Seventh-grade bully Kevin learns how the other half lives when a former victim finds his notebook of poems and reveals them to the other students. He's mocked for his interest in poetry, but things change when a kindly librarian encourages him to develop his literary talent. The verse-novel format smartly reveals Kevin's evolving personality and burgeoning poetic skills.

Twelve-year-old Kevin begins seventh grade by declaring himself the king and setting his sights on targets for his bullying and derision th classmate Robin taking the brunt of his abuse. In this novel in verse, Kevin's inner life is exposed through the poems he makes up about a teacher's mole, the abuse he suffers at the hands of his older brother, the frustration and isolation he feels as the son of two busy physicians (he is the youngest of five boys, aka "the baby/the accident"). When his notebook is stolen by Robin, the tables are turned and Kevin becomes the target. Holt manages to make her poetry-writing seventh-grade bully both believable and sympathetic, and his voice rings totally authentic. The sparse rhymes and occasional scratches and arrows drawn on the pages add a dimension of humor and pathos to what might otherwise be a run-of-the-mill morality tale about bullying. The ending, while tidy, should prove satisfying for readers.

Gr 4-7 Bullied by his older brother at home, seventh-grader Kevin in turn bullies his classmates at school. He's even found a clever way to do his bullying: transforming pages torn from library books to create humorous but cruel found poems. When another student (a previous victim of Kevin's bullying) finds Kevin's journal and learns that he is the creator of the poems, the tables are turned. Kevin must find a way to make peace with his victim-turned-aggressor. He finds an unlikely ally in the school librarian when he is assigned a detention shelving books. This slim verse novel is a quick read with a strong anti-bullying message, though readers who struggle with similar issues may find the solution a bit pat. The setting, topic, and format make this book ideal for classroom use during a poetry unit. Misti Tidman, Licking County Library, Newark, OH

This title provides a creative and unusual twist to the bully story. In this case, the bully becomes the bullied. Kevin goes out of his way to pick on others. He even uses "found" poetry by defacing books from the library to create poems that bully others. Those pages are torn out and posted around the school. The worst thing Kevin could think would happen to him would be to have others find out that he writes poetry in a private journal. When that private poetry, which reveals his vulnerable side, is obtained by one of Kevin's victims and held ransom, Kevin sees the bigger picture of what it feels like to be the victim of a bully at school. Readers learn that he already knows what it is like to be bullied at home.Written in verse, this book will appeal to many readers and will be approachable for reluctant readers. In addition to the novel-in-verse format are "found" poems that Kevin wrote as he found and created poetry within the pages of classic novels. Using creative formatting, pages featuring the found poems have the appearance of being torn from the actual book and added to the pages of this one. This could create reading and writing inspiration and educational tie-ins if used as springboards in classrooms or book study groups, as well as provide discussion points about bullying, bystanders, and standing up for yourself. Rhyme Schemer would be a great addition to tween and younger teen collections.Dianna Geers.