Busted by Betty Hicks

Stuart is forever in trouble with his overprotective mother. He's grounded and banned from watching tv, playing video games, and talking on the phone. And Stuart's pretty sure he's not a bad kid.

When circumstances lead to Stuart's mother forcing him to quit soccer, Stuart's friend Mack suggests a new tactic. The reason that Stuart's mother is so strict is because she's single and overly focused on Stuart, according to Mack. Mack endeavors to set up Stuart's mother with her Uncle Joe. Stuart meanwhile plots to set up his mother with his soccer coach, hoping to get back on the team. As usual for Stuart, nothing quite works out to plan. He gets back on the team, but realizes that he's created a whole new set of problems.

This book references Sleepless in Seattle and that's not usually the kind of thing I gravitate towards, but Hicks also does a fairly nimble job of incorporating a book within the book as she has Stuart identifying with Bilbo Baggins while he reads the Hobbit. The book is very contemporary which means it will probably age quickly but for now I think its currency makes it relevant for our students.

I imagine that a lot of the kids who like Raven/Lizzie Maguire would like this...it's kind of tailored to fourth and fifth graders who want to read about seventh and eighth graders.

Here's a profile of author Betty Hicks.