Small Town Life at Its Best
Rachel Spinelli Punched Me in the Face (Roaring Brook Press, 2011) by Paul Acampora is an appealing story. Here’s the set up: After his mother leaves to work on a cruise ship, 9th grader Zachary and his police office dad move from a remote place in Colorado, to Falls, CT. Right away Zachary meets Rachel Spinelli and she asks him to watch out for her brother. Rachel gets mad if anyone picks on her special ed brother and accuses Zachary of becoming Teddy’s friend to get close to her. But in reality both Zachary and Rachel learn some important things by the end of the story.
I found the cover image and title a bit misleading–the book is more serious than either portray. I wonder if the purpose of both was to appeal to boy readers…
I just read a recent blog post” It’s the parenting – not the spider bite – that’s going to kill me….” on the author’s site that made me laugh. Read it and check out his other books.