We hear from five different students during their sixth grade year in this new book from Rob Buyea. Gavin is a football nut who has a hard time with reading. Randi is a gymnast who is pressured by her mother. Natalie wants to be a lawyer like her parents. Scott is a goofy kid who only wants to help others. Trevor gets bullied by his older brother and bullies others because of it.

Mrs. Woods is pulled out of retirement to be their teacher and the kids actually love her. She reads aloud to them and allows no nonsense from anyone. She is sharp and a great teacher. They are also taught by Ms. Magenta who is a creative free spirit and starts a service club. The kids get to work at the library and a local retirement home. Things are going great until the school starts prepping for testing. Recess is cancelled and there are no more read alouds. School is no longer fun and no one is happy including Mrs. Woods and Ms. Magenta. So the kids come up with a plan that doesn’t go quite according to plan.

This is typical Buyea style with multiple perspectives and diverse kids. I enjoyed the connections that were created throughout the story with the kids, the parents, the teachers and others they meet. There is a lot of good stuff here about the power of good teachers, reading, bullying and community engagement. I loved the retirement home scenes and Scott is a scene stealer for sure. The multiple perspectives do leave you wanting a bit more from the characters, but it is still a great book even if it is about testing!

Rob Buyea has a way of writing stories that tug at my teacher heart and this one is no exception. I am sure teachers and students will appreciate the frustration the characters feel with regard to high stakes testing. I also appreciate the references to other books mentioned in the story. There are many great characters, both young and old, with interwoven story lines that make for a wonderful book that I'm excited to share. It is filled with fantastic messages about honesty, friendship, compassion and forgiveness. It's going to be another huge hit!

Told from multiple perspectives this book chronicles the year of several middle school children as they prepare for statewide testing and how they decide to take matters into their own hands in order to "ace the test".

I do think the test prep by the school was very extreme but in many students' minds that is probably how it feels and they won't mind. But there is more to the story than that - friendship, bullies, forgiveness, expectations, and a lot of heart. I could see a lot of good discussions around this book.

Amazing school story with earnest and creative teachers and a delightful group of kids. While the core story is about the standardized test, this is about so much more. Every part clicked together for me - characters, voice and all of the story threads of a school year coming together in the end. I loved this!!

This will post on my blog on 10/1/17.

Mrs. Woods is brought in at the last minute to be a long term sub in a 6th grade class. She is retired, and doesn't particularly care about the all important state assessments; she would rather read with the students and have them enjoy learning. In chapters told from the points of view of different students in the class, we see how the year progresses, the projects that are completed, the home lives of the speakers and the challenges they face, and then the delivery of the test. We hear from Natalie, who wants to be a lawyer like her parents; Randi, who is tired of gymnastics because her mother is pushing her; Gavin, who hates school and feels that it wasn't important to his parents; Scott, who struggles socially and academically, and has to deal with an aging grandfather; Trevor, who is a bully because he is bullied at home. The students also work with a teacher on art and community service projects, and go to a local nursing home to visit the residents. In the end, there is an issue with the testing, and the children figure out a lot of personal connections between their teachers and the residents of the nursing home.
Strengths: Buyea is a good writer who tells interesting school stories and tries to incorporate characters from a variety of backgrounds. I thought the story about Scott's grandfather was particularly well done.
Weaknesses: Students don't want to read about testing any more than they want to take tests, and there are a lot of problems but not a lot of action. Teachers, however, adore these polemics against it.
What I really think: Mr. Buyea really, really needs to write a novel about middle school wrestling, preferably from the viewpoint of one wrestler. However, I need novels about wrestlers so badly that I would probably buy two copies even if the story is told from multiple view points.