From Publishers Weekly
Maxie Zuckerman, age 10, is resented by his classmates for receiving top grades, and Maxie resents their resentment. Earl Wilber, new in town, is a lonely, nervous fourth-grader. In another classroom is a habitual tattler, Rosie Swanson. The three meet outside the principal's office (Maxie's guilty of cutting a hole in a bully's T-shirt, Earl is there for refusing to read aloud and Rosie's tattling is rattling her teacher) and embark on an escapade, thus forging a friendship that injects each with a dose of self-confidence. It's evident why these youngsters dislike school (their unreasonable teachers aren't much help), but they get away with some deceptive behavior. A promising premise is almost totally sidetracked here by a threadbare plot, trite dialogue--the author feels that a brief glossary is needed to explain the obscure vocabulary that comprises Maxie's insults--and less-than-appealing characters. While a subtle theme exists about the joys of friendship, any other pluses in this book are difficult to find. Ages 8 - 12.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Three elementary school misfits, thrown together by chance, find friendship and a bit of maturity in Park's latest effort. Rosie is a chronic tattletale, Maxie is the class brain (and therefore the butt of jokes), while Earl is the nervous newcomer who can't help getting silly in tight spots. All three find themselves waiting on the bench in the principal's office one Friday afternoon and end up cutting school together. A chance fire drill just as they are making their escape forces them to take refuge in the school dumpster (hence the grime); when they are finally able to flee, Earl realizes that the notorious kid-hating janitor has seen them. A weekend of worry and plotting follows, as they try to figure out how to silence Mr. Jim, or perhaps come up with a reasonable explanation to offer the principal on Monday. By the time things are sorted out, the three have become friends, and they have learned a bit about controlling themselves in situations that would formerly have led to trouble. The promising beginning, with a chapter devoted to the events leading up to the meeting in the office, should hook readers, but the story as a whole never quite takes off. The teachers and parents are not terribly understanding--indeed, they often seem a bit dense--but neither are they uncaring. None are fleshed out enough to seem real, however. Maxie, Rosie, and Earl do show some growth, but the process seems forced, and their actions over the weekend of worry even silly. The story is not told with the same skill found in Park's previous novels for a slightly older audience. The basic ingredients are here, but the end product is less than the expected sum of the parts. --Elaine Fort Weischedel, Turner Free Library, Randolph, MA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
