Best Student Book Review Ever

This book, a gift from my friend and the author Nancy Bo Flood, arrived in the mail last week. It's a signed advanced release copy of her new middle-grade (and up) novel, Warriors in the Crossfire, about two friends -- one native, the other Japanese -- on Saipan during the final days of World War II. I had read the novel in draft form and was proud to have the ARC in my hands.

I dove right into Warriors that night, then took it to school with me the next day to show my students and to continue reading after lunch during our daily silent-reading time. Toward the end of the school day, a serious boy quietly asked me if I had any extra homework for him that night.

No student has ever asked me that. I was not prepared. I hated to give him a TAKS editing practice sheet. He makes perfect scores on those, and they're boring. Then I had an idea. This boy devours books and goes to the library at least three mornings a week for new ones. He recently had written a chilling, somewhat disturbing (but riveting and fairly well-written) essay about a haunted house he had lived in. He could handle the reading level and subject matter of Warriors. I picked up my prized ARC and said, "I have a book for you to read. My friend wrote it, and I am enjoying it, but I'd really like to see what a 10-year-old boy thinks of it."

He nodded. "I can do that."

I handed him the book. "Maybe you could write me a note about what you think about the book, kind of a little book review -- whether you like it or not."

"I have paper at home," he said. (He seemed proud of this. Not all my students have school supplies at home.) He took it right back to his seat and started reading. Five minutes later, we made eye contact and he gave me a thumbs-up. "I like it so far," he said.

He apparently did like it, because he finished the whole thing that night. The next morning, he pulled it out of his backpack as he walked through my door. The book of course had some wear and tear from from being handled and read by a 10 year old. I was fine with that (though I would not lend an ARC to just any student).

"It was really good," he said, eyes shining. "It took me longer to read than most of my books."

He opened the book. "Here. I wrote about it in the front."

Oh, dear, I thought. Maybe he just inserted the his piece of paper into the front.

But no. He proudly showed me his review, inscribed boldly on the title page:

I exclaimed my appreciation and said I would let the author know how much he liked it. So, Nancy, here's your first in-book student review!

This only makes my ARC of Warriors more valuable. To me.