looking up.  But Lieutenant Baird keeps hounding Mason for more details surrounding the death of his friend, and Mason just can't seem to move past the clouds of green sadness that swirl around him and the whole town.

That plot summary makes it sound like this book is a real downer.  It does deal with some heavy issues, but the overall feeling of the book is one of hope rather than despair.  Mason has such and open, resilient, and likable kid that the reader can't help but feel like things will come around right in the end.  This might be my favorite I have read so far this year.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

By
If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.
Post a Comment
Read more

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

By loo
Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more