Happy New Year! Thank you for supporting our site. Today is a special day for one of our own, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. Today, her novel, 8th Grade Superzero (Arthur A. Levine, 2010), debuts. Yeah! Woohoo! Already, it’s winning accolades.
Check out the starred review in Publisher’s Weekly:
“Rhuday-Perkovich delivers a masterful debut, telling a layered middle-school tale filled with characters who are delightfully flawed and, more importantly, striving to overcome those flaws. Reggie McKnight has been saddled with the nickname “Pukey” thanks to a disastrous incident on the first day of school. Attempting to get through the rest of the year unnoticed, he spends his time with his best friends, political activist Ruthie (who shares Reggie’s Jamaican background) and aspiring rapper Joe C. While working on a project at a homeless shelter with his church’s youth group, he becomes increasingly interested and involved in the community, leading to his participation in his school’s presidential race, first as an adviser to a classmate, eventually as a candidate. Rhuday-Perkovich doesn’t take shortcuts, forcing Reggie to deal with a world in which he doesn’t always get the answers or successes he wants, and the book shines as a result. Messages of social justice—whether through church projects, parental discussions, or recognition of racial biases among his friends—complement the story and characters, rather than upstage them.”
You can enter to win a copy here
You can fan 8th Grade Superzero on FaceBook here
To find out more, please visit Olugbemisola at www.olugbemisola.com.
I can’t wait to read this book! Congrats to Gbemi, and happy new year to everybody…
Fantastic. Been looking forward to this. Congrats, Olugbemisola!
Thanks so much, BBS family and all! I appreciate the support.
So exciting! I can’t wait to read this book!
Yay!!! Release days are the best.
Congrats! I got my copy, can’t wait to dig in.
I’m so excited for 8th Grade Super Zero and its Super Author! 😀
I finished right before the big Scholastic shindig at World Trade Center – nice work, Olugbemisola! What great characters… I think I like Ruthie best. Congratulations once again!
I just began reading Olugbemisola’s book and only 1 chapter in and I’m already so excited about this story and the characters. What voice! Great laugh out loud moments. The characters are right on – vivid and real. I’m hurrying home to keep reading!