Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress

It was an excellent adventure! Great vocabulary and I personally loved the snarky, tongue-in-cheek narator! Very funny indeed. Would be wonderful for advanced fifth-grade readers.
(Highly wonderful audiobook provides wonderfully accented voices to the large cast of characters!)

Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop

I think this book is an excellent example of what adults think kids SHOULD like in books. All the Lessons are very heavy-handed and moralistic. The main character forever self-examines all his mistakes and regrets them earnestly. Everything this kid did was earnest! There was never a moment of silliness or sarcasm!
I do not buy that this kid is ten. No way! He comes across as years younger than ten. Perhaps a believable seven?
I think getting an intermediate grade boy to read this all the way through would be incredibly difficult.
There is NO humor. None! I didn't even realize that was possible. The "sensitive" William is forever crying and whining and moping. Gag! The main character comes off as a real goody-goody Dork! My guess is that this has not aged well. Boys in 1985 must have been very different.
Can't believe this was chosen for Battle of the Books

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

This was a clear case of the book not living up to the quality of the cover art.  I love the picture.  The hope and wonder on her face is sweet as pie or waffles.  The story though was meandering with random off-shoots which never ended up going anywhere: She was going to learn hockey...nothing.   The old lady was having false memories...nothing.  Her parents spent a LONG time lost at sea...AND nothing.  I think the author was confused about what the book was supposed to be about so she tried many different ideas out and then only wrapped up a couple of them. 

Young Fredle by Cynthia Voigt

An excellent cozy little mouse book. However, this surprising book also dealt with some hefty themes. Fredle discovers that mice fear everything they do not understand. He has grown up hearing horrible stories told about those vicious mice who live in the cellar or outside. When circumstance creates the opportunity for Fredle to visit these different places, he finds mice very much like him who also know only about their own environment and people and fear all else, including HIM, to his astonishment! I liked the message that people are people wherever you go. We all love and protect our families, try to find enough food, and need to have shelter. Our lives aren't that different after all.
Fredle also came to the realization that some "rules" or customs only exist out of momentum rather than logic, and there might be better ways to do things. All of the different groups he encountered had knowledge that was new to Fredle, but none of them knew everything about the world. None of us do, but it helps to be willing to learn from others as you share what you know.