The Glass Cafe: or the Stripper and the State; How my Mother Started a War with the System that Made Us Kind of Rich and a Little Bit Famous
Gary Paulsen

Both the title of this book and its author demand it be read! It's a quick read (only 2 AR points) "written" by twelve year old Tony about an event in his life. Despite his affinity for really long run on sentences, this story is well told and is totally hilarious.

Tony's mother Alice, or Al, is an exotic dancer at the Kitty Kat Club. She's also one of the best, most involved parents ever. She's there when he goes to school and there when he comes home. They read literature and have discussions on it. She supports Tony in everything he does.

When Tony begins studying the human form in art class, he realizes he's going to be an artist. He asks his mother if he can draw some of the women at the club and with their permission, is allowed into the dressing room to draw the women in various states of undress. He looks at the women with the eye of an artist and creates some beautiful sketches, which he turns in to his teacher. (He even describes how he was seeing curves and lines, not "naked women", when he was drawing them.)

However, when they are displayed in some sort of contest, an anonymous person sees that a child drew theese, and turns Al into Child Protective Services for allowing her child to draw pornography. The caseworker brings an armed cop, who makes a small move toward Tony, causing Al to react and attack the cop. The SWAT team comes, destroys a neighbor's door and Tony and his mother end up in court. Despite the subject matter, this story is devoid of swearing. Actually, Al says very bad words to the caseworker, but Tony describes them as words he once heard a biker say!

Anyway, this book is really funny and could lead to some great discussion. The title may raise some eyebrows, but the story is very tame. If you want to read it before you buy it, it's a very quick read.