Jordan Sonnenblick

After being assigned to perform community service at a nursing home, sixteen-year-old Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.

Claire's life is a joke . . . but she's not laughing. While her friends seem to be leaping forward, she's dancing in the same place. The mean girls at school are living up to their mean name, and there's a boy, Ryder, who's just as bad, if not worse. And at home, nobody's really listening to her -- if anything, they seem to be more in on the joke than she is. Then into all of this (not-very-funny-to-Claire) comedy comes something intense and tragic...

An unbelievably hilarious middle-grade story inspired by true experiences from bestselling author Jordan Sonnenblick. In a typical school year, every kid has one or two things go wrong. But for Jordan, there's A LOT going wrong ALL THE TIME. By keeping his cool (some of the time), banging on the drums (a lot), and keeping his sense of humor (all the time), Jordan's going to try to make it through the year . . . and grow up to write a book about it!...

"Funny, outrageous things didn't stop for Jordan Sonnenblick after he left fourth grade. No, in many ways the events detailed to hilarious effect in The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell were but a prelude to sixth grade, a time when Jordan would have to deal with a rival named Jiminy (his real name is Jimmy -- but, hey, he looks like a cricket), a stickler English teacher who doesn't care that all the old, worn copies of Great Expectations smell like...