Title: Despicable Me: The Junior Novel

Author: (adapted by:) Annie Auerbach

Publisher: Hachette Book Group, Inc. (http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/)

Publication Date: 2010

Genre: Fantasy

Audience: Grades 3-5

Overview: Despicable Me tells the story of the worlds worst villain. This book was adapted from the movie, and has pretty much the exact same plot. The main character, Gru, attempts to pull off the greatest act a villain has ever done, steal the moon. In order to complete this task, he will need the help of three orphaned girls. As part of his evil plot, he will adopt the three girls, use them, and then ditch them. The plan changes, however, when Gru becomes attached to the girls. The story ends happily with Gru as a great villain, and a great dad!

Activity: A good activity for this book would be to assign it to a small group of students with about the same reading level. After completing the book individually, the students could come together to create their own version, or summary, of the book with pictures and sentences. The pages could be labeled and put in the class library for other students to read.

Reviewer's Name: Allison Parsons