Review: The Tapper Twins Go to War by Geoff Rodkey

Title: The Tapper Twins Go to War
Author: Geoff Rodkey
Source/Format: Won, Hardcover
More Details: Middle Grade
Publisher/Publication Date: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, April 7, 2015

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Claudia and Reese, who couldn't be more different...except in their determination to come out on top in a vicious prank war! But when the competition escalates into an all-out battle that's fought from the cafeteria of their New York City private school all the way to the fictional universe of an online video game, the twins have to decide if their efforts to destroy each other are worth the price. Told as a colorful "oral history" by the twins and their friends, and including photos, screenshots, chat logs, online gaming digital art, and text messages between their clueless parents, The Tapper Twins is a hilariously authentic showcase of what it's like to be in middle school in our digitally-saturated world...

My initial thoughts based on the first few pages of the Tapper Twins Go To War (With Each Other) by Geoff Rodkey was that it was going to be a cute, humorous story. But there were a few character comparisons to historical figures left me scratching my head, or just outright frowning. The book wasn’t all bad. Some parts were humorous as the twins Reese and Claudia Tapper continued their dispute with one another over an incident at the beginning. By the end of the book there was an important lesson that the twins had to learn. Another thing that I liked was the way that the book was written. It was in an oral history kind of style with different characters sharing their perspective of “the war”—it was paired with text messages between the parents—so I like how it came together to tell the story. Overall, I liked this book, it had its funny moments, but it also had some details that bothered me. Still, I would consider picking up other novels by Geoff Rodkey.