That's Life, Samara Brooks

Gr 5–8—Samara Brooks, an adopted 13-year-old, has no friends at school. As a way to meet new people, she sets up a gambling table in the school cafeteria. Inadvertently, she not only creates gambling problems for some students, but her actions lead to vandalism, police chases, questions about whether a Christian God or aliens created life on Earth, questionable parenting, aggressive newspaper reporters, school safety issues, and friendship. Daniel Ehrenhaft's strange novel (Delacorte, 2010) covers so many topics that it becomes bewildering. About halfway through, it suddenly takes a science fiction tone that was wholly undeveloped up to that point. Jessica Almasy voices Samara as a quirky, enthusiastic, curious narrator with frequent pauses between words for emphasis. While this works well for Samara, it isn't as successful in the chapters narrated by her friends Lily and Nathan. The fast-moving plot might attract reluctant readers who need lots of stimulation.—B. Allison Gray, Santa Barbara Public Library, CA