My Life as a Meme

My Life #8

by Janet Tashjian, Jake Tashjian (Illustrator)

Book 8 of the much-loved My Life series

Derek Fallon loves making funny memes, but when he finds himself the joke of a viral meme, he realizes how easy it is to offend others using this platform. Derek decides to confront the creator of the hurtful meme, all during the backdrop of a fire evacuation that has put him in the same place as his meme bully. Here is another thoughtful, funny, and timely adventure in the life of the ever-loving, ever-mischievous Derek Fallon.
Christy Ottaviano Books

Genres: Middle Grade, Humor, Childrens

256 pages, Hardcover

Published April 2, 2019

About the author

Janet Tashjian is a middle-grade and young adult novelist who’s been writing books for children for fifteen years. Her first novel Tru Confessions was made into a critically acclaimed Disney TV movie starring Clara Bryant and Shia LaBeouf. The Gospel According to Larry is a cult favorite and Fault Line is taught in many middle and high schools. Her novels My Life As a Book, My Life As a Stuntboy, and My Life As a Cartoonist are all illustrated by her teenage son, Jake. Their collaboration continues with Einstein the Class Hamster coming in August.

Janet lives with her family in Los Angeles, enjoying her respite from the long Boston winters. When she isn’t writing, she’s rewriting.

Janet has been doing school visits for fifteen years; you can email her at spatulaproductions@mac.com for details.

We invite you to follow her on Twitter @JanetTashjian and like her books on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Lif...
https://www.facebook.com/ForWhatItsWo...

Plus, check out her YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/janettash...

Reviews

[Loanne Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tashjian, Janet. My Life as a Meme. Illustrated by Jake Tashian. New York: 2011.

Characters: Derek Fallon, Derek’s parents, Friends: Carly, Matt, Umberto, Poufy (the pomeranian)

Setting: Los Angeles & Malibu, CA

Theme: Friendship, memes, internet, social media, technology, cyberbullying, dogs, wildfires

Golden Quote: “You know that proverb, ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’? It might be old but it still holds true.” - Page 189.

Plot/Summary: Set in Los Angeles county, his humorous adventure began when Derek’s mom, a veterinarian, was asked by one of her clients, named Darcy, to dog-sit while the client went on vacation. With a confirmation that she would dog-sit, Derek was allowed to invite his friends, Matt, Carly, and Umberto to spend the weekend with him. So off to Malibu to dog-sit at Darcy’s mansion. While enjoying their time at the mansion playing games, watching movies, swimming, and lounging, Derek has the responsibility of helping with routine and specific grooming and updating Darcy’s pomeranian, Poufy’s Instagram page.

However, the weekend vacation was cut short by a wildfire that spread to the mansion resulting in everyone having to evacuate to a high school. Derek, his parents, his friends, along with Poufy had to stay at the high school gym waiting for the roads to clear and safe to drive home. While trying to entertain the little children by reading a book and having Poufy on his lap, a photo was taken of Derek in the middle of him sneezing. This photo was then used as a meme to make fun of Derek. The viral memes of Derek continued to many more posts on Instagram. When Derek and his family were safe to return home, they also had to continue to dog-sit Poufy, making Derek continue with the grooming and Instagram updates on Poufy’s page. As a result of the wildfire, the boy that posted all the memes end up having to attend the same school as Derek, making the social situation worse for Derek as he encountered head lice and more memes making fun of him.

The illustrations in this book comprised of drawn stick-figure cartoons. Jake Tashjian did a wonderful job of cartooning some specific vocabularies to help young readers understand the meaning of the words. Hilarious vocabulary cartoons are depicted on the outside pages of the large printed texts. Each chapter ends with a meme that is related to that specific chapter topic.

Target Audience: Ages 9 - 12

Curriculum ties: Technology: digital citizenship, social media, cyberbullying; Science: wildfires.

Personal/Critical Response: This 8th book of My Life series is a hilarious read. Surprisingly, I enjoyed reading this book very much. It is definitely geared towards elementary school-age children. The characters are relatable to students, as are the topics of social media and memes for a good class discussion.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

"NOOOOOOO!"-My Life as a Meme. This is just one of the quotes of the terrible things that happened to Derek Fallon in this book. This is a funny book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes short books, funny books, and fast paced and twists in a book. I would very much recommend this book.

The first reason I would recommend this book is if anyone likes short books. This book took me about 3 hours to finish and is 232 pages long. This book would be good for anyone who likes short books and also for anyone who doesn't have a long attention span. Also this book is good for anyone who is bored and just wants to read a short book for about 3-4 hours. If anyone is interested in short books then I would recommend this book.

The second reason I would recommend this book is if anyone likes funny books. This book is all about funny moments and memes. Also at the end of each chapter there is a funny meme just like "Heads, this is awesome, tails this is awesome," with a guy flipping a coin. Also on page 156 a funny part in the book is when one of Derek's friends made a meme about Derek when he was about to sneeze he made Derek look like he was crying. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes funny books.

Lastly, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes twists and fast paced books. The book first starts out in Dereks house, then on page 49 it changes to Derek on vaction in Malibu, then on page 102 in changes to a shelter, then on 170 it changes to Derek's school. This book is very fast paced and hard to catch up with when not paying attention. Also inbetween these parts there are many twists I can't name because of spoilers. In conclusion I would recommend this book to anyone who can keep up with fast paced books and twists.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who falls under those catigories. This is one of the funniest books I have read so I would fully recommend.

[Teresa Grabs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book in the series and would definitely read more. This story focuses on dog sitting an internet celebrity (the dog) while its owner is out of town. There are a lot of ups and downs in the story, and in the end, both human and animal have grown as characters. The book is aimed at reluctant readers and uses small graphics to define more complex words. This is a great way to encourage readers as well as the focus being "the here and now" for young readers.

Thank you NetGalley and Christy Ottaviano Books for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I'm still not exactly sure what a meme is or why they're so popular, I did enjoy this book. Derek and his family are dog-sitting for one of his mother's clients while she's away. The gig is pretty sweet since the owner lives in a Malibu mansion, and the dog, Poufy, is smart. But Poufy's owner, Darcy, is overprotective, and has strict routines she expects the caretakers to follow. And Poufy even has a media presence and posts selfies online. Things are going swimmingly with Derek and his pals Carly, Matt, and Umberto enjoying the games and luxurious surroundings. But a wildfire sends them scurrying for safety in an evacuation center in a nearby school. It is there that Derek has his own unwanted moment of fame when another boy posts a series of photos of him with unflattering captions. Derek is humiliated and wants revenge, but he also knows that he doesn't want to be cruel. As it turns out, after the fires have been contained, his nemesis starts attending his school. Many middle grade readers will easily relate to the dilemmas Derek faces as well as enjoying the thumbnail sketches of various vocabulary words along the side of the text. Several of them are clever indeed, and will certainly make it easier for readers to remember what the word means. This series continues to impress me and be well worth reading.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Life as a Meme by Janet Tashjian, illustrated by Jake Tashjian, 256 pages. Henry Holt (MacMillan), 2019. $14.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Derek and his friends have been invited to a fancy mansion in Malibu for a fun filled weekend - the catch is, Derek's mom is dog sitting a Shih Tzu name Poufy who has an Instagram following. It's Derek's responsibility to make sure she gets posted everyday, and that her grooming regimen is followed. But when a forest fire threatens the Malibu community, everyone must evacuate, and a weekend of luxury turns into an overnight stay at the local high school.

I really love this series - this is #8 - Derek gets into the most ridiculous trouble or is picked on for random reasons, middle school kids will certainly relate to the online bullying, the memes and the social media. I love recommending this series and the latest installment is a fun, timely read. I love recommending this series and the latest installment is a fun, timely read.

Lisa Librarian
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2019...

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was received as an ARC from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group-Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I absolutely fell in love with the My Life series and everyday I see a different Meme with different meanings and how the youth that visit the library are so intrigued by them, the book could not have come out at a better time. I also find the stick figures hysterical throughout the books and the ones featured in My Life as a Meme do not disappoint. The plot and storyline were extremely relevant and the language was so beautifully written that children of this generation will completely relate and love this book. We have a lot of books in the series and I can not wait to see if we can complete our series in our collection.

We will consider adding this title to our JFiction collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read all of them so I can't say if it was the best in the series, but I really, really liked it. I think what I most liked I don't know if kids would most like--Derek finds himself in a digital citizenship predicament just like I teach my students about and I loved that. And even more that he recognized that and thought about what he'd learned. One can only hope real life would play out like that. But other than that, I thought it was a solid story. I liked the aspect of the Malibu wildfires and putting a story to that. Derek is a funny likable character and I especially liked the relationships he has in his family.  A good read I would recommend to my students.

[Laila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been reading this series with my son aloud at night over a period of a few months. It’s a good series for kids who enjoy realistic fiction and parents who want something that might make a kid think about making good choices and having empathy for others. Third grade and up, depending on the child, because the hero and his pals are in middle school. In this one Derek and his friends have to navigate being evacuated from a wildfire area and also navigate the fallout from some mean memes that are being sent around school. My son, unfortunately, got bored halfway through this one, so I ended up finishing it in my own. I enjoyed it.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Life as a Meme

The Kindle version is very hard to read, let me say this right off. There are some paragraph breaks, page breaks, etc that really make it tough to read the book.

The storyline itself is great! Yes it’s about the kids making meme’s and sending them back and forth, but it also deals with some tough topics that children have to deal with, such as bullying. Cyber bullying mainly, but also just bullying when Derek gets lice.

I recommend these books because there’s always a great lesson to be learned, that sadly Derek usually learns the hard way.

[Brantley Towns · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is trash. My Life as a Meme sucks this is why. The plot is just him living his life then some stupid little thing goes wrong then under the text it's a photo of him doing something then it will say like u drop Ur ice-cream. Or it's like his mom gets coffee then it's when Ur mom gets coffee. this book just sucks.

[MaryAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Derek, his parents and 3 friends are staying in his mom’s client’s house to tend her famous pet dog. While there, wild fires threatened the house and they need to evacuate to a shelter.

I enjoyed that Derek didn’t get in as much trouble as he did in the previous books. In fact, he’s the one who is bullied.

[Chan Enya]

This book is the most boarding book that I have ever read!I think this is good to read when I can’t sleep.And this story is about Derek Fallon and his friends are back for another hilarious adventure in Book 8 of the My Life series—this time featuring epic “meme” adventures!

[LS Schulz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story with a couple of good messages. My sons both cringed a bit at some of the Meme's and some other Pop culture things that were mentioned - mainly because they were "old" (the lifespan of a Meme is so short-lived!). But, overall, we enjoyed reading this together.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love recommending this series and this latest installment is a fun, timely read. For my full review, visit http://kissthebook.blogspot.com . CHECK IT OUT!

[Lori Gibbany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic

[Allegra Baron · Rating 1 out of 5]

It wasn’t that good. I wouldn’t suggest you reading it. It’s kind of boring.

[books_zaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5
Książka była ciekawa, lecz wydawała mi się, że jest zbytnio dziecinna jak dla mnie. Co więcej bardzo szybko się ją czyta.

[Error · Rating 4 out of 5]

This used to be my favorite. Used to be. Now i can see that there is some plot stuff but what really brings it up for me are the memes at the end of every chapter. Yes i love those lol. 8.5/10

[Coralinaae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poczułam wakacje

3,75/5⭐

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book that has some hilarious moments

[Ishan Samarasinghe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed his book because I can relate to this book in many ways . When Derek has to leave out of his dream house I felt really bad for him. He to evacuate to the shelter because of the fire. Then a dude called Brian posted a meme and it went viral. And it was about Derek reading to a dog.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet the most spoiled dog on the planet. Poufy is an Instagram celebrity. She has her own wing in a giant mansion, she gets massages and meditates, she even has her own Doggy Nanny. It is required that Poufy post to Instagram twice a day during the week and three times on both Saturday and Sunday. "Poufy's followers might spontaneously combust if they don't get a photo of her having tea soon." Derek and his friends are house-sitting/dog-sitting this pampered pooch. The dog might be a hassle, but the house has an Olympic-sized pool, trampoline and a 20-foot rock-climbing wall. How can you say "no" to that? It should be a fun few days.

Who knew that there was going to be a wildfire in the area? They are forced to evacuate to a shelter and take Poufy with them (with her 2 suitcases, no less.) Spotty wifi, long lines at the charging stations and a lot of bored and scared kids doesn't make for much fun. Someone takes a picture of Derek while he is reading to some kids with Poufy on his lap and creates a meme. That meme goes viral because of #Princesspoufy and Derek is becoming a laughing stock. But is that what he should really be focusing on right now?

Unfortunately, Derek's problems are just beginning. And as the cyberbullying gets worse, Derek wants to retaliate. Is that ever a good idea? "What I didn't realize was how bad it felt being on the BULLYING side."

I love Derek and his friends. They are funny and they generally try to do the right thing. This one has a good message for students who are posting online.

[c · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review copy courtesy of NetGalley.

Another one of the “My Life as Book” series, which will definitely hook reluctant readers with its Internet references and simple drawings.