Book Review: Slider

David is hungry and not just your typical teen boy hungry, he can eat a 16-inch pepperoni pizza in four minutes and thirty-six seconds. Which is fast, very fast. But, he’s got to do better to win the Super Pigorino Bowl and pay his mom back after he accidentally charges $2,000 to her credit card.
Slider is the story of a middle schooler not only trying to figure out how to raise some quick cash, but a story of figuring out where you stand in a family with a perfect older sister and a younger brother on the autism spectrum. It’s also the story of what happens when your best friends start hanging out together and you feel like a third wheel. David’s character is fully developed and I really liked how his story seamlessly moved between friends, family and his own problems. Sometimes stories focus solely on one issue leaving the character and/or setting undeveloped, but in this book even the supporting characters have rich back stories that enhance the story’s plot.
Although, competitive eating kind of grosses me out and the descriptions of how David practices to expand his stomach makes my own stomach ache just reading about it. Even though, I didn’t like reading about it, the story itself was so well done, I couldn’t put it down!
Twitter Booktalk (140 characters or less): David needs to eat as fast as he can if he expects to win the Super Pigorino Bowl and pay back his mom the $2000 he owes her.
Title: Slider
Author: Pete Hautman
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication Date: September 12, 2017
Page Number: 288 pgs.