This was a laugh out loud fun middle grade read. Ben Hardy is pretty positive that he's been cursed by potatoes. His parents have moved away from the California beach to the potato capital of Idaho. And after a cafeteria game gone wrong Ben discovers that he has to be the new middle school mascot. A spud. The potato curse strikes again. He knows that life will be over as he knows it if any of his new friends find out about his new "job" so he keeps it under wraps. But lying to his friends is hard and who knows when the potato curse will strike again. A quick, funny, read, that also has some fun illustrations. ( )

A great mix of a kid who wants to do the right thing yet still makes dumb mistakes along the way. Moving to a new town and school is hard and I appreciate that this book shows another side: that you can make good friends and find out that the new offers new opportunities...even if they are pretty wacky. ( )