Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Summer Vacation: Who the Heck is Lech Walesa?

WooHoo! Today is my last day of school, and while I was sad because some of my friends are moving away, I was happy BECAUSE IT WAS THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! So, in honor of the kid who absolutely despises school (and doesn't know what despise means) I give you Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Summer Vacation.

Summary: After being psychologically manipulated by his own parents and his mind, Charlie Joe Jackson is on his way to a Summer Camp, where they do more learning than partying (it's basically a summer school disguised as a summer camp) He gets a happy surprise, as when he gets to Camp Rituhbukkee (pronounced "read-a-bookie) he sees his long time girl/friend (not girlfriend) Katie. And he's already making ways in the first week. With the biggest basketball game coming up, even though Charlie Joe has never been a basketball man, he gets picked as the captain (mostly because all the other players are nerds) Nerd Camp doesn't stand a chance against the camp down the road filled with athletes. But he devises a plan, a plan that involves 4th grade crushes, red heads, and throwing up a whole pizza. After the big game, he gets troubling news. The already bad summer school in disguise reveals that due to parent complaints, they are going to replace free swim hour with another class (as if 3 classes weren't enough) And then Charlie Joe finds out that there is going to be some serious cheating on the final End Of Year Test. Can Charlie Joe use his hilarious antics to solve...everything? Greenwald's third book in a hilarious series will seriously make you bust a gut.

What I Liked: First of all, just to explain the obvious, I liked how funny the books was. Charlie Joe just can't stop getting into trouble and his only way out is to use some tactics clowns on steroids wouldn't think of, let along a 13 year old kid. I also liked how this books was more of a roller coaster than a mountain climb. In most books, usually all the action builds up to one main climax, but in Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Summer Vacation, it was just a small build up and WHAM! a mini climax just hits you in the face, and this happens about 4 or 5 times.

What I didn't like: That it was anti-climactic. Am I being a hypocrite? Yes. I did like the mini-climax idea, but I guess at the end I was expecting something way more intense, not the same level of intensity as the other 4 spots before it. Also, I didn't really appreciate the fact that all the nerds were crappy at sports. I mean, yes, it is a sterotype in today's society that is considered to be true, but if you go to a normal middle school, you can see that half of the athletes on any given sports teams are on the AB honor roll. I just think if some of them were good, that would make things a bit more...realistic?

Rating on 'the scale'- 8.2

Why? This books was hilarious, cracking me up from the moment I opened it (literally, the fake title page gag was hilarious) all the way to the final page. But there are some slight changes that could be made to make this book an award-winner.

Related- Charlie Joe Jackson Series- Tommy Greenwald/ The Detention Club- David Yoo/ Any book about a kid and his hilarious ways to survive school- N/A (I don't read a lot of school-related books, because when does awesomeness (books) & School ever meet)

Author's Note: School was out yesterday, and I'm only posting this out a day late because I went to a party (more or less a google hangout but still...)




Comments

  1. (Download) $12,234 in 2 months Betting Software?

    Let me say it right.

    I don't care about sports. Never cared less.

    I tried EVERYTHING from stocks & forex to internet advertising and affiliate products.. I even made some money but then blew it all away when the stock market went south.

    I think I finally found it. DOWNLOAD Now!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Author Interview! Starring Gordon Korman!

Spy Ski School by Stuart Gibbs

Request Post