Mrs. Dole Is Out of Control! (My Weird School Daze Series #1) »

When he was a kid, Dan Gutman always did his homework. That's how he grew up to write cool books such as The Kid Who Ran for President, Honus & Me, The Million Dollar Shot, Race for the Sky, and The Edison Mystery: Qwerty Stevens, Back in Time. If you want to learn more about Dan or his books, stop by his Web site: www.dangutman.com.

But first do your homework.

A.J. and the gang are graduating! But the out-of-control PTA president is turning the whole thing into a huge ceremony complete with fireworks, a petting zoo, and a flyover by the Blue Angels! Is moving up to third grade such a big deal? And what could possibly go wrong?

Children's Literature

A.J. and his pals are about to move up to third grade at Ella Mentry School in this first title of the new "My Weird School Daze" series. The title character is the new PTA ("Parents Who Talk A Lot") president, as well as mom to A.J.'s classmate Ryan. On top of humiliating her son (who hides under his desk whenever she enters the classroom) with charming anecdotes about his diaper days, Mrs. Dole decides to throw the soon-to-be third graders an out of control, over the top graduation party complete with white doves, fireworks, and guest speaker Bill Clinton! Here is how A.J. sums up the glorious event: " graduation went pretty well, except that I knocked over the eternal flame, Emily caught on fire, the petting zoo animals escaped, and the school almost burned down." A book silly enough to give kids the giggles, and clever enough to make adults smile, this is definitely a fun read. Paillot's illustrations mirror the wacky humor of the text perfectly. Reviewer: Naomi Milliner