As a middle-school teacher, I use Jerry Spinelli's young-adult novels every year. They are engaging and accessible and make for entertaining read-alouds. My Jerry Spinelli collection is a go-to resource for class discussions of themes including (but not limited to) bullying, true friendship, loneliness, abandonment, hope, reconciliation, courage and even the Holocaust. He's a skillful storyteller who dreams up memorable characters. He writes YA fiction that is really, really good, but that - for me - generally lacks that intangible spark that infuses stories with greatness.

Smiles to Go feels like classic Spinelli, chock full of compassionate, quirky characters, nuggets of wisdom acquired as one passes through life's trials, friendship found in unexpected places, and a dose of teen angst for good measure. Will Tuppence is a ninth grader who begins to deal with the transience of his own existence when he learns that a proton has died. This event, for Will, carries so much significance that he creates a new calendar beginning with PD1 - the day he hears of the proton's death.

Will is a physics buff who dreams of becoming an astronomer. He craves predictability, regularity, and as a champion chess player, he tries to stay several steps ahead in the game of life, as well. Antagonized to no end by his younger sister, Will finds happiness in his routines: skateboarding, stargazing, and Saturday night Monopoly games with his best friends, Mi-Su and BT. When Will falls for Mi-Su, he analyzes her every move, word and gesture for clues about her feelings. Unable to live in the moment, he plans meticulously for a future that he believes he can direct. As he comes to recognize the futility of his attempts at control, his grip grows even tighter until an accident changes everything.

Once again, Jerry Spinelli has crafted a compelling story. It's sweet and relatable and, while it isn’t a must-read, it is a solid young-adult novel that may inspire readers to examine their relationships a bit more closely - and, in so doing, to find the unexpected waiting just beneath the surface.

Erica Fry is a middle-school teacher in Brooklyn, NY. - Erica