Fuzzy Mud ( Louis Sachar)

This is a great story! It mixes science, honesty, bullying and friendship into one suspenseful story. It has kids who are trying to be independent yet know it is important to listen to parents.

I would love to read this book aloud to students or do it as a novel study.

One reason I love J fiction is many of the truths of "kids" are actually quite eternal. A lot of adults still have the same issues they had as kids. Sometimes the peer pressure still exists and people try to look cool, like they did when they were in school. We are supposed to outgrow the need to look cool as adults, but we don't always.

This book has a bully in it. We learn that he is a bully mostly because he doesn't feel loved. 

P. 5 when did the rules change, she wondered. When did it become bad to be good?

The real strength comes in not worrying about the "cool factor". 

P. 6. Across the lunchroom, Marshakk sat admid a bunch of kids, all laughing and talking loudly. On one side of Marshakk sat one group. On his other side sat a different group. Between these two groups, Marshall silently ate alone.

Marshall is a good kid. Fear gets to him. Chad is a bully. Tamaya knows that if they will just be honest and good to each other, everything will be ok.

Goodreads summary: 

"Be careful. Your next step may be your last."

Fifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodbridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Wilson challenges Marshall to a fight. To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya reluctantly follows. They soon get lost, and they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined.

In the days and weeks that follow, the authorities and the U.S. Senate become involved, and what they uncover might affect the future of the world.