Down with the Dance

Down with the Dance

by C. T. Walsh

Nerdy Austin just wants to survive middle school. Unfortunately, with his popular older brother in his grade and a new principal who has marked him as a troublemaker, surviving is easier said than done. When the Halloween dance is put in jeopardy--more than once--Austin starts to take matters into his own hands to save his school year.

I enjoyed this story, finding it perfect for middle grade readers and even found myself laughing at times. However, this book is poorly edited, full of many typographical errors that make it difficult to read. Additionally, there were some scenes that were split between chapters or scene break characters, while other times scenes flowed from one to another when symbols or chapter breaks should have been used.

I was also not thrilled with the constant changing of tense and voice, although it did at least make the narrator feel as if he were speaking directly to me. I also felt that, although this book was supposed to be a story about middle school students, the characters in the illustrations looked like college athletes.

As much as I enjoyed the story, there were times where information felt contradictory. For example, at one point, Austin is speaking to his science teacher and says the older man should grow a beard. The teacher agrees with him and at the end of the scene says something about Austin seeing him clean-shaven in the morning. I found inconsistencies such as this in several places, although the one stuck out the most.

Overall, however, I did find this story humorous and will recommend it to my middle-grade readers. I would rate this story three quills and place it on my bottom shelf.