How had I never heard of this book?

I don’t remember exactly where I first found out about it, possibly on Amazon where they recommend books based on previous purchases.  Which can sometimes be annoying, and can sometimes be handy.  It tends to be a wash.

Anyway, I bought it for my 9 year old, and after he read it, he claimed it was now his second-favorite book after the Harry Potter series, which is high praise indeed.  When asked how many stars he would give it out of ten, he offered fifteen.

So, just know that this book is about a group of boys led by Mac (whose real name is Christian) who runs a very specialized business out of the fourth stall in an abandoned school bathroom.  He and his best friend Vince are partners and trouble begins when an older boy begins attempting to take them down from the inside.

There is violence.  Kids get beat up.  Kids do all sorts of things that you would think an adult with half an attention span would notice.

But that doesn’t make this book any less fun, even for forty-year old me.

It reads slightly like a film noir, slightly like The Godfather, and something akin to The Body.

If you’ve got a reluctant middle school reader, this book might be an excellent solution to that problem.