✨Sawyer Lee and the Quest to Just Stay Home

By Zach Weinersmith

4Rbooks                                            5/6                              grades         4-7

Amazon                                              5/5                               grade level   4-6

Goodreads                                       4.15/5

Common Sense Media               not yet rated

200 pages

Synopsis

            Sawyer Lee comes from a long line of go-getters and over-achievers. He, on the other hand, just wants to be left alone.  His favorite activity is to lay on his friend’s couch, be pampered by his friend’s parents, and listen as his friend play video games. He doesn’t volunteer for anything, doesn’t aspire to anything, and doesn’t want to be found by his Aunt Celia.  He lives with her while his parents are out of town.  

            The town where Sawyer lives is famous for its gourds, a horrible vegetable, according to Sawyer. It will soon be time for the annual Gourd Thump where residents compete for the best gourd and gourd display. Sawyer wants nothing to do with that, but is dragged into competition with his friend, Angela. This causes a rift with his other best friend, Gary, who joins forces with Anderson, the town “teacher’s pet.”

            Contestants start getting penalized for breaking the rules of the competition. Everyone is wondering who is setting people up to be disqualified and have their gourds pulverized. Angela sets out to find the culprit and recruits Sawyer to help her, against his will, of course. They both suspect Anderson, but there are other suspects as well.       

Parental Guidelines:    low

Sawyer lives in a cottage on his Aunt Celia’s farm when his parents are out of town, which he says is often.

Someone seems to be setting up the contests in a gourd contest to be disqualified.

At the end of the story it turns out everyone is cheating.

The over-the-top good kid is driven to madness by the cheating scandal.

None of the characters would qualify as good role models.

Recommendation

            This is a silly, over-the-top story that has little social or educational value except that it is a fun, easy-to-read novel with great illustrations.  It has similarities to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series with its subject matter and cartoon style pictures, almost one every other page. Struggling and reluctant readers will find this story entertaining and accessible. Advanced readers will enjoy it as a quick diversion from their more serious novels.