Richard’s teacher is holding a contest. Whoever guesses how many candy corns are contained in the jar can take the whole thing home. Of course, there has to be some type of academic incentive, so she lets them make one guess per page read. And then chastises them for even considering reading “baby books.” I sit in not so silent judgment of this teacher for coming up with an incentive plan that is devised to make your struggling readers feel bad about themselves, so I can’t say I’m thrilled with that aspect of this book.
Richard is equally preoccupied with the contest and his upcoming sleepover. The contest situation has become more fraught than he originally thought as he gets himself into a predicament involving the candy corn. The sleepover has its own problems, centering around sleeping arrangements and a classmate that wets the bed. Richard makes a lot of bad decisions in this book, but they’re nothing that he can’t recover from.
What I did like about the book is that Richard makes bad choices throughout, but they’re the kind of bad choices that could happen to many kids. The story (especially considering the classwork and the classmate that wets the bed) is probably best for kindergarten or first grade students, however, children at those ages who are strong enough readers to handle this independently, won’t have a deep connection to Richard and his fellow struggling readers. Because of that, it might do better as a second grade read.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “shoot,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Richard thinks about hitting someone in the nose.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
