My Near-Death Adventures (99% True!)

When we first meet Stanley Slater, he is eleven. It is 1895. Stanley lives with his mother and grandmother, and his greatest wish is to find his long-lost father. When they move to a logging camp run by his uncle, Stanley thinks it’s the perfect place to find his dad. Arriving in the lumber camp, Stanley meets his cousin Geri, an annoying girl a little older (and a little smarter) than he is. He soon comes to think she is quite a prankster and is there to make his life miserable. One habit Stanley has that causes him no end of problems is that he often says out loud what he is thinking and doesn’t mean to say. He tries to cover over these outbursts by trying to say he really said something else entirely, but that doesn’t usually work.

Alison DeCamp his written a very funny book that will keep young readers engaged and turning pages. The characters are all pretty fascinating, although a little outrageous and over the top, but they simply add to the non-stop humor. The first-person telling of his own story by Stanley at an absolutely frantic pace is perfect for this story.