The Brilliant World of Tom Gates - L. Pichon
Lots of children I've met have really loved these books. There's clearly a formula working for children's authors at the moment - a kid who's not super popular, but also not a total loser, annoying siblings, and some evil teachers.
Rating: 3.5 ish of out 5 stars. It was enjoyable, easy to read, but not super memorable - I'm not itching to read more of the Tom Gates books.
Age Suggestion: 7+ if they can read it!
Ability range: High readers in grades 1 or 2 could enjoy this, as well as readers grade 3 to 6. The hardest thing about it is it's length. This is longer than most other similar books (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, WeirDo etc.) The language is not overly complex, and there's nothing inappropriate.
Content notes: It's as silly as you would expect for a kids novel filled with drawings, annoying sisters and mean teachers. However there's not really even any toilet humour! The worst you get is a female teacher with a moustache!
This is a great choice if you've got a reluctant reader, one who would like to read longer chapter books but doesn't necessarily have the ability to cope with 200+ pages normally, or just a kid who likes a story about a kid who'd rather draw than focus in class (I've taught plenty of them!).
If your library doesn't have one, it's definitely worth a buy!