I wasn't very keen on this book, I like a lot of middle grade stuff but unfortunately this wasn't one of them!

I can imagine that children who like Diary of a wimpy kid and Lemony Snickett books would love this story as it is a very good story and the pictures are very funny.

The story itself is very good and is about a boy called Rafe and his life during his first year at Middle School, where he decides to be as naughty as possible.

I really liked the way the book was written and the drawings throughout

James Patterson never fails to deliver and this was as good as I expected. A boy with a larger than life imagination this was a quick and funny read, loved it.

Great book for children. The illustrations were perfect and the plot was really gripping. Would make a perfect gift for a child who is reluctant to read.

This was a very long winded book which didn't seem to have a purpose and certainly didn't have a conclusion. I didn't manage to identify with any of the legion of characters and didn't find a storyline to follow. Rather disappointing read.

Very Well Written and Enjoyable. Great for younger teenagers.

This book was very cute and so true. I have 2 daughters in middle school and we read this together and we would laugh at how similar some of our own circumstances were. Thank you for the insight and the light hearted humor

Since I read this, I bought a copy for my classroom and my class have been arguing over who gets to read it first! Not only did I enjoy the humour and the layout, but it made the book less daunting for some of my children and gave them a next step up from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I will definitely buy the rest of the series.

Enjoyable, funny, silly plus bang on for this age range.
Kids love books just like this one, which is why the series is a popular one.

Middle School: The Worst Years of my Life
By James Patterson

Reviewed by Heath Henwood
www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

Some books divide people – you either love it or hate it.

This is one such book!

Pre-teen boys will probably love it! The easy reading style, the mischief, the breaking of rules.

I think the rest of the population have seen titles for that market that have been better written, and better cohension.

The story follows Rafe and his imaginary Leonardo, as they try to break every rule in his school's oppressive Code of Conduct.

While it is far from Patterson’s best work, he does deliver the occasional
Hilarious moment.

One for the pre-teen boys.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy in return for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Very disappointing, sub-Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates etc read, where no comeuppance is shown to the kid when he decides to break each and every school rule in the book. There are a couple of narrative surprises, but apart from that he's not likeable, the artwork is verging on the ugly, and there's neither enough light and shade contrast nor morals to the piece to make it endear itself to me at all. Normally these series start off fine with superior books only to regress to being dull – this broke the mould.

There's a poster for this series of books on the wall outside my classroom. I pass it everyday yet I'd never read any of them (I teach Y1 and these are obviously aimed at a few years higher).

However, a Y4 child asked me which one was my favourite and I had to admit that despite them basically being advertised on my classroom, that I'd not actually read any of them. They were shocked as apparently these books a 'so funny!'. Decided I should probably get around to reading at least one of them.

The first few pages made me feel a little awkward. I kind of felt like the writer was just trying way too hard to be cool/clever here and it just didn't always feel realistic because of this. After a while though, and helped along by the fantastic illustrations, I found I'd quite happily bought into the story and the narrator of it. In fact, I quite forgot that I wasn't 9 anymore and found myself speeding through this in the same happy manner I read 'Adrian Mole' books back when I was around that age bracket.

I can completely see how this would appeal to ages 7-13(ish) as it is humorous but has elements of thought provoking sidesteps.

I can now say that I have read the first one, I will likely read more, and that I am happy these books are advertised outside my classroom.

My 9yr old found this book lol funny . She read it in one sitting

Race Katchadorian is in 6th grade. He has an imaginary friend called Leo who tells him he should do something cool. He should break all the rules.

I quite liked this funny story about a boy who's imagination is bigger than he is.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and the author James Patterson for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable reading although thankfully I didn't have as many issues at school as this kid!

This book follows the story of a young boy named Rafe as he gets himself into as much trouble as he can at school. The book focuses on the usual topics such as crushes, bullying and behaviour.

I enjoyed this book a lot, though I admit that this book does have several problems. First of all, bullying plays a major part in the story, yet I don't feel that topic ever gets fully resolved. Is this the sort of lesson you would want your young children to take from reading this book? I feel the consequences of Rafe's poor behaviour are also portrayed in a very light manner. You don't get the full scope of what the consequences are actually for someone who behaves as he did in a school environment. This isn't to say that Rafe doesn't received punishments, as he does, my issue is more that the terribleness of the nature of the punishments isn't reflected strongly in the writing.

I loved how you could see how imaginative children's minds can be in this book, and this is represented in many ways. I also loved how things were much more complex than what they first appeared on the surface.

I really think that this is an enjoyable read, but not necessarily entirely suitable for the age it would be marketed at. I'd exercise caution at allowing children to read it, and would want to discuss the ideas and themes in it afterwards in order to make sure they don't take away the wrong message from this. While this book wouldn't interest all adults, I personally really enjoyed reading this book with an adults perspective and fully intend on continuing on with the series.

Thanks for allowing me to read. A fantastic read. I will review and post in the next few days

This book has a good balance between text and drawings. I have read it as the film is coming out on Netflix and can see that it would make for an enjoyable film. It will appeal to those who have enjoyed "Wimpey Kid" and "Tom Gates".

What would happen if you broke every rule in the book during your first year of middle school? A lot. Some of it's good, most of it's bad. Rafe tries his best to gain as many points as he can by doing just that. What he does factor in, are family truths, terribly bullies, and a girl crush. Laughed out loud.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

When I spotted this book on Netgalley, well I just had to read it. It was one of the books that I still needed to read in this series (I have read 3, 4, 5.5).

Now I could finally find out what happened to Rafe and why he moved to another school. Because while we do find several things out in the other books, and yes he did quite some stuff, I found it weirdly like an overdramatization. Yes, he broke a lot of rules, yes he did stuff, but really, it wasn't that much, plus we also do find out his reasons in this one. Reasons we didn't really get in the other books.

For instance that he has a new stepfather who does nothing but lie around and which causes his mother to have to work double. Not to mention that the stepfather thinks he is the boss over stuff, and he will shout at you (and also at your tiny sister). I am sorry, but while of course it isn't an excuse for someone to go haywire with rule breaking, I can see why Rafe would rebel.

Then there is the school, and most importantly the bully. I never liked Miller, but reading this? The crap he does? The stuff he gets away with apparently? No. Just no.
What he did with Rafe's notebook? I disliked that so much. Poor Rafe. :(

Of course there is also the brother, I already knew what was going on with that situation (thanks to the other books), but I think anyone with enough of a brain could see what is going on with the brother in this one. There are so many hints. So many clues. He plays quite a big role in this one, even bigger than in the others. Maybe because it is the first book, and a big moment is happening in Rafe's life (Middle School is starting).

The rule breaking, well, I am not one to approve of that, but I do have to say I had a silent laughter at all the plans he made and I definitely loved that he wasn't allowed to harm anyone. He was just breaking the rules, and if someone wanted to tell on him, he wouldn't mind it at all. He also picked a way to break the rules without anyone getting harmed or hurt. I definitely have to give credit to Rafe for that. A lot of people would just do whatever it takes to get a rule broken, but not Rafe, oh no, he just made an entire game out of it with scores/points, lives, and more!

We also see how Rafe developed a big crush on a certain girl, and I was happy that I could finally see how it all began.

The book is also filled with illustrations, comics, and more, and I loved it. It really brought the book to life, and I laughed so hard at some of the illustrations. :P

I do wonder though, how did Rafe not get that getting bad grades would mean he would have to redo a year? Hasn't he been through elementary? Or did they have a different system there? It just seems a bit weird and off that he wouldn't know this.

What more, ah, yes, the sister. I hated her so much. I am not sure what happened in between this book and her own book, but I am guessing some years passed. Because I was just too frustrated with her, she was annoying, intrusive, blurted out stuff that would just hurt people and ruin days, and several other things. At times I was tempted to put the book away when she appeared.

The ending was quite good, I did feel sorry for Carl, but then again, you don't just do that kind of stuff. :(
I am happy for Rafe though. I won't tell you why, because spoiler, but I am sure others will agree that this was a good ending.