✨The Loser's Club (2017)

By Andrew Clements

4Rbooks                                            5/6                              grades         4-8

Amazon                                              4.7/5                           grade level   3-7

Goodreads                                       4.16/5

Common Sense Media               not yet rated

231 pages

Synopsis

            Alec Spencer may be the only child who has ever been punished for reading too much. Alec loves to read, but he reads instead of paying attention in class and doing his homework. When his sixth-grade year starts with another trip to the principal’s office for reading instead of doing work in class, Alec is given an ultimatum from his principal. Pay attention or plan on six weeks of summer school. His parents fully approve of this plan.

            Alec and his brother are signed up for the afterschool program, three hours of homework or activities. Alec sees this as the perfect opportunity to find time to read so he recruits Nina to start a new club with him. He calls it “The Loser’s Club” hoping that will keep everyone else away and he and Nina can just read for three hours every afternoon.

            The year doesn’t turn out as he expects. His club slowly starts adding more and more members until it becomes one of the most popular in the afterschool program. Kent, the bully, even joins for a week after losing a bet to Alec during a kickball game. This puts more pressure on Alec then he was anticipating, especially when he learned that his club had to make a presentation at Open House.

Parental Guidelines:    medium-low

There is a bully who regularly makes fun of Alec and his little brother.

Alec loves to read but doesn’t always pay attention to his teacher and schemes how to acquire more reading time.

Alec isn’t always honest about his ideas and intentions.

Many of the school situations don’t ring true, especially the after-school program.

Recommendation

            Children who love to read will love this book as it reinforces what they feel every time they get lost in a book. They will appreciate reading about books that are their favorites, and it will give them many more books to check out and read new.

This is a great book for teachers who want to inspire their students to read. Alec and his club go through a number of classics (there is a list in the back of every book mentioned). Many of the plots are discussed and members are excited about reading, even the school bully who discovers that book can be interesting to him, too.

            For both teachers and parents this book provides great opportunities for discussions about the joy of reading, and the balance of doing what you love while taking care of your responsibilities, too.