middle school smarts.

For those of you who's kids were huge fans of A.K.A. Genius, Marilee Haynes recently came out with the sequel to the popular faith-based middle school series, titled Genius Under Construction.

Gabe Carpenter is now in the eighth grade, moving past most of his problems as a seventh grader in the previous book and jumping right into new ones. His with relationship with one of his best friends, Maya is changing as most boy/girl friendships do at this age. He's having the worst luck with his community service project, a hyper 4th grader who is impossible to tutor. And Gabe's also trying to work his butt off to get into a special high school designed for students who excel in math and science, but is having second thoughts because the idea of a new high school with none of his friends by his side is a bit daunting.

What I love about Haynes is that each character she develops is different, and may have some quirks, but she always brings to the forefront their special gifts, showing middle schoolers that being different isn't always a bad thing.