Friday Memes: The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade by Jordan Sonnenblick

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice.

The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade by Jordan Sonnenblick. 193 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc. August 29. 2017. 9780545863223. 

Publisher synopsis: In sixth grade, bad things can happen to good kids. Bullies will find your weakness and jump on it. Teachers will say you did something wrong when really didn't mean to do anything wrong. The kids who joke the loudest can drown out the quieter, nicer kids.

Maverick wants to change all that. One of the last things his father left him was a toy sheriff's badge, back when Maverick was little. Now he likes to carry it around to remind him of his dad - and also to remind him to make school a better place for everyone... even if that's a hard thing to do, especially when his own home life is falling apart.

THE SECRET SHERIFF OF SIXTH GRADE is a story about standing up for yourself - and being a hero at home and in the halls of your school.

First Line: Chapter One: Why I am the World's Lamest Hero

Let me get a few things out of the way, right from the start.
     I can't fly. I'm not even a particularly good jumper. Truthfully, I twisted my ankle so badly during the three-legged race at my third-grade field day that I ended up in the emergency room, along with my partner, Jamie Thompson. Well, most of her. Her two front teeth stayed behind, buried somewhere in the field.

Page 56: Mom came home a few hours later, happily convinced that hard times were over. She was always doing this. Every time a guy dumped her, or we got kicked out of an apartment, or she lost a job, she would somehow find a shred of good news. Then she would cling to it and ignore every other bit of reality, in order to convince herself that this time our lives were just about to turn around.

Anyone who knows me or this blog, knows I'm a huge fan of Jordan Sonnenblick - ever since my colleague, Lisa M., eighth grade language arts teacher at my last school asked me if I read Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie. I had not, but remedied the situation asap as Lisa reads almost as much as I and never steered me wrong.