Thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the ARC, Slider by Pete Hautman. Pete Hautman has done it again with middle school novel guys will love, but also a great story ALL can relate to! David is an 8th grader who has two best friends and avidly follows food eating contests and those who compete. When he gets in trouble bidding on the internet using his mother’s credit card, David enters the Pigorino Pizza Eating contest hoping to win 1st prize. There were so many things I liked about this story; an extremely likable protagonist, good friends, and David’s comedy as he prepares to win the contest. Readers will laugh out loud at some of the planning he goes through; eating heads of cabbage! and guess where he gets this information? on the internet, ha-ha. But David’s relationship with his younger brother, Mal, is what really spoke to me. David loves Mal even though Mal can only say “Okay”, eats Cheerios one at a time, cannot look you in the eye, and walks around the block picking up “items” for his WALL. But things look up when David borrows his friends’ sunglasses. Mal’s world and David’s enlarges as Mal is involved in David’s daily prep for the eating contest. Will David win the contest? How will Mal be changed? Humor and heart are used to explore family, friendship, and brothers. Empathy, love and respect are developed for those who are different. David finds out many things about himself, his family and his friends and what really matters. I would love to see a sequel to this book about Mal and David Hautman’s book stole my heart and it will steal your heart too! A highly recommended middle school read!

Slider by Pete Hautman was a heartfelt read about a boy who always seems stuck in the middle: the middle child, the third wheel of a friendship and the little guy in eating competitions. David is a normal kid who is in some very not normal circumstances starting with being a big brother to an autistic boy. The love and careful consideration David gives to Mal is outstanding. Throughout the book and various situations David finds himself in, he is able to clearly articulate how he (and many children in his shoes) may be feeling. I can see many readers connecting with this book and these characters.

I appreciate the ideas explored in this book, but the style really wasn't for me. References to technology felt a little dated and the overall tone of the book was kind of ... 90s? Not that that's a bad thing, but it just didn't feel modern.

David can not only eat a lot, but he can eat very quickly. When he accidentally charges $2,000 to his mother's credit card, he enters a pizza eating contest to win the money he will need to pay her back. Winning the contest is not the only challenge in David's life. His friends, HeyMan and Cyn, are spending more time with one another and not always including David and much of David's time is consumed with caring for his younger, autistic brother.

The topic at the heart of the plot of this book, competitive eating, is a unique one for a middle grade novel. David's fascination with competitive eating is interesting and many young readers will be intrigued by the topic. This book is also a relatable one as it explores the family dynamic that David wrestles with as he is the middle child. His older sister is the perfect one and his younger brother is the one who needs constant care and attention. The book is also engaging because David is a personable character. Like many kids, at times he's responsible and at other times irresponsible. David's heart shines through, especially, in the interactions he has with his brother. This is a novel that readers will find funny, as well, as David has the ability to bring humor to even tense situations.

Slider is a unique, funny, and thoughtful book. David is a character readers won't want to let go of.

David is interested in competitive eating-- he can eat a pizza pretty quickly, and he's watched a lot of competitions and thinks he could probably do pretty well. When he accidentally bids $2,000 on a half hot dog and his bid wins, he turns to several local competitive eating events to try to earn back the money before his mother sees the charge on her account. He wins a White Castle-type challenge, but only receives a gift card as a prize. This is somewhat helpful as he trains for the Super Pigorino Bowl at the local pizzeria, but he needs the money that winning the competition at the Iowa State Fair will provide. He embarks on a training regimen that involves insane amounts of food, including entire heads of cabbage, for building capacity. In the meantime, he parents aren't thrilled. It's not the academic success that David's older sister, Bridgette has in college, and he doesn't require the care that his younger brother, Mal does. If his mother labeled things, which she doesn't, Mal would be on the more serious end of the autism spectrum. David is very good at caring for Mal, so when David's parents think he needs more of a summer job than choking down pizzas, they have him tend Mal while the his mother teaches a class. David makes some headway with Mal's increased socialization-- Mal travels further, with fewer meltdowns, when he is wearing sunglasses, and David also thinks critically about the charateristics that make food appealing to Mal, and gets him to add several new things to his diet. Eventually, David's parents find out about the credit card bill, so the eating competition becomes even more important. Will David be able to use his skills, as well as his smarts, to figure a way out of his financial and personal crises?

Not only was David a particularly appealing character, and his role in his family realistically drawn, but his sidekicks Cyn and HeyMan were interesting as well. I liked the idea that the three of them had been friends, but now Cyn (whom David finds a bit appealing) and HeyMan are spending more time together but aren't sure if they are ready to be boyfriend/girlfriend. A lot of intriguing relationships going on in this book, and they are not the same old ones typical to middle grade literature.

I've also never seen a novel about competitive eating! It's not a topic that interests me personally, but I can see it being appealing to ever hungry middle school boys who are enthralled by the idea eating fifty slices of pizza or several dozen sliders. The research into training strategies, famous eaters, and different types of competitions is well done, and the creation of a couple of less-than-honest competitors is clever. I especially liked how David got the better of "The Gurge" on more than one occasion!

Of course, the most brilliant thing about this book is the way that it takes a very serious facet of David's life-- his brother Mal-- and frames the relationship the two have with the amusement of competitive eating. David is stoic in the way that many children who have siblings with issues can be, and he is kind and helpful to his brother while being a tiny bit annoyed, but he does feel a lot of pressure to be less of a problem to his parents because of the issues his brother faces. Readers will pick up this book because of the premise and the appealing cover art work, and learn some important life lessons in a way that slips down as easily as pizza crusts dipped in water.

For readers who like Jordan Sonnenblick, John David Anderson, and Gordon Korman and other humorous titles that also include messages of social importance, Hautman's Slider is two delicious and nutritious all beef patties of humor on a sesame seed bun of humanity.