The first I read this book, it was not something that I really enjoyed. It was too flat, feels a little dragging, and although the mystery makes it curious, it wasn't quite enough to pull me into fully immersing myself in it.

After quite some time, I tried reading it again. By some miracle, I actually changed how I looked at it. Although it feels a little too flat (still), I think the story picks up later on in the book. The characters are all well-rounded—it might be because they are far too specific a character than any typical book would have. Additionally, the main message of the book is truly mesmerizing. More than it is a children's book, it is a book that many adult should read.

Plenty of times kids can be oblivious of their surrounding and the feelings of other people. They can be brutally honest, but that confides within the naivety of being young. People step at a certain age when they know that what they do is morally and ethically right, and they still do not apply the idea that this book wants to share—despite having the capability and knowledge of the concept.

Overall, this book is a beautiful read. It was fantastic and it serves well the purpose of telling us not only a story, but a lesson that we must all engrave in our hearts.

Succeeds in its attempt to reinterpret themes from The Breakfast Club for a younger audience. The point is to see past the labels we put on people. To know that everyone is fighting unseen battles. Kids from different cliques can and should get to know each other better.

I am a huge fan of Dana Alison Levy. She writes fun and interesting stories and characters. Her middle grade fiction books circulate well at my library and I know this one will as well.

Breakfast Club meets school mystery. A disparate group of middle schoolers realize they don't know much about each other as they are forced to work through which of them committed an act of bullying. My expectations were pretty low but Levy blew me away. While the resolution is exactly what you might expect, the journey is worth it.

This contemporary mystery book has a good concept that sometimes borrows too heavily on source material. It has some good moments but the similarities to Breakfast Club run way to close at times to be a nice homage and feels more like an okay knockoff.

It wasn't me involves a story of the geek who gets his photos ruined and 5 likely suspects and him being put into school during spring break I believe. I am not sure how many schools would force kids to go to school during their usual vacation. In fact, I don't think they can unless they are in juvenile hall.

The suspects are the overachiever Molly Claremont (yes just like Molly Ringwald), Andre Hall (brainy kid- Anthony MichaelHall), Erik Esrale (the jock- Emilio Estevez), Alice Shu (Ally Sheedy-outcast), Theo (brainy kid), and Jax Fletcher(rebel- Judd Nelson). Even the names of these characters run a little to close to actors counterparts in movie.

The Teacher, Ms. Lewiston comes up with a Justice Circle idea to have the students talk about what happened. The whole idea is to try to get to reason why Theos photos were destroyed and to get these students to understand their peers problems and issues. It has a good premise and I enjoyed many of the interactions. The book had some very cliche ideas of students though and was often to similar to Breakfast Club.






I liked the book and recommend it to young teens as they may not be familiar with Breakfast Club, and will enjoy the dynamics the author brings out.


EXCERPT:
Compared with this detention, a little pain and blood loss seems like a reasonable option.
Sorry, not detention. Justice Circle, which sounds like we should light candles and do that wierd ommmm breathing my mom does in yoga. But no, we're in a room with fluorescent lights, two-tone brown tile floor, and the unmistakable smell of that baked ziti/chicken patty/pizza mix. I swear the whole school smells like those three foods, even if the cafeteria hasn't served them in weeks. Who knows why? Who knows why anything happens in this place? Certainly not me. And if we're going to point the stern finger of blame for this whole thing, it should go right....to...Ms. Lewiston

My review appeared in the October 1, 2018, issue of Booklist Magazine (American Library Association):

Having to go to school over break stinks, but circumstantial evidence surrounding vandalism brings six unhappy seventh-graders together for a justice circle facilitated by a favorite teacher. Like The Breakfast Club, each student carries a label by which they are automatically judged (the nerd, the princess, the jock, the weirdo, the screw-up), and this experimental gathering seeks to discover not only who destroyed Theo’s photographs but why. Despite a slow start, the story becomes as much a whodunit as an examination of judging others based on assumptions. Each day, the five possible perps fill out a questionnaire, offering readers a glimpse into the characters’ personalities and thin layers of clues. Meanwhile, the six learn about each other’s backgrounds, passions, and commonalities, leading to surprising results. Told primarily via Theo’s first-person narrative, readers join him as he discovers what happened and feel his ever-changing emotions about the events. Plenty of laughs and loads of interesting introspection help drive the story. Fans of Levy’s Family Fletcher books will love that Jax is one of the suspects.—Jeanne Fredriksen

An eye-opening book that tells 'There is always more to the story than meets the eye."

When you are bullied, not once but thrice, then you have to sit in a room of suspected students who might have bullied you, will you do it?

If you love a little mystery, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading It Wasn't Me. The plot is actually simple. It is about a group of students who were involved in a vandalism incident. Each one of them was asked to spend the vacation week together to get to know the "truth." The book is told through Theo's POV. Even though the story is quite simple, it didn't stop me from guessing who the perpetrator was.

I like the internal conflicts that the characters had faced in this story. Also, it includes a lot of tough important questions about the 'labels' we put into each other. The author brilliantly did writing sensitive issues with the heart, humor, and youth's voice. Levy also did a great job providing each character's backstory which some people can relate to.

Overall, It Wasn't Me is a sweet, heartwarming book that teaches its readers to be kind for everyone has unseen battles.

I really enjoyed this book. A lot of that has to do with the obvious influence of the movie The Breakfast Club, but a lot has to do with the writing, which felt real and true. It's been quite a while since I was the age of the kids in the book, but some things don't really change. I remember those feels ( though we didn't call them "feels" back then). I wasn't familiar with the idea of restorative justice before, but I like the concept, and it does seem like something that would be helpful in schools. The mystery of who was responsible for vandalizing the photographs was well played- some clues were more obvious than others, some didn't mean what I thought they meant, and by the end I had it all figured out. Except I didn't. I did get a small bit of it right, but a lot of it was a surprise. Again, well played, Ms. Levy! Things wrapped up nicely, but not too neatly, which made it feel real. It was a hopeful ending as well, which left me feeling Monday morning, things would be okay. A good reminder that we are all more than what we seem.

I really enjoy Dana Alison Levy's work and I liked this one as well. It took me a little while to figure out all the characters, but in the end, I was able to keep them straight. The ending surprised me which I really enjoyed because I definitely was expecting it to go in a specific direction. I'd pair this with Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson for a pair of books about getting to know people before you judge them.

Justice Circle - 5 people, 1 victim, and a revelation of the truth.

The time when I read the synopsis I was intrigued by the stories. Another mysteries needed to solve that involve with 5 middle school kids that were on the scene of the destruction - I mean, the photographs that have been vandalized - happened and they have been called by the teacher who decided to create a Justice Circle to find the truth of what actually happened to the photographs and the boy - Theo, who his photograph has been vandalized is also joined the group.

The story starts off slow and I have been quite struggling to get connected with the stories also the characters and try to understand what has happened and why, however, after I get to follow the pace of the stories I get curious with the people in the group, "are they really did something to Theo's photo? Are they really guilty? It seems that they are all innocence, maybe they cover for someone else wrongdoings?". All those thoughts keep on bugging me and the way, Ms. Lewiston approach these kids is incredible that they slowly open up about themselves and surprisingly, they all get along with each other which that is seriously an amazing thing to see. These kids thought they know each other as they have been a schoolmate for 7 years, however, they discover they do not really know each other. Thus, Justice Circle is definitely a great idea and concept to approach these kids to speak up and be brave to speak the truth and to get to each other a little bit better.

"BE KIND, FOR EVERYONE IS FIGHTING UNSEEN BATTLES."
The premise of this story is very promising to seek the truth and way to approach these kids to speak the truth. I love the premise and concept of this story and the message that want to reach to the readers. When the truth finally prevails, all the tension, burden and mysteries finally lift up, they get to laugh, share jokes to each other and would want to be each other friends not only in the Justice Circle but outside of the group as well. Despite that, I would want to know what happened to those three kids (not from the Justice Circle) who vandalized the photographs, at least maybe, admit to it and apologize to Theo.

It was really a good time reading this book. The mystery, suspense and I did felt stress when nobody said the truth but in the end, it was all good.

I really liked this book. It felt like the perfect book club book for 4th to 6th graders. Without being too preachy it shows that no one is only what you see on the surface. Everyone made some assumptions and were proved wrong. There were some dramatic reveals and some not do dramatic reveals, but they all worked together. I really appreciated that there were adults all along the spectrum of understanding to clueless. Yes some were a bit singld dimensional, but it wasn't their story.

Fun book that brought in many great characters. I made lots of connecti9ns to other books and movies as I read it. However, it was also unique in its own way.

Mysteries tend to capture my attention, and this book was no different, especially since everyone seemed guilty.

The book is about Theo, who's photos were vandalized twice at school. The principal agrees to let a teacher try a Justice Circle over a week-long school break to find out what happened instead of automatically suspending everyone who may have been involved. The book takes place during the time spent in the Justice Circle. Each day of the week little pieces of information are given about each of the characters, making it difficult to figure out what really happen.

I liked that the characters had some depth to them. None of them were as clear cut as they seemed on the surface. They all had things in their personal lives that they didn't want the others to know about. These secrets created some distrust and confusion as to what really happened.

The ending was slightly predictable, but at the same time, I was surprised. There were mixed emotions when I finished the book. All in all, it was a good YA read.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Author: Dana Alison Levy
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 13 Nov 2018

This book does start off a little slow, but once you get into it, it becomes quite the delightful read. All of the characters are pretty well fleshed out, have authentic voices and were fun to spend time with. The Breakfast Club references may be missed by many middle schoolers, but this story will still resonate with many.

The bulk of the book is told through Theo’s point of view, although we hear from the others through what they write on their daily assessments that ask questions about the incident that brought them there and how they feel about it. All of the kids are different from each other and although they have all known each other for years they discover that they really don’t know each other. Each of these kids have a part of themselves that they have kept hidden from the rest of the school. Most of them are good, like playing in a band, but others are sad and quite meaningful to the story as a whole. I liked all of the kids and saw similarities to the kids I work with so I think kids who read this book will find something of themselves in these kids.

The premise of the book is that the students were all in the wrong place at the wrong time, but claim that they didn’t see anything. So they are asked to give up their spring break to participate in a Justice Circle with the school counselor. The principal is also in the building and does make appearances now and then. Now I can see the parents agreeing to let their children participate but not sure that a counselor and principal would be willing to give up their breaks for this. Maybe, but I think kids would even agree that this was a slim possibility. Except for that the rest of the story was great. I loved the concept of the Justice Circle and could totally see that concept working in the school setting. I loved the phrase that kept coming up ” “Be kind, for all of us are fighting unseen battles.” I think that is something that is important for kids to understand. That just because you have known someone for a long time, doesn’t mean you really know them.

Over all I thought this was a great book, that kids will be able to relate too on many levels. It also made me want to rewatch the Breakfast Club!

I enjoyed this story, but I am not sure how much of it is because I liked the movie The Breakfast Club so much when I was younger. It will be interesting to see what my students think not knowing anything about the movie from the 80's.

Fan's of Breakfast Club are going to enjoy this book. Steals quite a bit from the movie, but it's ok. I can handle that nod to a great film. I think middle schoolers through adult fans are going to enjoy this little mystery story Dana Levy nailed it!

I couldn’t put this book down! It’s funny, suspenseful, emotional, and I really loved the characters. Plus it raises some interesting and important topics for conversation!

This book was a modern version of the Breakfast Club with a mystery to it. Six students are stuck in school for a week in Justice Circle after one of their art displays is vandalized, and they spent the week getting to know each other and trying to learn the truth. There were some parts that were too much like the Breakfast Club for my liking, but I enjoyed the characters and found the story compelling.

Such a fun (and topical) remake of Breakfast Club!
Theo's school photography display has been destroyed in an attack that feels quite personal, and no one is admitting to anything. In order to try and discover what happened and why, a teacher gathers Theo and five student suspects together for a week long justice circle meant to reveal the truth and heal the underlying damage that caused & resulted from the incident. Yeah...Theo and the others aren't buying it either- but before long, all the students will find that there might be something to this restorative justice concept. New connections are made, perspectives are changed, surprises abound, and plenty of laughs and high-jinks ensure. It's a darn good time, with a nice underlying message to boot. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Publishing for allowing me to read this advanced copy e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This middle- grade novel will come out on November 13,2018 and I highly suggest that if you have children around this age that you read this with them or purchase it for them to read! This novel covers a LOT of important topics that may plague your kids on a daily basis without anyone knowing,

This is a story of six , seventh graders : Molly, Theo, Erik, Andre, Jax and Alice, that have been forced to serve a “detention” like program in favor of practicing restorative justice to find out who is guilty of ruining Theo’s photos, not once but TWICE! Ms. Lewiston has come up with this idea, to be fulfilled over a holiday weekend, as an alternative of having five children get suspended. The goals are to learn to trust one another and to see each other in a different light. As always, there is an antagonist that feels that this project is a waste of time and that is none other than the school principal.

This tale is proof of how just one small action or a single person’s opinion can cause many to come crashing down with them in a downward spiral of guilt. Stories can get blown out of proportion, or changed from one ear to another. Throughout each chapter you get to look a bit deeper into each the lives of each character and will learn that everyone has their own struggles.

This book touches on grief, friendship, teamwork, guilt, bullying, peer pressure, and although it may have lots of jokes it does make the reader think harder about how people react to situations. Could it be that maybe everyone falls victim in their own way?

My few dislikes of this book are that it seems to drag at times and could be shortened, i don’t think that the assessments that each student had to fill out brought anything worthwhile to the story, and I don’t feel that there was any real consequence given to the perpetrators in the end.

3.5 stars!