If I Ever Get Out Of Here, by Eric Gansworth

 Another OBOB book for the current season, If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gansworth is a book I can't decide whether to love or hate. I think I feel both.

I'm sure I've read this before, and I really hated to read it again with so many other good books waiting for me.  But much of it didn't feel like a repeat, so maybe I didn't, which I love. This story involved bullying, which I hate (the bullying, not the story). The bully didn't always get what he deserved, which is the real world, which I hate. The story spent a lot of time at middle school, and the adults there didn't do much of anything to help the main character, Lewis, with the bully, which I hate. As the pug of a teacher, I know teachers work very hard to watch out for every young person, which I love. But they don't see everything, which I hate. Kids can be cruel, which I hate. And kids can be amazing, caring and helpful, which I love. The story involves how Native Americans have, and are, treated in the United States, much of which I hate. It also involves the differences between people who have financial means to live comfortably, and others who don't. Living in the richest country in the world, I hate that divide existing. I didn't like - but didn't really hate - how sarcastic Lewis could be in this book. But I understood why he might be that way, which I hate. Lewis, in all, is wonderful, and I loved his character. His friend George is also wonderful, and I loved him, too. Everyone is so...human in this story.

This is one that may stay on your mind for a while...4 paws for that!