“Zen and the Art of Faking It” by Jordan Sonnenblick

“Zen and the Art of Faking It” by Jordan Sonnenblick is a realistic fiction novel about a boy who invents a better personality for himself so that he can be popular at his new school.

San Lee has a lot of experience with blending in.  His family moves quite regularly, and at each school San Lee gets a chance to build a new identity so that he can blend in with the pack.  In California he was a skater.  In Houston he was a rich preppy kid.  In Germany he was a pretend-jock.  But now San Lee is in a new place: a small town in Pennsylvania.  And he is also facing a new situation: his family is no longer rich.  His father is now in jail, busted for embezzling funds and cheating people in numerous states.

Now San Lee no longer has the funds to outfit himself in cool clothes and join one of the traditional school packs.  The government took everything his family owned and they are still in debt while they pay off what San Lee’s father stole.  San Lee doesn’t even have any sneakers, just a pair of sandals.  And in the cold winter air of Pennsylvania going without sandals or a coat isn’t exactly comfortable.  But even worse than that, it also means that San Lee can’t fit in to any of the other’s children’s groups.

So when San Lee inadvertently acquires the nickname Buddha Boy he decides to run with it.  If he can’t fit in then he better do his best to stick out.  San Lee decides to use his Asian genetics, his sketchy knowledge of Zen Buddhism, and a good bit of shear luck to carve out a custom place for himself.

Little does San Lee know just how far things will go.  Before long he has attracted Woody, a charming girl with long hair, alluring gray eyes and a love for playing guitar.  When San Lee and Woody are assigned to work together on a class project on world religion it seems natural to Woody that they cover Zen Buddhism.  Of course, this prompts San Lee to do a lot of unintended research to maintain his “religious” appearance.

Before long San Lee will have to overcome his life long fear of bugs to prove that he accepts the Zen monk’s policy of respecting all animals, even insects.  And he will also start “meditating” each morning on the cold rock just out front of the middle school.

But things get worse.  The local basketball team adopts San Lee as their unofficial mascot after a group of middle school teens become convinced that San Lee might be a reincarnated mystic, perhaps Buddha himself.  San Lee is starting to think things have gone too far, especially since Zen Buddhism means that he must repudiate “earthly desires”, and that means he can’t date Woody, who he has a secret crush on.

Jordan Sonnenblick has created a humorous and charming novel.  “Zen and the Art of Faking It” is fun to read, while at the same time teaching important lessons about honesty.  The plot has a perfect ending which stresses the importance of telling the truth, especially to a girl that you love.

But educational aspect aside, “Zen and the Art of Faking It” is a great, recreational read.  I’m sure that San Lee’s escapades will be enjoyed by many readers.

I definitely recommend “Zen and the Art of Faking It” by Jordan Sonnenblick to all middle grade and older teen readers.

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“The Ice Cream Con,” by Jimmy Docherty

“The Ice Cream Con,” by Jimmy Docherty is the story of a boy who decides to do something about the crime in his neighborhood.

When Jake gets mugged and loses all of his grandmother's food money for the week, he decides that he needs to do something about that crime that is running rampant in his housing project. Jake and his friends invent an imaginary gangster that they name Big Baresi. By starting rumors and placing stickers that say “I'm watching you. - Baresi” Jake and his friends manage to convince others that this crook is real. Soon though, the situation snowballs out of control when two local gangs enter the scene and a stash of stolen diamonds surfaces. Will Jake be able to keep up the deception of will he end up in trouble for the crimes of an imaginary crook?

“The Ice Cream Con” is a simply ridiculous book. Jimmy Docherty was obviously aiming for humor with this junior read but the result is just foolish. The escapades of Jake and his friends are terribly over played and completely unbelievable. In the end “The Ice Cream Con” comes across as idealizing a life of crime. I would not recommend this book to any reader.

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“Dork on the Run,” by Carol Gorman

“Dork on the Run,” by Carol Gorman is the humorous tale of a shy, geeky young boy who finds himself as a candidate for president of sixth grade.

In “Dork in Disguise” readers are introduced to Jerry Flack, a bona fide dork complete with glasses, an interest in science, and complete ignorance of social skills and pop culture. In the first book Jerry briefly tried to pass himself off as a cool person, but since then he has learned a little more about how to handle himself in public, and has found his own circle of friends without having to change himself to please the “cool kids.”

When Brenda, one of his new friends and a fellow science club member, suggests that Jerry run for sixth grade president he is a little skeptical. But then Jerry takes a look at the ballot. The other candidate so far is Gabe Marshall, a cool jock known for his looks and brashness, but not for intelligence. Gabe’s campaign platform has the goal of eliminating late rules and putting video games in the detention room.

Jerry has much better plans for the school, but to make them reality he will have to run for president himself, and that means running against Gabe and his cool friends and supporters. Somewhat reluctant, but still determined Jerry enters his name in the ballot.

Little does Jerry realize, but this will be a decision that he will regret before long. Soon Gabe and his friends begin playing a series of devious tricks to make Jerry Flack look foolish. Among other things they distribute humiliating pictures of Jerry crashing while ice skating and screaming in terror while Gabe and his friends hang him out a second story school window.

Before long Jerry is the subject of all the school jokes. It appears that his campaign is doomed to failure, but there is something that Jerry can do to turn this humiliation around, if he can just figure it out in time.

“Dork on the Run,” is another great installment in the Jerry Flack series by Carol Gorman. Carol Gorman does a marvelous job portraying the complex dynamics of the middle school environment, with its conflicting cliques and dramatic personalities.

Jerry is an amusing character that will quickly gain the sympathy of readers. His personality, though geeky, is cool at the same time, and that is the point of the entire series.

I recommend “Dork on the Run” to all young readers.

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