Rhyme Schemer

Gr 4–7—Bullied by his older brother at home, seventh-grader Kevin in turn bullies his classmates at school. He's even found a clever way to do his bullying: transforming pages torn from library books to create humorous but cruel found poems. When another student (a previous victim of Kevin's bullying) finds Kevin's journal and learns that he is the creator of the poems, the tables are turned. Kevin must find a way to make peace with his victim-turned-aggressor. He finds an unlikely ally in the school librarian when he is assigned a detention shelving books. This slim verse novel is a quick read with a strong anti-bullying message, though readers who struggle with similar issues may find the solution a bit pat. The setting, topic, and format make this book ideal for classroom use during a poetry unit.—Misti Tidman, Licking County Library, Newark, OH