Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Penny Lowry is a fifth-grader who is an artist, not an athlete. Her PE teacher has proposed a pickleball tournament to raise money for an animal shelter. Penny reluctantly signs up with the rest of her class and her buddy Rocco. They make a pact not to take the game too seriously, which works out fine until Rocco discovers he's really good at pickleball. Now Penny is worried she'll let down Rocco and the whole school with her playing.
There is some nice humor and Shepard captures elementary school angst well. I wish the art and the captions were bigger so I could read them easier. That said, this is along the lines of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" format but with more text, making it a deeper read. Students should be able to relate to Penny's anxiety and nervousness about not being good at something as well as studying for end of year testing. Race isn't mentioned, and it's difficult to tell what anyone's ethnicity is from the line drawings.
Michelle in the Middle
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