The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

I love underdogs. I love stories about underdogs and I love to see them do well. Mason Buttle is one  such underdog. He is big (biggest kid in his grade for that matter), sweats a lot and is not the best speller and this is probably why I was rooting for him from the first page.

Buttle has seen a fair amount of tragedy in his life, his entire family has an when we meet them, they live in a crumble down house next to a huge apple orchard. Their neighborhood has seen a lot of expansion in the last few years however and some of the people are nice, others not so much. Like Matt Drinker for example, a lacrosse playing kid who delights in tormenting poor Mason.

Mason to his credit doesn't let all his. there is one thing that still haunts him though, the weird death of his best friend Benny Kilmartin. Some people in town treat him weirdly as if they don't believe the story he told about the last time he saw Benny.  The local police officer, Lieutenant Baird is doggedly pursuing the case and drops by the Buttle household from time to time much to Mason's dismay. Out of nowhere Mason makes a new best friend, Calvin Chumsky and the two friends forge a strong bond. But when Calvin goes missing Mason finds himself in a whole heap of trouble.

This is a book with drama, humor and some serious issues all rolled together. I recommend it for ages 10 and up.  Some read alikes are The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson, The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade by Jordan Sonnenblick and The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon