The Brand New Kid
Written by Katie Couric
Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Reviewed by Randy A (age 12)
This book is about a boy whose name is Lazlo. He is the brand new kid in a school and is picked on by many people and feels lonely until one of the popular girls in school feels sorry for him. She decided to play with him and she thought that he was a great person. The day he met the girl he showed off a bunch of tricks. The next day she was telling people that Lazlo was very fun to hang out with. The lesson to be learned is that even though you aren't popular you can still be a good influence on others.
I think this was a good book for many different reasons. One of the reasons is because Lazlo was scared to talk to anyone at first, then he became popular. Another reason is because he was a social outcast but was worthy of a good friendship.
My last reason I liked the story was that Lazlo stayed strong. My favorite part was when Ellie went to his house because she was nice enough to play with him. None of the other characters were my favorite because they were not enthusiastic. I didn't like the illustrations because they were putting Lazlo down. There was something unique in the story because a popular girl actually went to his house to play with him. This book is like a book that I've read The Pigman. It is about a new kid afraid to talk to anyone. I felt sorry for the kids in both books because they were picked on by everyone else. This story reminds me of myself when I came into a new school in the 6th grade.
I would really recommend this book to people who are new to a school and are depressed because they are being made fun of. I would recommend this book to those people because then they wouldn't be so insecure about themselves reading about what Lazlo did. They would be influenced by the way that the boy stayed strong.