Pilfer Academy: A School So Bad It's Criminal by Lauren Magaziner

George isn't really a bad kid.  He just finds it easier to take his older brother's comics and another brother's money than to work for his own.  But when he's just barely being allowed out of his room for bad behavior and then goes right back to acting badly, it causes real trouble.

Dial Books and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 16th.

This is written for middle graders and is a fun book to read.  It's silly, has all sorts of oddities and characters like you've never seen before.  After all, how many schools kidnap students?  And how many teach them to live a life of crime?  They're going to make George into a thief.  It sounds like fun and a good idea until they make him steal a teddy bear from a two year old.  That's cold...

As is usual in a new school, he finds a friend and makes an enemy almost the first day of school.  When he starts doing well in class, he's proud of his progress.  But the more he learns about the school and about the teachers, the more he worries.  He even finds himself missing his family.  That teddy bear still bothers him, too.

One thing you can say about George, he's a catalyst.  However things were, they'll change when George is around.  Sometimes they even change for the better...