David Roberts's illustrations are a stroke of comedic genius. Subtle visual homages to cartooning greats (Charles Addams, George Booth and even a touch of Edward Gorey) as well as sly cultural references…may pass right over young readers' heads, but adults who read this with their kids will relish the inside jokes. Kids will just plain relish the book.
—The Washington Post
The fiendish Miss Breakbone-a teacher with her own electric chair and a subscription to Guard Dog Lovers Monthly-is no match for her students, once they put their heads together. They have no choice: Miss Breakbone has insulted them ("doodling, dozing, don't-knowing dunderheads!"), confiscated a cat figurine that Junkyard was saving for his mother's birthday and then dared them to retaliate. Einstein, the genius hero, marshals his classmates' skills (hypnotism, spitballs, perfect knowledge of movie plots) and pulls off the perfect break-in. Action and zaniness animate every page of this picture book/early reader hybrid, but the story's real virtue is Newbery winner Fleischman's (Joyful Noise) appreciation for kids whose loser exteriors hide unexpected talent (each gets an apt nickname). "I nodded to Clips," Einstein says about the kid whose creations help them enter Miss Breakbone's lair. "His reading scores were low. His math scores were worse. But if they tested for paper-clip chains..." Roberts's (The Dumpster Diver) drawings, with their delicate lines and sly cultural references (Miss Breakbone looks like a cold war-era prison guard), convey just the right note of dastardly charm. Schoolchildren will adore this story of pupil revenge. Ages 6-10. (June)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gr 2-5
As long as children must endure the whims of tyrannical teachers, there will be an appreciative audience for a book such as this. Miss Breakbone suffers no fools; she refers to her class as "fiddling, twiddling, time-squandering...dunderheads!" Her militaristic form is capped by severe red hair and a menacing mouth; the latter is wide open and shrieking insults on the first page. Her alligator purse, warden-style key ring, and electric chair offer further inklings into her psyche. She makes Viola Swamp look like Glenda the Good Witch. When she confiscates Junkyard's latest find and makes him cry, the class reaches the tipping point. They devise elaborate plans to retrieve the treasure from the teacher's fortresslike home. The talents of the children in this diverse group are foreshadowed by their nicknames, e.g., Spider, Spitball, Google-Eyes, and Hollywood. Together, the Dunderheads are a formidable force, and Roberts's quirky watercolor and ink interpretations of Fleischman's deadpan humor and impeccable pacing produce hilarious results. The compositions are a pleasing mixture of busy scenes, with funny or important details rendered via judicious touches of color, gray washes, and black line work and ample white space. The spreads are sometimes defined by "panels," whose straight and curved lines form unexpected shapes and add another element of excitement to the dynamic diagonals and extreme perspectives. This book will raise an adult eyebrow or two, but young readers will relish each solution in this satisfying celebration of multiple intelligences, teamwork, and kid power.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
A group of underachievers engages in a battle of wits with their unsympathetic teacher and emerges triumphant. Sound familiar? Maybe so, but readers have never seen the story play out quite this way before. Fleischman's characters verge on caricature-the problem-solving narrator is a clever boy nicknamed Einstein, his friend Junkyard collects cast-off items from everywhere and the ominously named Miss Breakbone delights in tormenting her students-and Roberts's watercolor-and-pen-and-ink illustrations, reminiscent of Edward Gorey's work, exaggerate their quirky qualities. The plot is deliciously outlandish, featuring an undercover caper complete with a hidden safe, grappling hooks made of paperclips, a classmate who just happens to be a hypnotist and a broken statuette with (real) emerald eyes. Of course the kids succeed-the only real mystery is whether their adventure will find an appreciative audience. Younger kids will likely miss the many references to classic films and other inside jokes, while older readers might have the tragically mistaken impression that this is beneath them. Share with special readers; it's well worth the effort. (Fiction. 7-10)
Just the right note of dastardly charm. Schoolchildren will adore this story of pupil revenge.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A celebration of multiple intelligences, teamwork, and kid power.
—School Library Journal (starred review)
The setup is witty and subversive, and the book then springs into a classic caper plot, with each kid in the gang offering a bizarre skill.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
Roberts caricatures the formidable teacher and the amiably wide-eyed kids with a witty, agile pen and judicious splashes of color, an excellent foil for Fleishman’s terse and comical private eye send-up. With action galore, a villain foiled by clever kids, a laugh a minute, a profusion of illustrations with broad age appeal, and an easily read text, this is a winner.
—The Horn Book
You can almost hear the Pink Panther theme thrumming in the background... A fun stick-it-to-teacher romp with no redeeming message but cleverness in spades.
—Booklist
Deliciously outlandish, featuring an undercover caper complete with a hidden safe, grappling hooks made of paperclips, a classmate who just happens to be a hypnotist and a broken statuette with (real) emerald eyes.
—Kirkus Reviews
Self-affirming. As a whole, the class is a bunch of ‘twiddling, time-squandering, mind-wandering, doodling, dozing, don’t knowing dunderheads.’ Taken singly and placed to their best advantage the students are, of course, geniuses. The illustrations by David Roberts are hilarious scary and fabulously imagined.
—ForeWord
Young gumshoes and budding secret agents will love the laughs and suspense… distinct personalities and unique talents of each student all but guarantee that this memorable pack will amuse both children and adults.
—Shelftalker blog
You’ll be hoping to see more of this strange but appealing crew.
—Cookie magazine
The tone of this story is reminiscent of a hard-boiled detective novel, a wonderful stylistic quality….Miss Breakbone is a delicious villain, one that could have easily stepped out of a Road Dahl book.
—Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog (SLJ)
