The League of Unexceptional Children (The League of Unexceptional Children Series #1)

by Gitty Daneshvari Narrated by Amanda Philipson

Overview

Are you average? Normal? Forgettable? If so, the League of Unexceptional Children is for you! This first book in a hilarious new adventure series is for anyone who's struggled to be noticed in a sea of above-average overachievers.

What is the League of Unexceptional Children? I'm glad you asked. You didn't ask? Well, you would have eventually and I hate to waste time. The League of Unexceptional Children is a covert network that uses the nation's most average, normal, and utterly unexceptional children as spies. Why the average kids? Why not the brainiacs? Or the beauty queens? Or the jocks? It's simple: People remember them. But not the unexceptionals. They are the forgotten ones. Until now!

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Renee Dale

The arrival of The League of Unexceptional Children…suggests that it could be time for the imperfect child to share a sliver of spotlight. I don't mean the uncaring or incurious child, but the child looking outward rather than in—or rather than up, as tends to be the only direction for Type A's and their offspring. At a moment when we expect more achievement and intellectual sophistication from our teenagers than from some presidential candidates, this book…proposes alternatives…Outcasts, nerds and economically abandoned kids have long found space in books and films oriented toward adventure. Daneshvari recognizes that far more powerful than a dork becoming cool is the ignored finally being heard, the invisible seen. Here's hoping we will be witnessing much more of Jonathan and Shelley's kind of transformation, on the page and in life. Now that would be the best kind of American exceptionalism.

Publishers Weekly

07/20/2015
This series opener from Daneshvari (the School of Fear series) pokes sly fun at the pressure to raise future valedictorians and CEOs, by turning the tables on the classic trope of an average kid discovering secret greatness. Twelve-year-old students Jonathan Murray and Shelley Brown have unimpressive intellectual capacities and banal personalities—which makes them perfect candidates for the League of Unexceptional Children. The secret organization is facing a crisis: the U.S. vice president, one of two people in possession of a code that could compromise national security, has been kidnapped. Jonathan and Shelley need to decide if they trust the League before racing against the clock to try to find the v-p. Daneshvari’s fast-paced, twisty story is chock-full of clever humor (“You are not James Bond,” an elder agent explains. “You are James Bond’s cousins who are routinely left out of the family newsletter for both a lack of interest and your relatives’ general forgetfulness regarding your existence”) and will give readers a new appreciation for the average, as well as an appetite for the next book. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sarah Burnes, Gernert Company. (Oct.)

From the Publisher

"Daneshvari recognizes that far more powerful than a dork becoming cool is the ignored finally being heard, the invisible seen. Here's hoping we will be witnessing much more of Jonathan and Shelley's kind of transformation, on the page and in life."—The New York Times

"Delivers hilarious shenanigans...This humorous new series is sure to appeal to fans of Daneshvari and other lovers of the ludicrous."—Kirkus Reviews

"Pokes sly fun at the pressure to raise future valedictorians and CEOs, by turning the tables on the classic trope of an average kid discovering greatness...Daneshvari's fast-paced, twisty story is chock-full of clever humor."—Publishers Weekly

"This...amusing chapter book goes down easy. Even with the fate of the world resting on their 'slightly hunched' shoulders,the main characters are so disarmingly upfront about their inadequacies that they'll definitely have readers on their side."—Booklist

"Keeps readers giggling."—SLJ

"It will hook readers and have them anxiously awaiting the next adventure."—School Library Connection

School Library Journal

07/01/2015
Gr 4–6—Twelve-year-old Shelley and Jonathan are average kids: forgettable, normal, and looked over. In fact, many of their classmates have been going to school with them for years and would not be able to recognize them if they were stuck in an elevator together. However, their ordinariness is the qualifying trait that the League of Unexceptional Children is looking for. The League is a covert network of spies that are, well, unexceptional. The unexceptionals are the forgotten ones, the spies that can slip in and out of a room without anyone bothering to notice. After an inept security guard allowed the White House to be breached, several monumental things have happened: the vice president is missing, the nation's greatest spies are deactivated, and several confidential documents and data are compromised. Thankfully, Shelley and Jonathan are average, forgettable, but perfect additions to the League of Unexceptional Children. They have vowed to risk their lives for their country's liberties, all the while answering to the wrong name. From the best-selling author of School of Fear (2010) and the "Ghoulfriends Forever" series (both Little, Brown), comes a humorous middle grade novel that keeps readers giggling. The story flows easily through short chapters with interwoven art that further captures the humor of Jonathan and Shelley's case. VERDICT With humor that both girls and boys will enjoy, this likable book is a good fit for most collections.—Brittney Kosev, Dave Blair Elementary School, Farmers Branch, TX

Kirkus Reviews

2015-07-15
Below-average middle schoolers Jonathan and Shelley have one ability that makes them, well, not stand out but rather blend in: they are utterly unremarkable. It is this quality that makes them ideal recruits for the top-secret League of Unexceptional Children, an organization of kid and teen spies dedicated to protecting national security. As recruiter Hammett explains, "You are right there in the world's blind spot." So it is that these preteens bravely answer the call of duty to find the culprit who has kidnapped the vice president of the United States and, with him, the code that could bring destruction to all, no matter how dull or exceptional. With this promising premise, Daneshvari delivers hilarious shenanigans and moments of verbal delight, as when giving a very specific order to a fast-food cashier ("a double dog with a side of mustard, two sides of relish, a can of diet Fanta, fourteen packets of ketchup, two straws, and seven napkins") yields the protagonists entry to an oversized fridge, pushing on the back of which allows them into the league's HQ; as Shelley puts it, "It's kind of like Narnia, only with a lot of pork products." These moments will help readers past the occasional odd jerks of the plot that make the story at times difficult to follow.This humorous new series is sure to appeal to fans of Daneshvari and other lovers of the ludicrous. (Adventure. 8-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173693280
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	10/20/2015
Series:	League of Unexceptional Children Series , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

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