The classroom : Student Council smackdown!

Format:

Book

Title:

The classroom : Student Council smackdown!

Author:

Mellom, Robin author

ISBN:

9781423150640

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication:

New York : Disney/Hyperion, [2013]

Physical Description:

282 pages : color illustrations ; 22 cm.

Series title(s):

Classroom ;

Number in series:

Summary:

Chronicles the race for seventh-grade class president at Westside Middle School as suddenly-popular documentary-film subject Trevor Jones faces his best friend Libby Gardner and Cindy Applegate, the official school gossip.

Reading Level:

750L lexile

Sentence length: 4 (hard) Word frequency: 4 (hard) Lexile.

Program Information:

Accelerated Reader AR MG 5.2 6 Accelerated Reader Quiz #162197.

Reading Counts 3-5 4.6 10 62856.

Lexile 750L.

Subject(s):

Middle schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Popularity -- Juvenile fiction.

Elections -- Juvenile fiction.

Politics, Practical -- Juvenile fiction.

Best friends -- Juvenile fiction.

Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.

Documentary films -- Production and direction -- Juvenile fiction.

Middle schools -- Fiction.

Schools -- Fiction.

Popularity -- Fiction.

Elections -- Fiction.

Politics, Practical -- Fiction.

Best friends -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Documentary films -- Production and direction -- Fiction.

Genre:

Fiction.

Juvenile works.

Added Author:

Gilpin, Stephen

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Stayton Public Library	JF MELLOM	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Libby Gardner and Cindy Applegate are smile-without-teeth friends, but they are fierce rivals when it comes to politics. Cindy owned the student council elections in fourth and sixth grades, while Libby came out on top in fifth. Now, they both hunger for the prestigious title of seventh grade class president.

But middle school elections have their own rules...and pressures. When Trevor Jones is forced to join the presidential race, he devises a plan to make sure his best friend Libby wins. That all changes when he discovers that Libby has oh-so-sneakily gone behind his back by hiring Molly Decker to be her campaign manager. Now, he's in it to win it. And things are going to get ugly.

Join Trevor, Libby, Cindy, and the whole Westside contingency (along with the documentary film crew) as they explore the ugly underbelly of middle school politics. Praise for The Classroom: The Epic Documentary of a Not-Yet-Epic Kid
There's so much to love about this laugh-out-loud-funny story of what happens to Trevor Jones, who is just starting the seventh grade at Westside Middle School. All in one day, Trevor starts school, loses his best friend and has to deal with a film crew documenting the life of a "typical middle school student." The story is told a bit in the style of a movie; the chapters are short, and there are cute drawings and doodles on the pages. Total fun for the end of the summer and the start of school.
The Washington Post (Kids Post)

"This documentary set out to show the real story of Trevor, along with his normal, everyday, average classmates.... Westside is their middle school. And these are their stories." With an introduction like that (and the subtitle), readers may expect more of a documentary-style novel than what Mellom (Ditched: A Love Story) actually delivers in her first middle-grade novel. Most of her story unfolds through good old third-person omniscient narration, interspersed with occasional "interviews" with seventh-grader Trevor Jones and his classmates. Fortunately, Mellom has a gift for school-days humor, and her novel is very entertaining. Trevor, a consummate worrier, and Libby, a consummate planner, have been best friends for years, but as they begin the school year, Libby, tired of covering for Trevor's (many) gaffes, believes it is time for them to make new friends. Gilpin's spot art (not all seen by PW) is a mix of notes, cartoons, and other "found materials" that add to the book's sense of fun as romantic entanglements and misunderstandings proliferate in the days leading up to the school dance. Ages 9 12.
Publishers Weekly

Author Notes

Robin Mellom (www.robinmellom.com) has taught grades five through eight and has a master's degree in education. She is the author of The Classroom: The Epic Documentary of a Not-Yet Epic Kid, as well as the young adult novel Ditched: A Love Story . She lives with her husband and son on the Central Coast of California. Follow her on Twitter (@robinmellom).

Stephen Gilpin (www.sgilpin.com) is the illustrator of more than 30 children's books, including the Who Shrunk Daniel Funk? and Super Chicken Nugget Boy series. He lives in Hiawatha, Kansas with his genius wife, Angie, and a whole bunch of kids. Follw him on Twitter (@Sparkgilpin).

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-7-Seventh-grader Trevor Jones is back, a few days after dousing his nemesis, Corey, with soda at a school dance in The Classroom (Hyperion, 2012). The stunt instantly makes Trevor popular. After a series of mishaps, his status plummets, which makes him think he's the perfect candidate to run for class president, confident he'll lose so that his friend Libby will win. The extremely slow pace will discourage reluctant readers: the first half of the book spans one day, with lots of conversation and internal musings among the characters but not much action. Trevor is such an Everyman that he lacks distinguishing qualities that would make him a protagonist engaging enough to lead a book series. He finally gains some depth when he stands up to Corey in a realistic confrontation that also demonstrates a practical way to handle a bully. The rest of the students are characters readers have seen before and the school staff, with the exception of the janitor, are stereotypical dolts. Gilpin's detailed illustrations add interest, varying from full-page scenes to amusing sketches from characters' notebooks. Readers who enjoy silly middle school fiction will find some laughs; otherwise purchase only where the first book is popular.-Marybeth Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book Review

Through a series of improbable events, Trevor ends up running for seventh-grade class president against his best friend. This second book in the series is as predictable as the first. While ostensibly exploring the vicissitudes of middle-school popularity, the novel is hampered by a far-fetched plot and flat characterizations. Cartoonish black-and-white illustrations add levity. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Although Mellom begins this follow-up to The Epic Documentary of a Not-Yet-Epic Kid (2012) with the conceit that it's a documentary film in book form, this setup gets dropped quickly, except for occasional on-camera interviews of the student characters. There the students reveal things for the record they probably wouldn't say; the comical doodles found in the students' notebooks also seem out of place in a movie. Regardless, Mellom's main characters are likable, and the plot is neatly confined to five busy school days involving neurotic Trevor's week campaigning for Libby as seventh-grade president. Mellom and Gilpin poke warm fun at efforts to be cool in middle school, where mere survival seems perfectly acceptable.--Nolan, Abby Copyright 2010 Booklist