Review: The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell
The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell by Jordan Sonnenblick, illustrated by Marta Kissi Scholastic Press Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Beth L. Gallego Buy at Bookshop.org Jordan Sonnenblick takes us back to his childhood with this lightly-fictionalized account of his own fourth-grade year. It gets off to a rough start. He doesn’t get past the first day before breaking one of Mrs. Fisher’s Rules for Successful and Mature Fourth Graders. He has always had trouble sitting still and paying attention, and his new asthma medication has made it worse. His pet garter snake, Hector, unexpectedly gives birth to a whole bunch of baby snakes that need new homes. And his parents sign him up for drum lessons, but he doesn’t have a drum at home - he has to practice on a large dictionary. Jordan faces indignities and setbacks with determination and wry humor. He is a good-natured, likable tween boy trying to figure out the sometimes baffling world around him. Marta Kissi’s black-and-whit...