Radio Fifth Grade by Gordon Korman

From Goodreads, 

"Mayhem breaks out in the fifth grade when the Venice Menace bullies his classmates into letting him become a regular guest on Kidsview, the school's radio program!"

Goodreads - Radio Fifth Grade 

Awards and Nominations: 

• Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee (1992)

I teach 5th grade and I'm always keeping an eye out for books where the main characters are in 5th grade.  These students can easily relate to these characters because they are the same age and most of the time they are experiencing middle school for the first time.  So when I saw this book on Scholastic I knew I had to order it in hopes that I could use it as a read-aloud in class.  

Radio Fifth Grade is the story of a group of students who are in charge of running the school's radio program on Saturdays.  Every week the radio show has a mascot of the week.  The local pet store sponsors the show and has them try to "sell" the pet on the radio by talking it up and sharing special things about the pet.  One Saturday they get a parrot that is supposed to talk, but no one can get him to speak.  Things fly out of control and the bird doesn't get purchased by anyone the following week.  Plus, the class gets a new teacher who is determined to give the students an abundance of homework for them to do over the weekend.  The homework interferes with the radio show, but things escalate even further when the school bully decides he is going to be a regular on the show reading a poorly written story.  

This book had so much going on in it.  The chaoticness of this book really stressed me out, but honestly, I think kids would enjoy the random things that happen.  I loved Venice Menace in the book.  He was the bully that insisted on being a regular on the show to read his poorly written story.  He was encouraged by a teacher to read the story.  He read it on the air, everyone realized it absolutely stunk, but they didn't tell him.  They were all so scared of him that they told him it was fantastic.  So he decided to play his own little prank by "forcing" everyone to go along with it and having them give reviews and fill out forms about the story.  In the end, we learn that he wanted someone to stand up to him and tell him that the story was bad and he needed to stop.  There are so many kids that will push things and push things and push things just because they want someone to set boundaries and rules and tell them no.  This was the same kind of situation.  I also loved all the ways the students tried to trick their teacher so that they didn't have to do the homework and so she wouldn't listen to the radio show.  

I felt like this story lacked a solid plot.  There was one there, but it was poorly written and buried under the jokes and hijinks.  I wasn't a fan of the pet store owner.  He came across as being really rude and mean, especially to Mark who seemed to always be messing things up.  I personally felt like the pet store owner was being a little over the top and extreme to a kid.  I also wasn't a fan of the radio sponsor.  He was always reading and NEVER helped the kids when something had hit the fan and they seriously needed help.  Even when they would ask for advice or what to do, he would shrug and basically be like figure it out.  I definitely got the vibe that he was just there for the extra stipend on his paycheck. 

This was a fun little book, but it's not like any of the other books I've read by Korman.  I think some of my students will enjoy this, but I don't think it packs enough punch for me to use it as a read-aloud in class.  I give this 2 stars.  It just didn't have the exciting razzle-dazzle that the summary led up to.  I also just want to talk real quick about the original teacher and how she won the lottery, quit her job, and moved to Hawaii.  Because girl, I feel that on a different level.  

War Stories by Gordon Korman

 From Goodreads, 

"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Restart, a story of telling truth from lies -- and finding out what being a hero really means.
There are two things Trevor loves more than anything else: playing war-based video games and his great-grandfather Jacob, who is a true-blue, bona fide war hero. At the height of the war, Jacob helped liberate a small French village, and was given a hero's welcome upon his return to America.

Now it's decades later, and Jacob wants to retrace the steps he took during the war -- from training to invasion to the village he is said to have saved. Trevor thinks this is the coolest idea ever. But as they get to the village, Trevor discovers there's more to the story than what he's heard his whole life, causing him to wonder about his great-grandfather's heroism, the truth about the battle he fought, and importance of genuine valor."

Goodreads - War Stories

Last year I had a student who was obsessed with all things military-related.  It didn't matter what war or what branch, just as long as it had to do with the heroes of America.  I was constantly keeping an eye out for books that I thought he would enjoy so that I could make recommendations.  Even though this student has moved on to sixth grade, I still try to keep an eye out for books I think he would like. 

War Stories is a story that is intermingled in the past and the present.  The book rotates between telling the story of Jacob Firestone while he was stationed in France and telling the present-day story of Jacob Firestone, his grandson Daniel, and his great-grandson Trevor.  Jacob Firestone has been labeled as a hero for helping free a small French village and has been invited back to the village for an award.  Trevor thinks it is beyond awesome that his G.G. is a war hero, much like the video games he plays, and that he is receiving an award.  Daniel thinks G.G. is too old to be going back to Europe to retrace his path during the war and that Trevor idolizes war too much.  On the journey to the French village, each will learn something about themselves and each other, until the truth eventually comes out. 

I loved the alternating story format that Korman used in this book.  I felt like it really kept me interested in the story the entire time.  Since G.G. is making a journey back through Europe I think it was great to have the alternating timeline because it allowed us to have some insight as to what he was thinking about, as well as the stories that he was telling Daniel and Trevor.  There were times when Jacob's stories felt a little far stretched, but one can never truly understand or retell what happened during the war.  I do like that Jacob experienced loss during this book, but that he didn't paint an extremely gory picture.  He just reflected and made a passing remark that he wished he could unsee that.  Death in this book was very tastefully handled.  

While the alternating timeline format was a big plus in the book there was a very small thing that drove me insane THE. ENTIRE. BOOK.  The family name of "Firestone" was WAY overused.  It felt like every time Jacob's name was mentioned it was followed by Firestone.  I get it if it's a flashback and his buddies are all talking and call him Firestone.  But none of them did.  After the first few chapters of referring to him as "Jacob Firestone," it was pretty clear what his last name was and it was beyond unnecessary to keep mentioning it.  Also, I hated that we never got closure on Beau!  The entire time it was Jacob, Beau, Freddie, and Leland.  We know that Freddie and Leland "bought it" as they all called it and didn't make it home.  And we know that Beau was injured, but we never find out what happened with his life or if he stayed in touch with Jacob.  That was extremely frustrating to see the outcomes of the characters but to never find out what happened to Beau. 

Overall, this was a good book, but it doesn't make the top ten for books by Korman.  This war genre just doesn't seem like his genre and felt like he was grasping at information and straws to write this book.  I think middle school boys will find it interesting, but it wasn't a big hit with me.  I have to give it 2 stars.  If you like books by Korman or war-themed stories, this is definitely one to add to your "To-Read" list.