Running with the Reservoir Pups (Eddie and the Gang with No Name) by Colin Bateman Grades 5-8 272 pages Yearling June 2006 Paperback     Running with the Reservoir Pups is a fantastically unique tale based on a fairly common plot: young man from a recently broken home moves to a big city where he is out of place in the new school. I was so enraptured that I read the entire book in less than five hours! The plot touches on racism and crooked cops. It delves deeper into city gangs and how some youth have no choice but to steal and become tough in order to survive the harsh reality of city life. We see children who are abandoned and hurt in terrible ways, yet we are thrilled with justice dealt by two young people who just can’t sit back and watch something awful happen. As such, this book highlights the power of the individual in making a difference and salutes the lead characters for stepping up and doing the right thing. Eddie, the lead character, is shocked when his mother comes to him with tears in her eyes to tell him that his parent’s marriage is over. She is taking him to a new home – one in a bustling city. He immediately realizes how different he his upon their arrival, and Eddie just can’t seem to fit in at school. Suddenly he finds himself befriended, but only because he’s about to be initiated into a gang. From one catastrophe to another, Eddie has heart-thumping adventures that lead him to stumble onto a kidnapping of horrific intent. Meanwhile, his mother is trying to adjust to her new life as a single parent and becoming comfortable with her new job as a nurse at the local hospital. Her new colleagues seem nice, but when she starts dating Bernard Scuttles, the hospital security man, Eddie sees red. Sadly – for Eddie – he is thrown into a whirlwind adventure with Scuttles and two youth gangs: the Andytown Albinos and the Reservoir Pups. Running with the Reservoir Pups author Colin Bateman also wrote the popular middle readers novel Bring Me the Head of Oliver Plunkett and 13 adult novels. The publisher is Yearling, which has been a leading children's publisher for over 40 years. Without a single doubt in my mind, I would rate this book six out of five stars.   web reviews   Lillian Brummet/2007 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)