Poor Nick. This short 7th grader spends more time in his locker than anywhere else. The school bully has it out for him and it takes the Odd Squad to tackle the problem and save Nick. Fairly predictable, it will appeal to upper elementary school readers who might not pick up a more challenging book.

Nick is tired of being shoved into his locker by Roy, who relentlessly bullies everyone at Emily Dickinson Middle School, but know that as the shortest 7th grader EVER, he is unlikely to break free of Roy's tyranny. When the school psychologist decides that Nick would be safer if he had a peer group, Nick doesn't protest too much when he gets put on the Safety Patrol with the lone member of said patrol, Warren, as well as Molly, a tall girl whose shoelaces are frequently tied together. With the help of hippie dude custodian, Mr. Dupree, (whose philosophy in warding off bullies is "bring the crazy", a philosophy which I have heard extolled by professionals in the anti-bullying movement!), they decide to bring Roy down by finding the one thing that means the most to him and seizing it. This plot takes some time, but the group perseveres, learning not only about what makes bullies tick, but about how they can each survive middle school.
Strengths: Have to admit here-- I wanted to loathe this intensely. Bullying, kids being put in lockers, Unrealistic school shenanigans AND a Wimpy Kid-style notebook novel? Everything I hate. And yet, I rather enjoyed this. The drawings reminded me strongly of Bloom County, and I really liked the characters. Nick is willing to control his own destiny, and even Karl, with his strange habit of losing his pants (Really, in 15 years in the middle school, I've only heard of one kid losing his pants, and that was because someone pulled down the kid's gym shorts. Punches were exchanged. It was ugly.), had a certain likeability. The conflict between Roy and Nick was fairly realistically portrayed. So why do I feel like giving this to my library patrons is roughly akin to giving my children cookies to eat for breakfast?
Weaknesses: The only person to have ever been put into a locker in my middle school is Surly Teen Boy, and even then it was because he asked someone to put him in one of the oversized ones. And yet this is still a fear that 6th graders have. So no, I don't believe that Nick gets put in lockers that frequently.