How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy / Cyrstal Allen / 284 pages

What drew me to this book...the title. How can you NOT read a book with this title? It's a good debut novel for upper elementary & middle school kids but not your typical story in many ways. First of all, bowling is the featured sport. Lamar Washington, who suffers from asthma, is really good at it. Second Lamar is a normal African American 13 year old boy from a good family. His older brother Xavier is a super-star basketball player with anger issues, his mother who is Lamar's biggest fan dies from cancer, and Lamar is struggling with who he is, getting a girlfriend, and getting some attention from his dad. The story has a strong message about ethics, friendship, judging people, and how easy it is to make some really bad mistakes. The book has humor, fear, anger and grief. Lamar is a character that you care about. While not everything that happens rings true and the message can be a bit heavy-handed, it's a good read.