The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman

I saw The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko recommended somewhere online, and it looked like the type of book I would enjoy. The book description says, "When eleven-year-old Hank’s mom doesn’t come home, he takes care of his toddler sister, Boo, like he always does. But it’s been a week now. They are out of food and mom has never stayed away this long… Hank knows he needs help, so he and Boo seek out the stranger listed as their emergency contact. But asking for help has consequences. It means social workers, and a new school, and having to answer questions about his mom that he's been trying to keep secret. And if they can't find his mom soon, Hank and Boo may end up in different foster homes--he could lose everything."

This was a great read. I was super engaged in the story and got through the book quickly because I wanted to keep reading. I loved Hank as a character and was really rooting for him. I also liked Ray and felt like Lou Ann was a believable character even though I didn't always like how she treated Hank. Overall this was a great read and one I'd recommend for others who enjoy realistic fiction books like this. There were a few things I liked less about the book-- 1) The book was super formulaic for a foster kid book. Like I have read similar books with a lot of the same plot twists and things that happen. So it felt a little bit same ol' to me. 2) I was kinda irked by the character Ana, the girl he likes, because she had a couple instances where she lied or seemed to be on the verge of being a troublemaker, and I didn't like that since Hank really needed some solid, good friends that weren't going to get him in trouble. I wish her character was written a little differently. So I'm making this book a "liked it," but it was super close to a loved it. It got me teary-eyed and was an enjoyable read.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)