Barnett, Mac and Jory John. The Terrible Two. New York: Amulet Books, 2015. 978-1-4197-1491-7. 217p. $13.95. Gr. 3-6.
Holy cow! Miles is NOT excited about moving to Yawnee Valley, a sleepy town whose motto is “Come look at our cows.” Miles is a natural prankster and plans to wake up the town with his antics, but he quickly realizes that there’s another prankster at work in this town, and he’s out of Miles’ league. When the prankster reveals himself to be Niles, class goody-goody, Miles is shocked and refuses Niles’ offer to join forces as the unstoppable Terrible Two. Eventually Miles comes around to the idea and the boys pull off the greatest prank in Yawnee Valley history! THOUGHTS: A laugh-out-loud page-turner for kids and grown-ups alike. Give this one to students who love funny books with lots of illustrations, like Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
Humorous Realistic Fiction Lindsey Long, Nye & Conewago Elementary Schools
Mansbach, Adam. Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My — ! New York: Disney Hyperion, 2015. 978-1-4847-1304-4. $12.99. 199p. Gr. 5-7.
Franklin Isaac Saturday, or Ike, completes a seventh grade history extra-credit assignment by writing a letter to a famous historical person. He chooses his namesake, Benjamin Franklin. While trying to be honest and still complete the assignment, Ike manages to insult one of America’s Founding Fathers in the first line. While trying to impress his most arduous crush, Claire Wanzandae, he smoothly slides the letter into a mailbox on their walk home. After all, he did swipe an authentic stamp from his stepfather, Dirk the Jerk’s, stamp collection. To his shocking surprise, Benjamin Franklin writes back. At first Ike is sure it’s some ruse his friends are playing on him, but when he confides in Claire, they contemplate time-travel and parallel universes for the first time. When your dad lives over 3,000 miles away and rarely calls and your step-dad is a major ignoramus, you write to Benjamin Franklin for advice about girls and other important topics. It seems working with other Founding Fathers somewhat aligns with middle school angst. But, when Franklin helps Ben by providing juicy tidbits about the future, he could irrevocably change world history forever. THOUGHTS: While the historical details are debatable, the humorous dialogue and witty repertoire are sure to please middle school readers.
Fantasy Christine Massey, JWP Middle School
Shovan, Laura. The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2016. 978-0-553-52138-2. $18.99. 246p. Gr. 4-6.
The rumors are true; beloved Emerson Elementary will be closing at the end of the year. The building will be razed and replaced with a shopping center. Under the guidance of Ms. Hill, the entire class is writing down their 5th grade experiences in poetic form. Divided into four quarters, the poems reflect the heart and distinct qualities of each student. Using rhymes, haikus, free verse and other forms of poetry, the students share their first crushes, friendships, betrayals, and all the anxiety connected to fifth grade. But, a stronger lesson is unfolding. While on a field trip, the students see a picture of their teacher protesting during the women’s rights movement in Washington, D.C. Suddenly the history lessons about the First Amendment have a new meaning, and a diverse group of powerful adolescents unite their voices and address the school board in an attempt to save their school from demolition and make their last plea heard. THOUGHTS: With so many different personalities, struggles, and small victories presented, Laura Shovan’s debut novel is an exceptional read-aloud and evokes an interest in poetry while teaching students that some things are worth holding onto.
Realistic Fiction Christine Massey, JWP Middle School
Woodrow, Allan. Class Dismissed. New York: Scholastic Press, 2015. 978-0-545-80071-6. $16.99. 263p. Gr. 4-6.
What do you say when your teacher quits during a science experiment disaster? Yow. Yow. Yow. At least that’s what Squiggle Cat, Kyle’s favorite cartoon character, would say. The rest of the classes’ reaction? It’s party time! Kyle, Seth, and Brian decide it’s time for an all-out eraser war. Samantha figures she can spend her time more wisely correcting her peers’ fashion faux pas. Eric simply wants to continue blending into his chair, but Maggie and the other brainiacs decide they have to have some homework in order to pull off the best-kept secret of fifth grade. Maggie soon learns that teaching is not as easy as Mrs. Bryce made it look. Maybe the stress and workload were the reasons she was occasionally irritable and cantankerous. On top of all the papers to grade and lessons to prepare, Principal Klein reminds the class that they are responsible for writing and performing an original play for the annual parent night. Everything is almost under control when the two leads suffer food-poisoning from tuna, fudge, cottage cheese cupcakes and the classroom pet hamster, Soda, disappears. The students thought school would be perfect after Mrs. Bryce quit, but there’s one catastrophe after another. Things aren’t working out quite like they thought. THOUGHTS: What begins as a light-hearted story about school days and shenanigans soon turns into a life-long lesson for the students of Class 507.
Realistic Fiction Christine Massey, JWP Middle School