This book has a different quality about it that makes it very easy to read and make you think about it after you put it down. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

I really enjoyed the unlikely friendship between the two characters Jane and Tyson, especially that they got to know each other almost in secret. I think the personalities of the two characters will appeal to many kids, as will the short chapters and length.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

LOVED this book!! Whimsical, engaging, well written, and will keep the intended audience engage. Books like this turn casual readers into lifelong readers. Will look for more from this author in the future.

When her best friend moves, she sets Jane up with a plan to find a new friend - leaving a note in their favourite book to start an undercover book club. Tyson, resident prankster and most likely to end up in the principals office, sees Jane with the book and thinks writing her back would be the perfect prank. But when he actually reads the book, the two begin an unlikely friendship.

This was so sweet - it made me want to leave notes in books and be a kid again.

Jane’s journey is dealing with loss, and trying to hold it together, while Tyson’s is more of an exploration of the person he really is behind the jokes and pranks. I thought each of these were explored well, and I loved the growth of their friendship.

While I related to Jane more as someone who has never lived life without a book in her bag (just in case), I really loved watching Tyson rediscover his love of reading and learn who he wanted to be.

Overall, I think this should be a staple in school libraries and that so many people would love this!

(I didn’t realize that the author is from Winnipeg until I read it in the Author Bio! Very cool to have been surprised by a local author on Netgalley)

Colleen Nelson knows kids and that really shows in this sweet and engaging story about a video game addicted underachiever who reinvents himself as a nerd with the unintended help of a classmate whose best friend has just moved away. While this is a quick read, Nelson still beautifully develops her broad cast of characters and plays them off one another with expert storytelling. Readers will gobble this up.
#netgalley

A new #MGLit favorite!! I need 6-stars for this book!!

The Undercover Book List is terrific!! A well written Middle Grade book that appeals to so many. There is the obsessive gamer- Tyler, and the book lover Jane, that are the main characters. The start an unlikely friendship based on the love of books and the need to be needed.

I simply adored the characters in this book. They are so amazing, and readers will fall in love with each one of them.

The Undercover Book club should be "a thing" at all schools... in fact, at all libraries!! A great way to start friendships and a way to foster the love of books and reading.

And The Undercover Book List --- top of the line reading. Any list that includes Erin Entrada's Hello, Universe is a winner in our house!!

For bibliophiles ONLY- when the opposing Quiz Lit team was reciting Newbury award winners in chronological order. I joyfully laughed out loud. LOVE IT!!

BEYOND Grateful to have received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley & Andrews McMeel Publishing.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgally in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really cute book. I enjoyed it a lot and so did the child that I read it to.

This was a great book! I loved how Sienna and Jane continued their friendship, to the point where Sienna even helped Jane find her new friend. I also really enjoyed Tyson's growth and the way that he and Jane become good friends. I definitely enjoyed this book!

The Undercover Book List
by Colleen Nelson
Pub Date 14 Sep 2021
Pajama Press
Children's Fiction | Middle Grade



I am reviewing a copy of The Undercover Book List and Netgalley:


Jane Macdonald is a seventh grader who is lonely with her Dad overseas and her best friend just moving across country. But Sienna her best friend has left her with one last trick: a hidden message in a library book—the perfect plot to start a secret club and find Jane a new book-loving friend.



Tyson Flamand has had a reputation as a bad kid since fourth grade and there's no point fighting it when teachers always think the worst. So when he finds an anonymous note in the library looking for a nerdy new friend, he knows he's the last person in the world it could be meant for. But something makes him answer it anyway, and Tyson finds himself pulled into a secret book club where being hidden may be the first step to being truly seen.




I give The Undercover Book List five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

I loved the alternating voices. So fun learning about the characters through notes. Great writing and story.

This is such a lovely story! Jane and Tyson’s growing friendship is a nice break from all the bad news we are subjected to each day. A girl who loves books and a boy who is trying to find his way in the world, especially within his own family of overachievers. I love unlikely friendships! This is so good for kids to be aware of - step out of your comfort zone and you may be surprised what comes of it.

I recieved an eARC so I could read and review this book. Thank you for the opportunity.

Jane is an avid reader. When her best friend Sienna moves away, Sienna leaves Jane one last gift-a note hidden in their favorite book, with the goal of finding another book lover and new friend. When Tyson, a prankster and video game addict, who's mother just took his X box away, wanders into the library and finds the note, it starts them both on a journey of reading and friendship.

This is an enjoyable book that will appeal to both readers, and, perhaps those who haven't yet found the just-right book yet. It would also be a great read aloud, particularly for early in the school year or right before beginning an independent reading challenge or project for a school class or library. There are a number of excellent books discussed within the text and listed in the back.

I loved this book that is a kid version of the adult book. Reading List. This book does a great job of capturing the thoughts and feelings of most 6th graders. What I enjoyed that was the cherry on top, what one of the main characters is a military child. I was a military brat and there aren’t many books out that that represent me. Overall a great book!

I loved this book right from the beginning. As an educator I wanted to reach out and offer help to Tyler rather than just constantly reprimanding him. He was obviously covering up his own insecurities with his constant joking and pranks. It made me so happy when Jane told Tyler she believed in him - he deserved to have someone tell him he was worth believing in. The best part of the book was Tyler's transformation - I loved watching him go from video game addict to book nerd. The most realistic part was that he didn't give up his video game completely, just learned to balance it with other activities. I also really liked seeing Tyler's family get behind him and support him once they noticed the positive changes he was making. Jane's story of having her best friend move away is one I think other young readers can relate to - whether they had a friend move or just join a new friend group without them. Readers may also find something to relate to with her storylines involving her father being deployed and her grandfather's health emergency. I did chuckle a little when Hilman's nervous stomach turned out to be a food sensitivity, especially after Emily's comment about that in a previous chapter. I was so glad Hilman was invited to be a part of the team - I felt bad for him when Jane almost didn't let him because he was a new kid looking to be a part of a group. As an avid reader myself, of course I love a book that both encourages young readers but also offers book suggestions to them. Tyler's note to Jane about how books didn't save his life, but made it better was so sweet and I think summarized the book's overall message. This is a must-have for all classroom and school libraries!

This was a very cute story about not judging a book by its cover. I read it in one sitting.

Jane is coping with her dear friend moving away and wondering how she is going to get along without her. Her friend leaves her a note in a book in the library to start the Undercover Book Club, hoping Jane will meet a like-minded friend who also loves to read.

Enter Tyson, the class clown who skates through life trying to be funny (mostly at the expense of others) and generally not caring about school. He sees Jane find the book and decides it would be funny to reply and lead her on as another prank. However, he starts actually reading the book and discovers things about himself that he feels he has been hiding from.

This is a book about unusual friendships, a common theme in YA lit, but still an important one. I really enjoyed this book and strong support system of Jane's family. Tyson's left a little to be desired but given his prior circumstances I think he would be difficult to take seriously. Once he demonstrated his commitment to changing his family jumped right on board, and I especially appreciated his sister giving him the business about not hiding behind the facade he was using.

I really liked how Jane and Tyson bonded over books.
I loved how these books helped Tyson blossom and grow as a student.

This is a lovely middle grade read. Would be really good for any kid who feels lonely or is trying to find their way.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

This is of the best middle-grade novels that I have read in a long time. The story is told from two points of view, Jane and Tyson's. Jane is a military child who deeply enjoys reading and is a member of the Kid Lit Quiz Team. Tyson is an Xbox-loving student who is constantly finding himself in the principal's office. When these two connect, unknowingly to Jane, they begin to enhance book titles to read back and forth with short descriptions of the books. In the back of the book, Colleen Nelson includes an appendix where she lists each book title that was mentioned in the book. This story is a very quick read and I believe will be well-received by the students in my classroom. My hope is that after reading this book, they will choose another book to read based on Jane and Tyson's descriptions.

This was a really cute middle-grade novel about being yourself and finding a passion that you enjoy. I think Tyson had great character development and really grew from the beginning. I liked all the different characters, especially Jane's Grandpa. I loved the idea of the Undercover Book Club and that books were the main theme. I think the plot line about Jane's dad being in the military would really resonate with so many children currently. This is definitely a book that I am going to recommend to my teacher friends.

This was such a cool middle grade book. I loved how they took someone who was not at all likable, Tyson, and made him the second protagonist of the story.

A sort of anti-reader to the very much reader, Jane. They meat through shared notes in a book, because Jane’s best friend is moving away, and they want to both make new friends, and this is the trick they use.
Written in two voices, Janes, first person, and Tyson’s third, we get a look at what makes a reader a reader, and how important it is to be one.

Quick, clever, and well done. I loved all the books that they exchange with each other such as Holes, and THe Book Theif, and Wonder.

And Tyson going from class clown to book nerd is actually very plasible, and so sweet.

It is a book that shows two different kinds of readers, who are also the same int he end.

Thanks to Netgalleyf or making this book available for an honest review.

Colleen Nelson is a favourite author who has delivered again. This book will do well in my school and I love that it reflects so wonderfully life in grade seven and the different personalities and cultures. The story is told from two points of view and I will confess that it was Tyson that I found the most relatable and who I was able to connect to. Jane was a little more elusive and there were times when, to me, she sounded more like an adult. But that could be my ears. Having said that I was totally invested in watching and waiting for Tyson and Jane to connect and become friends. I know this will be a hit with the students at my school and is a book I can’t wait to book talk this September.. I also think this would make a great classroom read.