Tiny Tornadoes

June 15, 2023
Buddy, Bea, and their second grade classmates find a perfect class name. By Friday of the first week of school, Buddy is feeling confident, but he's still getting used to his exuberant classmate Bea and his new teacher, Ms. Maple. Ms. Maple has done something intriguingly unexpected, though, removing the classroom books from their baskets and scattering them around the room. Ms. Maple asks the class to sort them--a challenging activity for enthusiastic, recently fledged readers. The second graders step up with interest and determination, each taking charge of a category and a labeled basket. Bea has her own strong ideas. She insists that books that don't rhyme can't go in the poetry basket and that it would be fine to have a basket just for the books she personally wants to read. Questions arise: Is a graphic novel with an African American character supposed to go in Amber's African American basket or in Omar's graphic novel basket? Lunchtime brings some interesting intel: The other second grade class is choosing a class name! This information galvanizes Ms. Maple's class, resulting in a lively exercise in idea sharing, cooperation, and compromise. Carr persuasively conveys the sparkle, earnest enthusiasm, and occasional boisterous silliness of second graders, and these funny school moments feel genuine. Buddy is Asian, Bea is light-skinned, and Ms. Maple is of Filipino descent; other children and teachers are depicted as racially diverse in the energetic cartoon art. Genuinely funny, convincing, and in tune with its audience. (Chapter book. 6-9)

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