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“When did you decide to be gay, Uncle Paul?“
“ Being gay isn't a decision. How you live your life is a decision.“

Great book about a young boy navigating through life.

Contemporary realistic. Newberry award medal book written by Richard Peck is about a young boy who is in two weddings. It talks about small town life, gay marriage, everyday heroes, and male role models. Written from the perspective of the main character it is a good, fun, lighthearted read.

Peer discussion done in class.

Relatable book for kids today, positive role models , and comedy

contemporary realistic fiction

Kristin‘s book

A book talking about growing up and become there for your biggest influences.

A coming of age story dealing with death, life, and role models. It is focused on positive male role models in a young males life. A good choice for middle school boys.

Review: The Best Man by Richard Peck, 2016, is a realistic fiction chapter book about a young sixth grade boy who gets to experience his uncle marry another man and his journey through it all.
Blurb: This book is a good example of realistic fiction because it sheds light on same sex marriage, which many students may be familiar with at home but don't get to see a lot of in their books.
Quote: ““You saved my butt“ I still tell her.“

“Dad, uncle paul, Mr.Mcleod, the three I wanted to be. And grandpa still there in our hearts, except for about a tablespoon of him in Wrigley field.“

I enjoy how the book brings puberty and changes to light. A lot of kids (including myself at that stage in life) never wanted to talk about all the changes we were undergoing which made things even more awkward. This is why people think back on middle school and cringe- because these kinds of topics aren't normalized for this age group.

Published in 2016, The Best man is a great read for those in the classroom who are able to understand more 'growing-up' topics. A great story of Archer who is transitioning into middle school, and has heavy male influences in his life. The book is written in a light manner and kind of like a diary/documenting style. Touches on important topics like same-sex marriage, puberty, and bullying.

A great book for 5/6-7/8 graders! It tackles puberty & family issues & so many things kids have to deal with these days. It definitely will make kids realize other people go through similar issues and be easy for children to relate to.

The Best Man by Richard Peck (contemporary fiction, published 2016) is a really good book! It‘s an easy read but portrays a lot of real problems for the targeted audience. It tackles puberty and transitioning to middle school and losing a family member and gay marriage and much more. But the way it is told makes everything lighthearted and it rings with humor.

A good book for some inspiration of who you want to be like and for 3-6th graders to read

Everyone has a role model they look up to in life. In this book, Archer has three role models he wants to grow to be, to be the best they can be. A fourth role model comes along and a surprise of being a best man in two of his role models weddings. People try to do there best in everything but given this opportunity, Archer can be the best man those whose who he finds to be the best role models. Genre: Realistic Fiction; Published: 2016

This bottom section is how I hope teachers respond to situations like this for their students. I hope there is anger but help provided for this kids and I hope justice is achieved.

I thought this little part was funny and a great way to make children laugh and draw them into the book before even reading!

Published in 2016, this realistic fiction book is packed with relatable moments of a young boy who is trying to figure out his way in life as he matures and grows older. It‘s a transition book in which children can relate to when they go from elementary to middle school. It also incorporates the controversial topic of sexuality and dealing with it in a school setting.

Thank you @Mommamanzi for the book! Can‘t wait to read it.

Just heard from a friend that Newbery Award winning author Richard Peck has passed away. He was a prolific author and, according to my friend who met him a couple years ago at BEA, a delightful man. The tagged book is a wonderful story about a boy in middle school, and all of that fun, who finds himself serving as best man for two of his role models at their wedding. A funny, heartfelt MG book I really enjoyed.

I bought this from Avid Bookshop after they were told to remove it from a school book fair, so they pulled out of the event. What a beautiful book. It's funny, touching, and beautiful in the simplicity of its message. That love is important, and worth celebrating. It's great to read a MG book with LGBT representation that's not about coming out. It's about getting to know the people in your life and looking up to them. I was completely charmed.

This wasn't bad, but it felt like it didn't really have any focus or a strong story arc. What the synopsis describes as the main narrative only happens in the last third of the book. And it never really had any conflict? I'm always happy to have more middle grade books with LGBTQ characters though! And solid audiobook performance.

Richard Peck is one of my favorite authors and I'm just tickled that he's written one of the most relevant and best reviewed lgbt books of late! Not bad for an octogenarian! I was thrown off by the modern suburb that reads suspiciously small town, like many of his previous books. But overall, great company on the Mass Pike. (Just don't tell my library I disassembled this copy pls!)

Not a huge fan of this one. The story reads like one long summary of someone's journal, but not in the fun, epistolary way. More in the "I can't remember all of the good bits but here's some stuff I guess" way. The time period also isn't real- book was praised for including social media, and yet it feels like 1950s white-washed America wherein the schools don't even take attendance electronically. Hard pass.

It's April 6th and I realized I hadn't put up my March Stats! My favorite goes to The Best Man- laugh out loud hilarious and witty throughout. Wires and Nerve comes at a close second because of sentimental reasons- It being Iko's story and is part of the Lunar Chronicles which I dearly miss and wish I could read for the first time again.

5 ⭐🎉! Great story, and very hilarious. ✅ Litsy A to Z Reading Challenge and ✅Litsy Reading Challenge 2017 📖

Loved this book! Preteen going through 5th and 6th grade finds out his uncle is dating his teacher. Super cute story. Loved his friend Lynette. #lgbtq #audiobook

Needed something to listen to this morning while getting some #exercise in. I had heard about this book already and a friend just finished it. Luckily my library had it available on audio. So far it's pretty good.

"The Best Man" deals with important topics - homosexuality, gender roles, bullying - and does fairly well. Unfortunately, the protagonist's voice is a little bit off. 12-year-olds don't typically say things like, "I can't turn on a dime." While the issues are modern & contemporary, the tone is not. I felt uneasy with the way most of the female characters are portrayed. There are some real nuggets of wisdom here, but it's a far-from-perfect work.

"We took our time. It was a great, dappled day."

#lifegoals #everydayliving

"'We all need goals,' he said. 'Here's one: Stay away from people who don't know who they are but want you to be just like them. People who'll want to label you. People who'll try to write their fears on your face.'"

The Best Man calls for the best doughnut.

I'm enjoying my journey into MG #audiobooks. Finishing up the last 5 minutes with my morning #coffee. #audiobook #currentlylistening #audiobooklistening

Wonderful. Touching. Good family story about a boy with a nonconformist family and his gay uncle.

This was really funny and sweet, but quite rambling and light on plot. It helps to know that the book is from the pov the 13 year old MC looking back at the previous 7 years, but I kept hoping for more of a build. Still, this is a really great, quick read by a master.

Finished The Best Man with my best man. Loved this middle grade story about Archer's adventure from elementary school to middle school. Strong family. Funny dialogue. An author who pokes fun of standardized testing, which I appreciated. And gay characters who were a seamless part of the story and not token characters. I did tear up a little at the end. Totally worth reading!

I laughed aloud. Boy, do I remember that.