Review of the Sixth Grade Nick-namers (by Gordon Korman)

I read this book last night when I got home after class.  It's one of his books aimed at elementary school kids, so I wasn't expecting much.  I hadn't read a book of his since middle school, I think, so I was worried that he wouldn't be funny to me anymore.  He was.  It was just like I remembered.  I actually laughed out loud a little, several times.  I think he's just a flat-out funny person who knows how to communicate his jokes only using text really well.  I can't put it into words very well, but he creates scenes so well that they seem to have good comedic timing and tone of voice, even though it's only text.  The message of the book was pretty obvious (people become what they are called).  I wonder if it would be to kids, though.  I thought that Korman would spell it out at the end of the book (and he did a little bit), but he mostly showed his message through the outcome of the story rather than just by having a character explain it.  I thought that was cool and probably more effective than just telling the message.  Also, he wasn't absolutist about it either.  The characters go back to their nicknaming ways and live life the way they always have.  It wasn't like nicknaming was shown to be pure evil and that we should never label anyone again.  I liked it because it seemed realistic and a lot more subtle than I was expecting for a kid's book.  Rating: 5/5