Pigboy

Christina Pike is principal of St. Francis School in Harbour Grace,
Newfoundland.

Fourteen-year-old Dan Hogg and his classmates go on a field trip to a
pig farm. During the trip, Dan’s classmates stumble across a crime and
are held hostage. It is up to Dan to save the day. The teenager is no
ordinary hero, though. Throughout his school years, the skinny, smart
kid with allergies had been an easy target for bullies and was regularly
picked on.

Grant’s victim-turned-hero story seems a little unrealistic given
that the grown-ups on the field trip are also tricked by the bad guy.
Nonetheless, those who read it will want Dan to win out, and will find
themselves drawn in by the suspense, despite the predictable plot. As
part of the Orca Currents series of high-interest, low-vocabulary
novels, Pigboy is aimed at attracting reluctant male readers.
Recommended.