Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt

I've loved both of the Gary D. Schmidt books I've read (The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now) and I have intended to read his newer books for a while. I loved how he took Shakespeare and made it applicable and interesting and fun in The Wednesday Wars and I loved how he did the same thing with the paintings of James John Audubon in Okay for Now. I had no idea what Pay Attention, Carter Jones was going to be about, but I did not expect for it to be about the game of cricket. I thought it was so fun to see this boy's "coming of age," of a sort, and how he became more confident in himself and more connected to his friends and schoolmates through the game of cricket. I also loved the whole weirdness of having a butler in America and how this butler was determined to be a butler even though it was a completely unheard-of thing here. It was very fun to read--although I still have no idea how cricket is played.