Very cute story. Told from the main character, a boy with a learning disability. I think students could learn a lot from in on how to treat others. I learned a lot from it as well. Hearing his interpretation of things his teachers and parents said and did was very insightful. A good reminder that all children are special. A little easy for 7th graders, but good for 3rd-6th. ( )

Children's fiction/realistic fiction. Albie struggles in school and is picked on by his classmates (incidentally, he's also half-Korean and has a Kazakh friend, but the book is not about diversity). He may not be the smartest boy, but he does know about kindness, and fortunately he has several people who care about him. #everydaydiversity ( )

Albie is like so many kids in our society today, there are many who will identify with this rather quirky character. ( )

Albie is almost everything, but not quite the best at anything. He’s not all that smart, but he can’t blame his bad grades on a learning disability. He isn’t particularly good at chess, like his friend Erlan, nor does he excel at sports or art. No matter how much he studies, he can’t seem to get more than three or four words right on his spelling test.

Even though he struggles to live up to his parents’ strict expectations and gets bullied at his new school, Albie’s fifth grade year is full of new people who encourage him to be fully Albie. An artsy nanny, a girl at school who hardly ever speaks, a best friend whose family stars in a reality show, the owner of a coffee shop, a corny math teacher, and sometimes his own parents…all of them see and love Albie for who he is, even if he’s still trying to figure out who that might be.

It may not sound like much of a story, but this is a really good book. I’m keeping an eye on it for the Newbery.

Grownup portion of review:

The more I think about this book, the more I like it. I've just added a star to my rating after writing the kids' review, in fact.

With Albie as narrator, Graff has circumscribed all the kids who aren't remarkable enough to find themselves in those other books, the ones about supernatural courage or intense tragedy or outrageous talent or inspirational overcoming of a disability. Albie is just regular, maybe a little less smart than the average fifth grader.

But his mother, despite her sometimes oppressive expectations, reminds Albie who he is when she tucks him in: "You are thoughtful and caring and good." And that's Albie's superpower, as it turns out.

This is nothing to sneeze at. In a culture in which kids must be outstanding at something, no matter how inane that something is (case in point: Honey Boo Boo is the best at being a fat smart-ass, and America loves her, and she's rich and famous), Albie gives readers permission to stop clawing for greatness and to be kind above all. Kind above special. (There is a touching moment when Albie's mom fights disappointment over a letter indicating he does not have dyslexia; she was hoping for a special disability to explain away his unremarkable school performance.) Kind above cool. (In a funny but gut-wrenching subplot, the school bully brings Albie into his clique, hoping to get to Albie's TV-famous friend Erlan. Completely oblivious, Albie thinks he has become cool and tries his best to help his outcast friend Betsy be cool as well so that they can still eat lunch together. Outcome? Sorry, no spoilers here.) Kind above skilled. Above smart. Above pretentious. Above first.

One of the most subtle and beautiful aspects of Albie is that he is kind to his parents, looking past their imperfect parenting to see that they are doing the best they can.

Adults (oh yeah, and kids, too) have plenty to learn from Albie's absolute almost-ness. ( )

Recommended for 3-5 graders. ( )