As a teenager, I can relate to almost all of the fiction in this book. Every story provides at least one bit of comedy. I recommend this book to anyone purchasing a gift for a teenager.

Do you know a teen who would like to be a writer? Or do you have ambitions to write? I highly recommend this book for both groups, as well as for young adults who just love short story collections. The first story about a high school fencer, by Jerry Lubar, was my favorite. It appeals to that part in all of us that loves to root for the underdog, and see him come out on top. It's also delightfully funny! It reminded me very much of Chris Crutcher's writing. Not all of the stories are as strong as Lubar's, but I love the collection anyway. Each story is prefaced by a note from the author, telling what inspired the author to write THIS particular story. It helps budding authors to see where writers get their ideas and, perhaps more interesting, WHY they get their ideas. It also shows the aspiring writer that there are many different ways to tell a story - whether in a straight forward format (most of the stories), a prose poem interview (Mel Glenn's Kids in the Mall), or an unconventional nursery rhyme (John Scieszka's Thirteen Diddles). The prefaces also allow the reader to see the authors as real live once-upon-a-teen people, who just happened to grow up and make their living by writing. A word of warning, however - THIS IS NOT, as a previous reviewer said, a book for the Harry Potter lover. I love the Rowling books, but this is not designed to serve the reader in the same way. Don't buy it thinking that it is similar in any way to the Potter books. Do buy it if you are intrigued by the process of writing, if you like short stories, or if you enjoy learning about how authors work their magic on readers.

Thirteen authors of books aimed at adolescents contributed a story based on a true event in their lives when they were in school or, as in one case, observing students as an adult. The tales center on showing how the writers get an idea for a story based on an experience even if that incident(s) is turned into something supernatural or science fiction in nature.

The well-written stories are clearly designed for the younger reader. This collection would make a wonderful follow-up to fans of Harry Potter (the most influential books in many years by virtue of bringing literature to youngsters). This anthology provides a writer's focus within interesting stories to that same Potter age group. Along with the Weiss' previous book (see the award winning FROM ONE EXPERIENCE TO ANOTHER), young readers will gain another perspective on the non-programming written word.

I loved the book Dunk by David Lubar. It was an exciting story about a boy named Chad and what he did over his summer. It tells about how he wanted to be a Bozo at a dunk tank. When he asked about a job at the tank the owner said yes and Chad was happy. When he got there he found out that he wasn't getting to work as a Bozo but as a ball boy. This wasn't the end of his problems. His friend got very sick and the girl he liked started going out with someone else. But that isn't all. Read this book and see what happens to Chad and his friends.

This is a nice little book, containing several hundred little anecdotes, pearls of wit and wisdom, off-the-mark predictions, bad advice, put-downs and even the odd word of praise all about our favourite topic of computers!

The quotes are from many and varied, from the likes of Steve Jobs,one of the founders of Apple, and Arlan Levitan, an American computer journalist, to such as George Bush and Woody Allen. Having grown up with a Vic-20 and then a Commodore-64 I was pleasantly surprised to find Jim Butterfield mentioned more than once.

Obviously the odd Americanism will occur in the form of jargon or wordplay. For example, the back page proclaims that the author "has written numerous articles and video games. He's still waiting for them to write back."

In short, however, I found this to be a warm and enjoyable collection of quotes. Anyone looking for a joke book with pages of hilarity will not find it here, but anyone who would like acollection of entertaining comments, many quite thought-provoking, will be well catered for. Let me leave you with the salesperson who when asked if he had any 486 computers in stock responded, "No, I think the cheapest computer we carry costs about ....."

This is one of the most read chapter books in my second grade class. I had one boy who kept a copy on his desk for over half the year...reading and rereading it! It's worth reading/sharing this book with your kids, as Ned and Kevin will take them on a zany/scary ride! FUN!

I am using your text this summer and fall with teachers/graduate students. I would appreciate any material, text banks, or others that you can send me. I also need some suggestions as to how you think one would utilize this text during the short summer sessions. I will comment on the text after I have used it with my graduate students summer session II. Mail any materials to P.O. Box 1074, Indianola, Mississippi 38751. I am a Mac user. Rhoda Thanks for your help.

Psychozone is a masterful work of shorts by David Lubar. He has a unique ability to captivate you with some spine tingling/thought provoking and tense stuff, but at the same time he doesn't get gory. Then...BAM..he "O Henry's" you! There is one short in this book that will wow any reader..it's about a tiny fairy....read it...buy it!

Okay. It happened to Splat. And his sister, Angie. How many more kids can get "monsterized" in one neighborhood? One more apparently. It started with a walk in the woods and ends up with an overly fuzzy kid who finds himself howling at the moon. There's a way Norman can get back to his old self. But there are two problomes: He kind of likes being a wolf; and there's only a few more days until the next full moon....

Mercer is an ordinary boy, having fun, and letting his imagination go wild. But what happens when Ed, writer of "(h)E(a)D Lines" and Mercer's partner in geography class, figures out about Mercer's favorite wacky game, and what it's about? Then Ed thinks of an idea to end this game of so-called "madness." He decides to write negative comments about the game in the Cryer, the paper that everyone reads. Can Mercer think of a plan to make them understand? While he struggles with yet another problem? Or will his favorite activity lead to a disaster?

David Lubar lets his imagination fly free, just like his main character, Mercer. He made all of the facts seem exciting, though some were not quite tied up. But when I reached the end, all the bumps in my understanding smoothed and settled. David Lubar has a simple understanding of a child's desire for humor. He'll do anything to simplify the plot of the book. Yet nothing is perfect -- he has Mercer express his feelings by using bad language occasionally. I think the book could have lived without it. But David Lubar does have a wonderful book, in which he seems to express not just Mercer's mind, but also his own.

"They say that Cain caught Abel rollin' loaded dice
Ace of Spades behind his ear and him not thinkin' twice..."
--Grateful Dead

"What was wrong with these people? Did I go to their church and tell them which songs they could sing? What gave them the right to tell me which games I could play?"

Mercer is a kid who is seriously into Wizards of the Warrior World, one of those popular role-playing games. He's got a bookshelf full of spell casting books, chats for hours about it on message boards, and plays with his friends during study hall and on weekends. He comes up with a great plan to hold a gaming convention as the school's annual fundraiser, until all hell breaks loose when another student writes a newspaper article about the demonic qualities of the game and what it is doing to corrupt the participants.

"Well, you got trouble my friends..."
--Professor Harold Hill

In the hands of a lesser writer, this might have been just another somber, confrontational kids versus adults tale (à la Footloose), but when the four REAL--and really down on their luck--wizards show up (they hang out down at the soup kitchen that was to be the beneficiary before the fundraiser got nixed by the school board), things take a turn for the absurd.

(You might even say this book is "out of this world.")

" 'I destroy wall,' Tortwaller said, thumping himself on the chest. 'Turn bricks to water.' He started to wail and roll his head from side to side.

" 'That spell take forever. One hour each brick,' Nelda said. 'Don't be such a nickel head. We grow old, you grow dizzy, hole still not big enough.' "

There are some great topics for discussion--WIZARDS OF THE GAME will make a GREAT read for book groups--yet those issues never once get in the way of the fun and the excitement.

David Lubar, the former designer and programmer of popular video games, stirs magic, imagination, school board politics, and the First Amendment together into a potion that will turn middle school readers and players into David Lubar fans--as quick as you can say, "Albóndigas!"

Richie Partington...

Hidden Talents is a young adult novel about boys who have been sent to Edgeview, an alternative school for young boys who have been expelled from every other school they've attended. The main protagonist, Martin Anderson, is thirteen and has a habit of talking back to adults, always seeming to know just what to say to hurt the most. This school is his last chance in his state's educational system, and he is not happy to be there. As he makes friends with some of the other boys he discovers that they have supernatural talents.
Most young people will probably enjoy this book very much. It deals with subjects they are familiar with and that matter to them, such as bullies, difficult teachers, being misunderstood, and being forced into circumstances they have little or no control over. There is some violence and some grossness (a gassy student, for example). The novel is a quick, easy read and contains interesting little sidelights, such as transcripts of conversations and copies of letters and memos, which show what is going on unbeknownst to the first-person narrator.
However, in my opinion as an adult, the book contains some important flaws. The characters are not very well developed, and in many ways are the cliched misunderstood teens you find in many young adult novels. I also didn't find any of the characters very likable, even the misunderstood "good" boys. The teachers were stereotypically awful, except for the science teacher.
And the plot was too simplistic. I found it difficult to believe that boys with uncontrolled psychic powers would simply be shipped off to an alternative school without anyone ever suspecting the truth about any of them. And once they became aware of their powers they seemed too unwilling to use the power for their own gains.
I wouldn't prevent any young person from reading this book; as I say, they will probably relate to many of the characters and issues raised here, and the ending is hopeful and intelligent. But I also wouldn't recommend it; I have read much better young adult novels.

I really liked this book because of the psychic elements in it. It's a very original concept. Martin gets sent to the end of the line, and along with other social dropout kids, discovers that he has mental powers. The most intriguing part of it is that these powers are the things that got them kicked out of all the schools in the first place. Little by little, their powers start to emerge, in a very clever way. I recommend this book because it really makes you think.

Hidden Talents is by far the best book I have read. (And I've read plenty!) This book is so great because the chapters never end, they always keep you on the edge of your seat so you want to go straight to the next chapter. I liked it mainly because it was about kids who had special powers but didn't know it. I read this book in school and I just couldn't put it down. I read it twice before the teacher finished-it's that good! This is a book that you would definitely want to add to your bookshelf to read again and again and again! I hope they make this into a movie!