SPIDER STORCH, ROTTEN RUNNER

Joey “Spider” Storch hates to be wrong, but his friends are getting tired of hanging out with a know-it-all. Spider has to be the best at everything, whether it is knowing how many medals Carl Lewis won in the Olympics or being the best basketball player on the court. But he quickly learns that not everyone can be the best at everything when his PE teacher puts him on a relay team in the Third Grade Olympics. Spider has to face the fact that he is a slow runner; maybe even the slowest runner in the whole school and his friends, tired of always being corrected, decide to use this to teach Spider a lesson. Spider learns that sometimes being part of the team is better than being the best. The writing is funny and fast-paced and the comical cartoon illustrations and a side story about the mysterious teacher’s lounge make this a wonderful addition to the Spider Storch series. (Fiction. 7-10)