Unschooled by Allan Woodrow –NO

Woodrow, Allan Unschooled 288 pgs. Scholastic, 2017.  $17. Language: G (0 swears) Mature Content: G Violence: G  

Its spirit week and opposites attract best friends George and Lilly find themselves as team captains for the opposing teams. Organized George knows their friendship will be just fine during the competition but scatterbrained Lilly is determined to win. Both of them find themselves caught up in the machinations of their classmates as well as accidents which make it appear as if both teams are cheating (and sometimes they are). Their friendship has never been weaker, will it survive spirit week?

I reviewed Class Dismissed by this same author and it was one of my favorite essential reads, so naturally I was excited to read this book. But I was surprised to find that the characters were really cliché (for example the grownups at the school are really old fashioned and blind to the true nature of the situation). The main characters are really amateur and predictable, stuck to their “opposite” traits. The plot seems to drag and I wondered how I was going to get through the book, especially as the students speculated over and over about the mysterious final prize. Honestly, this book has an unpolished feel, like an author writing their first book, which is so strange to me because I loved his other book so much and it was so well written.

EL –NO.  Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author