Two For The Preteen Set

Two For The Preteen Set

Juvenile fiction
Literary snobs: skip this review; you'll be glad you did.
Everyone else: enjoy. This is another excursion into books that are
not up to Shakespearean standards but wildly popular with the juvenile
fiction set.
James Patterson, master of preteen humor, has come out with
Pottymouth and Stoopid which takes a look at boys getting bullied.
Best friends David and Michael have been stuck with insulting
nicknames since their preschool misadventures. By middle school they
are outsiders, ridiculed and blamed for anything that goes wrong.
David's estranged father gets into the action by selling a
series based on their misadventures to the Cartoon Factory network.
In their school the show's off the wall popularity basically makes the
boys "walking, talking insult pinatas."
But the tide is about to turn in a way that should delight kids
who have been picked on, ridiculed, and chosen last for sports teams.
SQUEEEEEEEE!
That was me doing my library happy dance. At long last the
latest volume in Rachel Renee Russell's Dork Diaries, Tales from a NOT-
SO Friendly Frenemy, had arrived at the Orono Public Library and the
librarian for whom I valiently volunteer very regularly was processing
it speedy quick so I could read it FIRST.
Life is good!
Nikki, Russell's spunky protagonist, had finally said good-bye
to Mackenzie, "a RATTLESNAKE in lip gloss and hoop earrings," the
drama queen who had done her best to make her life miserable.
Mackenzie had transferred to the ultra posh, ultra pricey North
Hampton Hills International Academy. All good, right?
WRONG!!! Student Exchange Week is coming up. I bet you can
guess where Nikki has been assigned. There's no getting out.
Noncompliant students will have the choice of repeating eigth grade or
suffering through summer school.
What Nikki doesn't know is that NHHIA boasts a mean girl who
makes the dreaded Mackenzie look like a girl scout. Speaking of Girl
Scouts, Nikki's little sister, Brianna, is leaving a path of culinary
destruction in a seemingly futile attempt to earn a cooking badge by
making a snack her troop will actually eat. You know who will have to
work that out.
And then there's a trip to Paris at stake.
Need I say more?
On a personal note, the boiled dinner was superb. Yesterday I went to
a really interesting program on trauma informed sex ed which is highly
relevant to my field of study. My older daughter, Amber, also
attended. She had really good things to say. I love seeing what a
poised professional woman she has grown up to be. My dafodills are
taller. I can see the yellowish bulges that will be the flowers.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow UMaine students as we head
into the last week of the semester.
jules hathaway



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