KEVIN KEEPS UP

A boy who just can't stay on track finds himself facing his biggest challenge ever.

Like Joey Pigza before him, Kevin is an endearing and well-meaning boy who struggles mightily to focus in school. With the best of intentions, Kevin tries to keep up, but keeping his thoughts from flitting from one thing to the next is near impossible. A close third-person narrator does an impressive job taking readers along for the ride and recreating what it must feel like for Kevin as he does his best to stay on topic and write a report on cheetahs for school. Things go from bad to worse when his teacher announces she is going on an extended trip to Africa, and the dreaded Mrs. Beezer will be the one assisting the class with their animal projects. Unlike the patient Mrs. Steele, “the Buzzard” seems to believe the only way to deal with Kevin is to move his desk to the front of the room and keep him in from recess. Readers will cheer as Kevin powers through and ultimately comes up with a final project that will knock his teacher’s socks off.

With a winning protagonist and an enjoyable cast of characters, Kevin's story makes for a fresh and entertaining chapter book likely to please transitioning readers and give children with ADHD a character to whom they can easily relate.