Scan barcode
A review by mrskatiefitz
Middle School: My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar by Lisa Papademetriou, James Patterson
2.0
I think it’s pretty easy to dismiss James Patterson. He has about a million books out, most of which he has written with ghostwriters or co-authors, and many of them are predictable, formulaic crime novels with little literary merit. A few years ago, he had that obnoxious television campaign where he and his son promoted Santa Kid, and the whole commercial still gives me the “nails on a chalkboard” feeling. I can whine about his success with the best of my library colleagues and lament that his books feel dumbed down , and wonder why the holds list for them is always ten million miles long. But what I can’t do is sling heavy criticism in the direction of the Middle School books. Why? Because they’re actually good. When the latest installment turned up in the new books at my library branch, I snatched it up immediately, and realizing I had actually missed a volume, I immediately went and downloaded it to my Nook. Within a day, I had finished both books. Today’s review is of the third book, Middle School: My Brother is a Big Fat Liar.
Whereas the first two Middle School books focused solely on Rafe and his escapades, this third volume shifts points of view to that of Georgia Katchadorian, Rafe’s well-behaved and brainy younger sister. With the help of co-author Lisa Papademetriou, Patterson shows us Rafe’s old middle school from the perspective of someone forced to live in the shadow of a troublemaker. Rafe might have moved on to an art school, but his reputation lives on at Hills Village Middle School, and everyone is taking it out on Georgia. While she struggles to prove to her teachers that she does not plan to follow in her brother’s footsteps, Georgia also deals with the constant presence of her loud and overly enthusiastic classmate, Rhonda, the judgmental and cruel behavior of the popular girls known as The Princess Patrol and the struggles of her rock band, aptly named We Stink.
This book is not as strong as the first two, and I have to wonder if that is because of the switch in viewpoint. Rafe is so believable that even the unbelievable things he does ring true. I had a harder time connecting with Georgia. I do appreciate that she isn’t the typical girly girl, as there are already so many middle school stories filled with stereotypically girly themes like romance and catty backstabbing and fashion. I just felt like her character was somewhat flat compared with Rafe, and that at times her thought processes didn’t reflect those of real middle school girls- at least not the ones I know. I kept wondering who the audience was for this book. Patterson’s success is always about marketing, so surely he knew who he was targeting when he wrote the story, and I suspect that it was the male readers of the other Middle School books. This is one of the few middle grade books with a female narrator that I actually think might appeal more to boys than girls.
This book also has quite a surprise in it that I didn’t see coming. It is similar to Rafe’s big reveal in the first book, and it opens up a more serious side to this otherwise comedic series. I actually think I would have liked to see more time spent on the implications of the new information Georgia learns about herself and her family, and I am hoping the issue might resurface again in later books narrated by Rafe.
Though this book is the weakest of the middle school series so far, I still think it makes for much better reading than any of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Patterson understands the psychology and behavior of kids (and teachers) in American middle schools, and he reflects that experience accurately, even in the story’s most far-fetched moments. There are a few too many plugs for the earlier books of the series, and I did find myself missing Rafe’s voice, but overall, this is still a book I’d recommend to readers preparing to enter - or trying to survive - their own middle school years.
Whereas the first two Middle School books focused solely on Rafe and his escapades, this third volume shifts points of view to that of Georgia Katchadorian, Rafe’s well-behaved and brainy younger sister. With the help of co-author Lisa Papademetriou, Patterson shows us Rafe’s old middle school from the perspective of someone forced to live in the shadow of a troublemaker. Rafe might have moved on to an art school, but his reputation lives on at Hills Village Middle School, and everyone is taking it out on Georgia. While she struggles to prove to her teachers that she does not plan to follow in her brother’s footsteps, Georgia also deals with the constant presence of her loud and overly enthusiastic classmate, Rhonda, the judgmental and cruel behavior of the popular girls known as The Princess Patrol and the struggles of her rock band, aptly named We Stink.
This book is not as strong as the first two, and I have to wonder if that is because of the switch in viewpoint. Rafe is so believable that even the unbelievable things he does ring true. I had a harder time connecting with Georgia. I do appreciate that she isn’t the typical girly girl, as there are already so many middle school stories filled with stereotypically girly themes like romance and catty backstabbing and fashion. I just felt like her character was somewhat flat compared with Rafe, and that at times her thought processes didn’t reflect those of real middle school girls- at least not the ones I know. I kept wondering who the audience was for this book. Patterson’s success is always about marketing, so surely he knew who he was targeting when he wrote the story, and I suspect that it was the male readers of the other Middle School books. This is one of the few middle grade books with a female narrator that I actually think might appeal more to boys than girls.
This book also has quite a surprise in it that I didn’t see coming. It is similar to Rafe’s big reveal in the first book, and it opens up a more serious side to this otherwise comedic series. I actually think I would have liked to see more time spent on the implications of the new information Georgia learns about herself and her family, and I am hoping the issue might resurface again in later books narrated by Rafe.
Though this book is the weakest of the middle school series so far, I still think it makes for much better reading than any of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Patterson understands the psychology and behavior of kids (and teachers) in American middle schools, and he reflects that experience accurately, even in the story’s most far-fetched moments. There are a few too many plugs for the earlier books of the series, and I did find myself missing Rafe’s voice, but overall, this is still a book I’d recommend to readers preparing to enter - or trying to survive - their own middle school years.