The Best School Year Ever!
Written by Barbara Robinson
Illustrated by none
Reviewed by Brennon D. (age 7)
This book is about the Herdmans who were mean kids. There were six Herdmans in all. They went to school with Beth and her brother Charlie. There was one Herdman in every class. The Herdmans were liars and bad kids, but they were funny too. Imogene was the oldest Herdman, and she was in sixth grade with Beth. The sixth graders had to think up compliments about each other all year long. Imogene was so bad, that they couldn't come up with a compliment for her. One time Imogene told Charlie that Kenneth got stuck in the teachers room and never came back . Another time, a first grader named Eugene cracked walnuts on his head because Gladys Herdman told him to at the talent show. Then Leroy Herdman hung a snake in the teacher's closet and scared all the Kindergarteners. At the end of the year, Beth had to tell compliments about Imogene. It was hard but she did come up with a couple of compliments.
My favorite part is when Eugene cracked walnuts on his head at the talent show. I liked it because it was very funny. That was crazy! I could imagine it, but I would never do something like that myself. I liked Charlie the best because was a nice kid. He shouldn't have believed everything that Imogene said because it got him into trouble. This book made me wonder about what it would be like to have a Herdman in my class. It would be a bad class to be in because they would be picking on kids and teasing them all the time.
I recommend this story because the Herdmans were funny and crazy. I think fourth graders should read this book.