scrawl by mark shulman

Summary:  School bully Tod is in trouble, and his punishment is a month of after school detention with the guidance counselor.  Mrs. Woodrow insists that he fill several pages of a notebook everyday.  Tod insists he’s a loser, but his writing reveals something entirely different.

Thoughts:  Scrawl is a fresh, compelling narrative that pulled me in from the very first page.  Tod is not the stereotypical bully he seems to be; there are reasons he does what he does and things about his life he desperately wants to keep hidden.  Tod reminds the reader that things are not always as they appear and that we might be surprised by what we find when we are willing to dig deeper.  I LOVED this kid!  He is smart, funny & shrewd.  His distinctive voice just leaps off the page.  I felt like I knew him and really didn’t want to leave him behind when I closed the back cover.  I look forward to more from this first-time novelist.