From Publishers Weekly
This larky tale concerns three grade-schoolers--united by their abhorrence of matters academic--who meet outside the principal's office and forge a friendship that injects each with a dose of self-confidence. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
