The Truth As Told By Mason Buttle, by Leslie Connor

Leslie Connor is the author of several books for young adults and teens, including Waiting for Normal, which I believe was an OBOB book a few years ago. I remember liking that story, but not so much that I could recall at this point what it was about. Mason Buttle, on the other hand, will be a character I will remember for a long time. This book has many elements to it, most of which would be memorable all by themselves. Mason Buttle is the main character, and with his name alone you just know he is going to get teased at school, right? So some parts of this story are easy to predict. What you won't guess from the title are the plethora of other elements...friendship, bullying, death, dogs (spoiler alert: the dog does not die!), family, being a teen, the awkwardness of being a teen, mystery, school, lacrosse, apples...Connor weaves a really good story here, told through Mason in a style that is very much his own, with all of the blood, sweat and tears that goes with the story. Hopefully I am making you curious about this book, enough to make you want to read it without really telling you anything about the details that will give anything away. This is a very good book, one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys realistic fiction, in the vein of Stargirl, Wonder, or Counting By 7s. Buttle is a half-step behind those stories only because the ending was a bit easy to predict early on, but this isn't lost on the excellent storytelling on Connor's part, so it is still well worth adding to your reading list for the year! 4.5 paws!