Review: Slider ✭✭✭✭✭

Slider by Pete Hautman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story falls into the unusual subject category of competitive eating contests. David, the main character, is a fan of of Joey Chestnut and other big eaters. Home for the summer, David uses his Mom's credit card to order a famous half eaten hot dog. Unfortunately, his bid for $20 mistakenly turns into a bid for $2,000. David decides to enter a local pizza eating contest to earn the money back before the Visa bill arrives. Meanwhile, more is revealed about David's family, and how he fits in. David is a middle child stuck between an over-achieving college age sister with an annoying boyfriend, and a 10-year old brother, Mal, who has autism.

Many features make this story more than palatable (ha!) for middle-grade readers. The gross-out factor is huge with interesting facts about competitive eating. And David's relationship with Mal is very sweet, and at times, laugh out loud funny. This book will be devoured (ha, again!) by fans of Stuart Gibbs books. For maximum effect, read this book during June/July, then catch the famous Nathan's July 4 competitive eating contest on YouTube.



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