Written by Jim Benton
The beginning was a bit slow, but the story and characters came together after a few chapters and then I couldn’t put it down! This is a very humorous, yet insightful book that both children and adults can enjoy. The characters ask a lot of great questions and come up with some creative solutions to their problems. Reads like Story Thieves or Liar & Spy.
Review by Anna Wendorf, Diamond Ridge Elementary Media Center
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 3-6
There’s nothing Jake likes more than some good trash-picking, so when his elderly neighbors move out and leave an especially promising-looking pile of household refuse on the curb, he goes right for it. He only has the chance to grab one box before his mom catches him and orders him in for dinner, though.
When mysterious goings-on begin to occur in the neighborhood, the trio investigates the hidden box from Jack’s garage. In it, they find the Secret Parent’s Handbook and with it all the means to subvert the irrational rules and petty tyranny of their home lives. No more clean rooms! No more vegetables! No more brushed hair or washed hands! It’s all videogames and junk food all the time!
But the authorities — and the resistance — have taken notice of the strange goings-on in Jack and his friends’ neighborhood. And they are closing in…
–From the Publisher
The Handbook
Written by Jim Benton
Scholastic Press
222 pages
Release Date: September 26, 2017
A review copy was provided by the publisher.
