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THE LOSERS CLUB by Andrew Clements

THE LOSERS CLUB

by Andrew Clements

Pub Date: Aug. 1st, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-55755-2
Publisher: Random House

There’s no such thing as too much reading…until it gets you in trouble.

Sixth-grader Alec loves to read. For the past five years he has been sent to principal Mrs. Vance’s office multiple times for reading instead of paying attention in class. As sixth grade starts, Mrs. Vance gives the white preteen an ultimatum: stop reading when he should be listening or end up in summer school (which will destroy the annual family trip to New Hampshire). Worse than that, his parents will be spending longer hours at work, so he and his brother have to stay three extra hours in the Extended Day Program at school. According to EDP rules you either do homework in the library or you join a club. Happily, Alec learns he can actually start his own club, which he calls the Losers Club in order to scare kids away and ensure quiet reading time. Former best friend and now popular kid Kent delights in tormenting Alec, especially when the boys realize they both like new girl Nina (co-founder of the Losers Club). Can Alec navigate the rough waters of sixth grade, keep his grades up, and, most importantly, read? Clements adds to his growing oeuvre this tale peopled with likably familiar, mostly white kid characters in realistic situations; black Losers Club recruit Lily provides some diversity. Avid readers will cheer Alec on and wish their school bullies were as easily managed as Kent. Backmatter includes a list of the books, classics and popular, that the kids read throughout the story.

Another upbeat, modern school story sure to please fans and teachers.

(Fiction. 8-12)