My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain

by Rich Samuels

Overview

Alexander is the kind of kid who's scared of his own shadow-and everyone knows you can't run away from your shadow!

Welcome to My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain, Part One of Alexander Adventures. At Wickshire Middle School, there's one kid who's always on the lookout, always looking over his shoulder, and always worried about what might be lurking around the corner. It doesn't matter that there's never anything there... in Alexander's imagination, there could be!

The way Alexander sees it, he's a little fish in an ocean of sharks. He won't sit where he thinks bullies sit or go down halls where he thinks bullies walk. He's sure he can spot them from a mile away.

But now, he can't hide. Melvin wants to talk to him after school, and Alexander is sure that "talk" doesn't mean talk. He's convinced that an evil bully plot is unfolding, and it's up to him to stop it. He decides to take action and stand up for what's right...but what if he's wrong?

If you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, or Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, then My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain is for you. Meet Alexander and his friends, and discover why one reader said, "you feel as though he's your best friends."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780989188012
Publisher:	Rls Ventures
Publication date:	05/17/2013
Series:	Alexander Adventures , #1
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.34(d)
Lexile:	690L (what's this?)

About the Author

Rich Samuels, at various times, has been a producer, director, editor, and cartoonist. He's taught filmmaking workshops, been a news director, acted, reported, and created documentaries. He has always, however, remained a kid. This is his first novel.

Editorial Reviews

2013-11-22
In Samuels' droll debut YA novel, a 13-year-old obsessed with bullies becomes entangled in compromising situations. Alexander, a shorter-than-average middle school student, has never been pantsed, wedgied or swirlied by bullies. He credits this achievement to his prodigious strategic planning and research, which he's synthesized in his magnum opus: a smartphone app called BullyTrack. Its motto, which has also become Alexander's credo, is "Stay Invisible. Stay Safe." The app maximizes bully avoidance by informing users of specific bullies' locations and habits and providing essential information about bullies in general. "Timing is everything," the app advises, and that's why it's critical to reach the school gates at specific times, move swiftly from class to class, and never enter a locker room alone. Alexander also recommends eating lunch away from the cafeteria so that bullies can't take empty seats and commandeer control of the table. One should also always bring one's own lunch, free of messy, drippy items that might end up dumped on one's head. "Condiments are not your friends," Alexander says. He has three close friends who are bemused by his obsession with bullies and loyal to him--up to a point. But when a classroom discussion of a Franklin D. Roosevelt line ("The only thing we have to fear is fear itself") unleashes Alexander's paranoid delusions and results in his complete humiliation, it tests his friends' willingness to excuse him. One of the less believable aspects of this otherwise entertaining novel is the idea that Alexander has any friends at all, but the book will ring true for many middle schoolers. The author does an exemplary job of detailing the ways that the powerful prey on the weak; however, he risks making Alexander unsympathetic by pushing his behavior from that of a risible obsessive to that of an outright psychotic. Readers might also have benefited from more insight into Alexander's strange relationship with his parents and his frequent neurological lapses or "trances." A witty, if uneven, YA novel, and a valuable addition to topical literature about bullying.

Kirkus Reviews