FOOD FIGHT

It was the biggest food fight in
school history, but who’s to blame?

Suspect No. 1, Andrea, has a detailed
life plan, the next step of which is winning the student body president’s race
on the way to a position in Canada’s Parliament via Harvard and Yale. Ralph,
suspect No. 2, is eager to make friends at his new school (his fifth in six
years). And Joe, suspect No. 3, just wants to let a girl he likes know how he
feels. Their alternating accounts of the lead-up to the fight tell the story in
flashback. As part of her election campaign, Andrea sets up an anonymous advice
app called Bossypants (just before the election she’ll reveal herself as the helpful
adviser), but her tech help is not really on her side. Joe and Ralph both get
messed-up advice, and misunderstanding leads to more misunderstanding…leads to
the historic food fight. Will anyone get what they want or what they deserve? Sherman’s
tale strains credulity from the beginning. The kids are realistic enough, and
their narrative voices are distinct, but the logical hoops they are forced to
jump through for the sake of gags and plot are completely unbelievable. No
clueless young swain (or his family!) would believe he should woo a girl with
pureed mussels and Coca-Cola–drizzled beets at lunch. The book adheres to the
white default.

Skip the hall pass and take a hard
pass on this middle school tale. (Fiction. 8-11)