"I've contacted the aunt and uncle whom I visited in rural Pennsylvania every summer as a boy. You'll be staying with them." says Dad

"What are their names?"

"Uh...Poppy and Moo."

"Mike, come meet Poppy!"

I followed the line of the yardstick, which seemed to point to a huge recliner in the far, dark corner of the room.  With a statue sitting in it.

At least, it was frozen like a statue. Its arms were almost as white as its undershirt except for the blue veins running up and down. Above the undershirt, hair peeked out, then a fat neck and stubbly chin. Lips stuck out in a pout. Eyes stared straight ahead. Two tufts of gray hair stuck up like devil horns. The whole statue looked like it hadn't moved in days.

"Say hello to Poppy!" Moo said.

Mike is a kid who is the only sane center of the town called "Do Over." Sent by his dad to spend six weeks of his summer vacation building an artesian screw, Mike cannot figure out how to tell his dad that he hates math. However, when he arrives in "Do Over," he realizes that he is the only person who can fundraise $40,000 for the adoption of Romanian Mike.

Over the course of the summer, Mike finds the calling within himself. Full of humorous situations and eccentric characters, Mike manages to rouse people in Do Over. At the same time, though, does he manage to finally reach his Dad? Read it and find out!

Kathryn Erskine is the National Book Award winner for Mockingbird. Once again, she presents a most likable protagonist, Mike, in the novel, The Absolute Value of Mike (AR 8.0, Level 3.9)