My Life as a Book

My Life as a Book is a middle grade fiction and humor novel written by Janet Tashjian and originally published in 2010. The first of 11 books in the My Life series, the novel is illustrated by Tashjian’s son, Jake. Tashjian uses humor and the illustrations to make the novel more approachable to young, reluctant readers. My Life as a Book earned the 2011 Bank Street – Children’s Book of the Year award.

This guide utilizes the 2010 Square Fish (Macmillan) version of the novel.

Plot Summary

My Life as a Book is narrated by its 12-year-old protagonist, Derek Fallon. Derek lives in California with his mom, dad, and dog, Bodi. His summer is about to begin, and he’s looking forward to spending his days relaxing, causing mischief, and hanging out with his dog and best friend, Matt. Meanwhile, a mystery begins to unfold when Derek finds an old newspaper in the attic indicating the drowning of a girl in Martha’s Vineyard. Derek asks his mother why she has the newspaper, and she refuses to discuss it, so Derek resolves to investigate the occurrence.

Derek’s visions of an easygoing summer of adventure and mystery are dashed, however, when he finds out that his teacher,

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