My Life as a Potato

By Arianne Costner

Random House, 2020. 261 p.

Ben Hardy has just moved from California to Idaho with his family—which overall is good…except for the fact that it is harder for Ben to avoid potatoes in Idaho. See, Ben has a potato curse (once he broke his arm while tripping over a bag of potatoes, he once got hurt by a cat named tater tot, and his mom makes awful mashed potatoes). When Ben causes an accident in the school lunchroom and as punishment must substitute for the school’s mascot at four basketball games, Ben is horrified and wants to keep it a secret (since the school mascot is a potato). Of course, the secret causes a lot of mayhem and confusion with his friends and the kids he hopes to be friends with.

Readers who love laughing at comical situations and characters who care about others (even if they want to pretend to re-invent themselves and be too cool to care) will enjoy this story. The friendships, the honesty from Ben about who his is and who he wants to be, and the comedy surrounding a potato mascot makes this story. Give this to readers who want realistic middle school situations and a good dose of humor on the side.

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