[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Bell Kirby is quite the engineer for an elementary school student. His favorite school activity is Creator Club. (This year they get to recreate some of Da Vinci’s creations!) Bell designed a habitat of tubes for his chinchilla to run through that travels all over his bedroom. Bell’s dad, who is deployed with the Army, sends him engineering brain teasers to solve. And his mom, who’s an engineer with the Army, has a garage workshop where Bell can work on some of his own designs.
But Bell’s biggest “system” is the one he uses at school to avoid a bully named Parker. Bell has a system for every hour of every school day. He has studied Parker’s schedule both for school and for extracurricular activities. Bell has alternate routes for his alternate routes to get him from class to class to home while avoiding Parker as much as possible. Bell has tried to get help for the bullying at school, but Parker’s dad is the principal. He always has an excuse for why whatever Parker did was an accident, or he doesn’t believe Bell because there are no witnesses willing to speak up.
When Daelynn Gower shows up at their school, her eccentric appearance and outgoing personality catches Parker’s attention. And a cafeteria accident makes her Parker’s primary target. So Bell is off the hook! Parker isn’t tormenting him any more. In fact, Parker wants Bell to help him in his schemes against Daelynn. What can Bell do now?
Review
What a great twist on the bullying theme getting a lot of attention in children’s literature these days! I loved that this wrestles with the question of what responsibility the formerly-bullied have to the new target. Do they bask in their own freedom, or do they try to stand up to the bully, risking a renewal of the torment? Anyone who thinks that is an easy question – or an easy task – has probably never been bullied.
I loved Bell! His engineering brilliance makes him a unique middle grade protagonist. I loved how adults and kids recognized that talent in him. I thought Bell’s parents reacted reasonably to his situation at school, walking the fine line of being his advocate while also giving Bell space to try to handle his own business.
I have enjoyed all of Jake Burt’s work to date. You can read my review of Greetings from Witness Protection (one of my top books of 2017) here and my review of The Right Hook of Devin Velma here. The Tornado is a must-read for Jake Burt fans. This would be a great read-aloud or book group selection. The bullying angle gives a lot of material for discussion both at school and at home. This is another great selection for older middle grade readers (ages 10-14). Don’t miss this one!