2016 Last Post of the Year (Video+Review for MMGM)

Hello Everybody,

First off, before I begin with anything, I'd like to thank anybody for reading this. Yes, you. Somehow, you all grew my blog in views 6 times over. I started the year extremely grateful having met around six thousand views. Currently, this blog is boasting a mind blowing 39 thousand views and counting. So thank all of you for viewing and showing support, and trust me, there will be some good stuff coming out in 2017.

I brought back the YouTube channel and made a little compilation video of the biggest books and movies about books that came out this year. I'm sure I left out a bunch of books, but this is whatever I've come in contact with or have heard of so whatever.

And of course, because I need an MMGM review, I'd like to cap off 2016 with a review of an Andrew Clements classic: Lunch Money

Age Group: Middle Grade
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publishing Date: July 1st, 2005 by Aladdin Paperbacks

Summary: Goodreads ~ Greg Kenton has always had a natural talent for making money -- despite the annoying rivalry of his neighbor Maura Shaw. Then, just before sixth grade, Greg makes a discovery: Almost every kid at school has an extra quarter or two to spend almost every day. 
Multiply a few quarters by a few hundred kids, and for Greg, school suddenly looks like a giant piggy bank. All he needs is the right hammer to crack it open. Candy and gum? Little toys? Sure, kids would love to buy stuff like that at school. But would teachers and the principal permit it? Not likely.
But how about comic books? Comic books might work. Especially the chunky little ones that Greg writes and illustrates himself. Because everybody knows that school always encourages reading and writing and creativity and individual initiative, right?
In this funny and timely novel, Andrew Clements again holds up a mirror to real life, and invites young readers to think about money, school, friendship, and what it means to be a success.

What I liked: One of my favorite things about this book is that, like the school story, this book explored into the wonderful (-ish) world of publishing books. While this one isn't as serious as The School Story, it is really cool to see how a kid learns capitalism and book publishing when he makes his own books. It is also (sort of) funny when Greg gets into a conflict with some competition literally because they have the same product. It's just funny how, in my opinion, whether intentional or unintentional, an allegory for the high-stakes competition of book publishing was put into a more "pleasant" way to read, with kids instead of publishing companies and comic books instead of novels.

What I Didn't Like: Yep, just like a lot of Andrew Clements books, I'm going to have to say there isn't really anything to ding here. I didn't wish, or crave for anything else, well, maybe it would've been cool if Greg took the whole entrepreneurship thing further and expanded into having assembly lines made and other products like book jackets and pencils and stuff, but other than that I really don't think the book needed anything else. It's...just...perfect.

Rating: 9.7 (or 8) out of then.

Why? Andrew Clements is good, but no book gets a perfect rating unless it's Stuart Gibbs (the I've-talked-to-him-for-two-years thing gives Stuart the bonus)

It is currently 11:48 PM. I made it in time. Phew. Well, have a Happy New Year, see you in 2017!