“A bright red plastic chair sat in the hallway outside the door of the principal’s office.”

From Andrew Clements’ The Losers Club.

There is nothing that Alec loves more than reading and he spends every spare moment (and some not-so-free time) diving into a good book. However, when he is sent to the principal’s office on the first day of sixth grade for reading, Alec is horrified to hear that he’ll be sent to summer school if he doesn’t stop reading in class. Alec resolves to not read in class, hoping that he’ll be able to catch up on his reading during the extended day program he’ll be in every day while his parents finish work. Things go well after school until Alec is informed that he has to either join a club, play sports, or do his homework, so Alec decides to start a reading club for himself: the Losers Club. When he promises a silent time to read, Alec gets fellow book lover Nina to be the club’s co-leader and they expect to be the club’s only members, but they’re surprised to find that their club slowly begins to grow with readers from all types of backgrounds. Things seem to be going well for Alec at school with the exception of friend-turned-bully Kent that seems jealous of Alec’s closeness to the smart and funny Nina. While Alec struggles with deciding what being a bookworm in the Losers Club really means, Alec starts to discover that life outside his books can be more interesting than he ever realized.

Clements creates a story that will easily captivate young readers, but it will bring extra excitement for anyone that loves to read. The main character is engaging and the story is interesting, especially when tidbits from other classic stories are included. The Losers Club is a quick read that will keep young readers glued to the story from start to finish.