🤷‍♂️Fifth Grade Top Dogs

By Jerry Spinelli

4Rbooks                                            3/6                              grades         5-6

Amazon                                              4.1/5                           grade level   3-7

Goodreads                                       3.47/5

Common Sense Media               not yet reviewed

190 pages

Synopsis

             George, better known as Suds, is soon to be in fifth grade. He’s been a third-grade angel, a fourth-grade rat, and now he’s about to be a fifth-grade monkey, but he and his friend Joey decide they don’t like monkey as a nickname and instead decide to be “top dogs.” They plan to rule the school through being totally cool.

            The year starts off with some struggles. He and his sister still don’t get along and she tells the girl he likes the Suds calls her ugly. Fifth grade has a new teacher, Mr. Miles, and he is quickly on to Suds and Joey’s schemes. He makes a spectacle of himself escaping from a spider, and his attempts to be cool are getting him in trouble at home.

            Suds begins to wonder if being a “top dog” is worth it. He’s navigating troubles at home and at school and he’s honestly starting to feel like it’s boring. Little does he know that excitement is coming.

Parental Guidelines:    medium-high

Suds and his sister Zippernose have an antagonistic relationship throughout

most of the book.

One of the illustrations is of Suds tooting a fart with a speech balloon “poot”

coming out of his tush.

Judy Billings, Suds’s heartthrob, bullies his sister on the swings.

Suds and Joey refuse to take a test with a sub, and then take a school frisbee

and play in the bathroom during class.

Suds gets off the bus early one day and walks home arriving well after dark.

Suds stands up for his sisters and pushes Judy to the ground.

Suds and Joey steal all of the candy off a Halloween porch.

Recommendation

            This is the third book in a very spread-out series. First was Fourth Grade Rats, published in 1991. That was followed by a prequel, Third Grade Angels, published in 2012. As such, there are times the story feels like an after-thought.  It’s a short and easy read with good illustrations. Struggling readers will find it accessible and fun.

            The story ends with a couple of sweet moments. Suds and Joey, and the other fifth grade students, help a class of 1^st graders when their teacher falls ill during class. Suds and his sister realize they don’t hate each other and can build a better relationship. Suds and Joey begin to realize that being “top dogs” is more about respect and responsibility than it is about cool and rule.

            This was a “meh” book for me, but it did have some funny moments and could lead to some family discussions about responsibility and sibling relationships.