Josh has a big problem: the election for Class President is tomorrow, and he's all but guaranteed to win. His mom would be thrilled, but there's not much Josh wants less than to be class president. So he forms a club, Dunces Anonymous, for students in similar situations--pushed by their parents to excel in things they don't want to do. Only 2 other kids show up: Magnolia, who wants to act but does not want the lead in Romeo and Juliet, since it would mean kissing Emmett Blackwell, and Wang, whose newfound love of fencing conflicts with his father's love of tournament chess. All three of them need cunning plans to get out of their parents' chosen activities--without letting down their parents.

Josh and his friends have the kinds of problems upper-elementary school and lower-middle school kids will identify with--outgrowing the roles and extracurriculars their parents have chosen, and trying to assert their independence without letting down their families. None of the plans completely backfire (though they do go wrong in fairly predictable ways), and the lack of slapstick-y hijinks keeps this well-grounded in reality. The overall message of "just tell your parents you don't want to do [activity:]" is a little heavy-handed, but the target audience is unlikely to notice. Recommended for 4th-6th graders.

(As an aside, I'm finding Orca's younger books to be far better than the ones they pitch to teens. Whether it's a matter of different editors or if I'm just pickier about teen books is a mystery, but these upper-elementary aged books are generally more realistic without being hokey.) ( )

Silly exploits of three misfits. ( )