Realistic contemporary with humor, which is a hard combination to find in the middle grade fiction. Two boys. Best buds since kinder. Realistic in the sense that one character is the outrageous idea person, and the other is the anxious, “maybe we shouldn't do this” friend. Contemporary Los Angeles with references to rivalries between the Clippers-Warriors teams and the taxi and uber drivers, the newscasters chasing the next 15 minutes of fame event, and of course, twitter. Humor arrives in novel ways. The hole in the kitchen floor which allows the downstairs neighbor to join in family discussions. The three generations of grandmothers, affectionately known as G, G2, and G3. The principal who can monitor the death defying antics on the playground monkey bars from her strategically placed office window. Highly recommend!

This is a really fun story about two boys who have been friends for a long time. They are each going through some big things. Devin's dad is sick and Devin has a big plan to get money by becoming an internet sensation. Addison is his unwilling accomplice. They end up creating an internet sensation, but not in the way that either one of them expected. There are big themes of family and friendship and loyalty that will ring true for lots of readers. But the characters are what really make this story-they are so interesting and so much fun. Even the characters that have small parts (like the grandmothers) so terrific! This is going to be a great one to have in our school library.

What lengths would you go to to help your family if your dad got sick? Well Devin Velma wants to become a social media sensation so that he can make a lot of money to help his family with his dad's hospital bills. He knows if he can nail the Double-Barreled Monkey Bar Backflip of Doom on video it will be easy money. The problem is, Devin on has one Twitter follower and that is his best friend, Addison (and technically Addison doesn't have an account - Devin created it just so he would have one follower). By some miracle, Devin does nail this impossible move but Addison failed to get it on video. So when Devin comes up with another crazy stunt idea Addison feels obligated to help him whether he wants to or not. Devin wants to become an internet sensation by flashing his painted check behind a couple of celebrities at an NBA game. Everything is going according to plan until the kiss cam is done earlier than normal. When Devin takes off from the upper deck to try to get to the camera, things go completely wrong. Will Devin be able to pull off this impossible stunt in order to save his family? Or will it become a complete flop? Will Devin and Addison make choices that could ruin a life-long friendship? Read this amazing story of family, friendship, love, and a whole lot of humor! This is one you don't want to miss!!

I absolutely love this story!! Devin and Addison and their family is as close as close can be, but Devin and Addison are completely opposite. Devin is outgoing a crazy and Addison freezes up when any attention is put on him. I think this is great to show kids that they can have all types of friends. This book is also hilarious. The characters in this story have such a great wit about them. Don't let this one pass you up!!

Devin and some of his family members believe there is a curse on the males in his family called the Velma Curse. Due to a recent event, Devin feels it is up to him to break it because if he doesn’t it could mean life or death. Devin believes in order to break the curse he will need his best friend Addison and an opportunity to create a viral video. When the Double-Barreled Monkey Bar Backflip of Doom becomes a flop thanks to Addison’s anxiety it’s up to the boys to come up with a new plan. It shouldn’t be too hard, viral videos are made all the time, right?

While I was initially intrigued by the cover, once I read that Jake Burt is also a 5th grade teacher I knew I had to read it. And boy am I glad I did!!! I loved everything about this book from beginning to end. Burt’s writing reminded me a little bit of James Patterson in the sense that his characters were not only humorous, but also relatable and love-able. We all have at least one friend who we would do anything for, no matter the costs. I cannot wait to get a copy of this book to put in my classroom and continuously recommend to my students.

Having loved Burt's previous book, Greeting From Witness Protection, I had high expectations for this book. It did not disappoint. Burt takes what could have been a light, humorous premise and develops it expertly into an exploration of friendship and family. The engaging plot and vibrant characters made this a fast-paced, satisfying read.

CONFESSION TIME: The author of this book wrote the BEST book in the world, otherwise known as "Greetings from Witness Protection". I COMPLETELY fangirled over it and the author at BEA in 2017. Made a dang FOOL of myself to tell others how incredibly AWESOME it was.

I contacted the author through a lovely book site we were both on and he agreed to come do a signing for us of it. I was THRILLED and fangirled some more. And he agreed to 1) send us an ARC of his next book (this one) and 2) to do a signing of it when it comes out.

He sent us an ARC, as he promised to do. I let my bookstore boss read it first, because she LOVED Greetings. She LOVED it. Then I let the mother of my S.O. read it, since she tried to hide my copy of Greetings and pretend she had given it back to me she loved it that much. She also loved this book.

But I was afraid to read it. What if it didn't live up to my expectations? What if it just couldn't compete with Greetings (aka the best book of all time)? What if it was SO GOOD that I was ruined for any other book I ever read again, unless it was a book by this author. I was paralyzed. I just COULDN'T read this book.

And then the author was all like, "So have you read it yet?" And I was ashamed I let my neurotic behavior prevent me from reading this book. So I hiked up my big girl pants, took a deep breath, and went for it!

And HOLY CATS, this book was so AWESOME!!! Funny and REAL and sad and true and just absolutely PERFECT.

Now, it's not the best book in the whole wide world (aka Greetings), but it is DANG TOOTIN CLOSE. It's like when you have more than one cat. You love them all, but you love them all differently, not more or less. I sincerely LOVED this book and am GROVELING FOR FORGIVENESS from the author that I didn't read it immediately upon receipt.

(Full disclosure-I also received an eARC copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, because the book was so precious, it didn't leave the house and I needed an immediate copy for my fix. They were very gracious and granted me the ebook form of it. So now I can read it anywhere. Which makes driving a challenge! Just kidding, I only read at red lights...)

So yeah, this review is pretty much me going fangirl on how awesome it is without giving anything away of the plot. Or the setting. Or the characters. Soon I'm going to do a tad of what I liked about those things without being spoilery, cuz you need to read this book.

As with the first book, the young characters were snarky, but not rude. They were realistic. The adults were present and while they had their own issues, they were adults about it and they were the ones who dealt with them. The adults were present and loving, not perfect, but they were THERE.

No love interests, the MC and his BFF are 12, but there is a crush interest, which is realistic. Some serious issues, mostly financial and the health of one of the parents is a big deal, but no Disney orphan/one parent trope. One somewhat scary scene, but not violent. This would be a great book for a precocious younger reader to middle grade on up. Like old fogie adult on up, like me.

It is very well written, so it wouldn't bore adults to tears. I was in awe of his writing chops while laughing at most of it to be honest. SO GOOD!!!

5, wowthatwassogoodandIneedmoreof yourbooks,orheckevenyourgrocerylistprettyplease, stars. Move "Greetings from Witness Protection" and this book to the top of your TBR. They are fast reads and they will make you laugh and cry. I had tears in my eyes from this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

This was a book that I would recommend because it deals with many different facets of growing up. Friendship is the main one, but it also deals with shyness and a parent becoming ill. It was a good story and amusing at times.

When Devin's father lands in the hospital after a heart attack, he is concerned that the family won't be able to pay the medical bills. He hopes that by filming an impossible trick on the monkey bars, the Double-Barreled Monkey Bar Backflip of Doom, it will go viral and bring attention to him so that he can raise the money. His best friend Addison is supposed to help him film and spread the word, but Addison has a lot of anxiety and is prone to "freezing", so doesn't get the video even though Devin does manage the trick. Addison's family struggles as well, but are close with Devin's family. Devin comes up with the great idea to get on the "kiss cam" at a professional basketball game behind a celebrity couple, and since his sister is on their cheer squad, manages to get into the game and the two even get on the camera-- but Devin slips and Addison is caught on tape saving his friend from falling over the railing. Addison is the one the rockets to fame, which irritates Devin. It takes a lot of understanding, and some help from Addison's parents, for him to understand the dynamics of his relationship with Devin, Devin's fears for his father, and a way to help his friends family deal with the father's medical issues.

Strengths: I've never understood why the default in middle grade literature is for parents to be dead or uninvolved. Sure, it gives characters a lot of freedom to have adventures, but I wish that more realistic stories had more constructive parental involvement. This even had Devin's great-great-grandmother, and the math supporting having all of those generations! Both families had some job insecurity, and Addison lived in an apartment with some difficulties for which HE felt somewhat responsible. There are more and more books showing realistic challenges faced by children who might be concerned about growing out of shoes from the dollar store, about having food on the table, and about the job situations of their parents. This book is able to balance those worries with the more common middle school worries about friends, and imbues it all with a good sense of humor and a general air of hopefulness in the face of adversity. This makes it a good book for children who do face difficult situations, because it shows them some coping strategies, and children who don't have to face these situations will hopefully learn that "everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" and will encourage them to be empathetic.
Weaknesses: Can you really make money going viral on YouTube? I think that is one of those things that 12-year-olds believe more than I do.

What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and so pleased to see this one. It's a stand alone, has a great cover, and is Sonnenblick-esque in that it covers serious issues in a humorous way.

Devin and Addi are best friends and have been friends forever. They are opposites in most every way. Devin's father has medical bills that the family can't afford and Devin decides that if he can pull off a stunt that goes viral he can help with the bills. Addi is drawn into Devin's stunts as an unwitting co-conspirator...until one stunt goes dramatically wrong.

I loved this book. I liked the friendship between the boys AND the friendship between the families. Devin's grandmothers - G, Double-G, and Triple G - were like a Greek chorus and made me laugh every time. Addi's freezing and not being able to talk in new situations is so typical of kids his age and the author conveyed his interior thoughts beautifully.