If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko Review

Title: If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period
Author: Gennifer Choldenko
Pages: 217 pps (Paperback Copy)
MSRP: $6.99
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Rating: * * * */ 5

This book reminds me so much of my own school. The characters, the events, the cliques, everything, it happens at my junior high and every other one in the world. That's what makes this book so good.
The book is divided into two narrators, both 12 and in seventh grade: Kirsten and Walker (Walk for short). Kirsten's chapters are written like she's talking, while someone narrates Walk's chapters, but they both are expressed just as well. These two really couldn't be more different: Kirsten is chubby, Walk thin, for example. But the most important difference is that Kirsten's white and Walk's black. The both are just starting Mountain Junior High, a school where the academic competition is fierce, and the popularity race is fiercer. They slowly become friends.
Then, Kirsten hears a big secret from her constantly-fighting parents- a secret that affects both her and Walk big-time. It was a creative plot twist that came at the right time, but I just couldn't get behind it. What it is, you have to read to find out.
I'm exactly like Kirsten, I noticed- right down to the chubbiness and being a gigantic Friends TV show fanatic (Anyone else? ;) ). She's a really sweet person, and is so nice to her little sister, Kippy, who for some reason was my favorite minor character, of which there were a lot.
This book is also good for those who like to read in short periods of time- the chapters are only about 2 or 3 pages, and several are only one page.
I actually had no idea the book was over when I read the end a few minutes ago- it kind of startled me, I didn't want it to end!