Reformed, written by Justin Weinberger, reviewed by Todd Erickson

Summary: Ian Hart and three friends get into some trouble when the feed a peanut butter sandwich to a kid who's allergic. They will not be allowed to enter middle school with their classmates unless they spend the summer in Bully Reform School. If they manage to failout, they are sent off to Children's Village - a reform school for hopeless delinquents. Ian isn't so much a bully as a follower, and as he meets other real bullies, he needs to confront what it is he wants to be known for and who he wants to be. He has some hard choices to make in this funny, irreverent story about a kid confronting the voice in his head and his peers.

Straight Talk for Librarians: This is a funny and lighthearted story for 5th and 6th graders who might be in the middle of making some important life decisions about how they might want to present to their peer group. Do they want to be a follower or a leader? And what kind of friends do they want to hang out with. Ian is not a leader, and that's what gets him into trouble. He mostly goes along to get along, and ultimately he ends up paying a price for that. For being a bully reform school, none of the bullies are too over the top. It's mostly just a humorous take on middle school. There are a lot of characters and they all appear to be white, so sometimes it's difficult to follow along, but the message is sincere without being too preachy or obvious.