Saving Mr. Terupt

Holy Guacamole!! What a rollercoaster of a story and I thought the other two were crazy. As the gang enters middle school, they are faced with even more twists and turns than they ever thought possible. They aren't in one class altogether any more. Navigating middle school with different classes, different teachers, bullies, high schoolers, cliques, and wavering friendships seems like too much to handle. But of course, there is always something else around the corner. I love that the gang keeps up their relationship with Mr. Terupt even after they are in another building and I love the relationship they create with Mr. Terupt's current class of students. Just like the first two books, Buyea continues to tell the story alternating between characters. In this book, we continue to see the novel evolve from one character to the next but we also get a deeper glimpse into each other their own individual lives. In this book, we see a lot of campaigns, very similar to their projects when in Mr. Terupt's class the years before. As he tells them, "Hard times like these make you better...as long as you have the right attitude about things" and "you can lose the battle but still win the war." When it seems like they may actually lose their favorite teacher forever, they rally again to win the war even if they lose some battles along the way. Another phenomenal story! I really like that Buyea included some more serious topics in this novel. With Danielle's diabetes and Lexie's mom's breast cancer, readers get to see that some issues can be fixed with a project and friends and others are a little more serious. But Buyea goes about this in a way that is easy for younger readers to understand and relate to. I really wasn't sure if this one was going to have a happy ending. Each chapter seemed to end suspiciously. There was clearly more to come but it was always so vague at each chapter's end. Probably another reason why this one seemed to go quicker than the rest. You want to know what is going to happen. And I actually do like that the group had a bit of a falling out. This is something that can happen in real life too and I think it is important for readers to see that you can have arguments or fights and still find a way to come back together. If a friendship is meant to be, it will withstand the storm. It may just need a break to figure itself out first. I love that Terupt is going to be at the high school and I can't wait to see what that looks like for the gang