Slob by Ellen Potter

Summary from the publisher:
Owen is the fattest- and smartest- seventh grader in his New York City school.  When he's not ducking the school bully or trying to survive the world's most sadistic P.E. teacher, he invents things.  Currently Own has two project- a TV that will show events in the past and a trap to catch the thief who keeps stealing the Oreos from his lunchbox.  There's a lot of middle school banter and adolescent dialogue.  However, what begins as a lighthearted adventure gradually takes on a darker tone.  Owen calls his invention Nemesis and insists that it needs to read exactly two years back.  As the story evolved, readers learn that there are places in town where he feels distinctly uncomfortable, and that he treasures a note that says only SLOB.  Step by step, Owen reveals the tragedy behind his concerns.  Two years earlier, he was hiding in the basement of the family store, listening as his parents were killed by an intruder.  Adopted by the 911 operator who took his call after the murders, he dreams of identifying the perpetrator.  Although Nemesis fails to solve the crime, Owen is finally able to find closure with help from his sister, their friends, and, surprisingly, from the dreaded bully himself.  A sensitive, touching, and sometimes heartbreakingly funny picture of middle school life.

I picked up this story last summer while I was at Teacher's College in NYC for the Reading Workshop Institute.  It was one of the stories that one of the book clubs read and it sounded interesting as I listened to the club talk about it.  This book is aimed at middle school readers, so it surprised me that I got so hooked to this story (okay, maybe not too surprised).  But I picked this book up and finished it quickly (a plane ride home from NYC in fact) because I was drawn into the many different facets of this story and trying to figure out how they all worked together to create a complete picture of the main character, Owen.  I think that I was able to really relate to the character in many ways.  Not so much his story line and the events in his life, but more a connection to his emotions and feelings.  This story would easily allow a middle school student to relate to the story line whether male or female and they too would fall in love with Owen and learn how to face the many challenges that come along with being an adolescent.