MY LIFE AS A FIFTH-GRADE COMEDIAN

From the author of The Drowned (1995), etc., a boy who seems headed straight for The School for Intervention, just like his brother before him. Bobby's constant class clowning has driven his principal, Dr. Deal, to the limits; his father has given up on him, expecting—and getting—only the worst; his brother, Jimmy, eggs him on. Only his teacher, Mr. Matous, is on his side, and Bobby's not making that easy. Then he is given one last chance—the job of organizing a school-wide comedy competition. In this misleadingly titled book, the jokes fall flat (many simply because they appear in the chapter headings before they come up naturally in the text), but the drama soars. Tensions run high as Bobby struggles to channel his comedic energy and drive into the productive efforts suggested by his understanding teacher, while also dealing with pressures from his brother and nay-saying father. Things may work out a little too well in the end, but scenes of Bobby's home life and his relationship with his friends and relatives make the book hard to put down. (Fiction. 8-12)