Book Review: Death by Toilet Paper

While I have a great passion for reading, my sons do not all share my inclination. Both Bryce and Trevor are reluctant readers, at best. Imagine the outright terror Trevor experienced, at the start of the school year, when he learned that every seventh grader would be expected to read and review five books for each of the nine week grading periods. For him, that is certainly an uphill climb. I was able to recommend a few highly engaging titles (Lost in the Sun and Ghost Dog Secrets) and he took me up on my suggestions. I snagged Donna Gephart's Death by Toilet Paper at the library, thinking it would be right up his alley because it is the story of a young boy intent upon making money.

Benjamin Epstein misses the old toilet paper his mother used to buy, the cushy stuff they could afford before his father passed away and medical bills and rent payments cut away at their discretionary funds. Laced with bathroom trivia, the story follows Benjamin as he enters a variety of contests and embarks on a number of money-making schemes in an effort to help his mother stave off the threat of eviction. Their perilous state intensifies when his grandfather shows up hoping to stay. Benjamin's zeyde (Yiddish for "grandfather") is experiencing memory issues. Despite the tension of their daily lives and the threat of a powerful bully, Benjamin and his mother continue to pursue "The Grand Plan," set in place by his deceased father.

There are several things I know Trevor will enjoy: the toileting trivia blurbs, a few vomit scenes, Benjamin's entrepreneurial spirit, and his best friend's make-up artist techniques fascination. It will still be a struggle for him to get through, but I'm hoping he chooses it as one of his five books for the second quarter. For me, it was a tender tale about a realistic crisis, full of humor and heart.