Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit

August 1, 2012
Charlie Joe Jackson learns that "being a perfect student is just really, really hard." Charlie Joe's parents mean business: He must earn all A's (he negotiates for one B) in his last quarter of school or he's headed to Camp Rituhbukee for summer school. Charlie Joe has spent so much time avoiding schoolwork and causing problems that he now has to spend any free time earning extra credit. Luckily, he has great friends who are willing to help him learn to be a student. He still needs help, so he asks his art, drama and PE teachers for some extra credit. While it's clear no one thinks Charlie Joe has what it takes, these three teachers come up with inventive ways to assist. In art, he poses for the art students (and meets future girlfriend Zoe). In drama, he uses his schmoozing abilities to land the lead role in the school musical. And in PE, he joins student government. But things do not always turn out as planned. Snappy, sarcastic middle-school humor lifts this overlong book, and the spot drawings and occasional very short pithy paragraphs are a pleasant surprise. No middle schooler wants to face a month at summer enrichment camp, but many will enjoy watching Charlie Joe work harder than he has ever worked before to avoid it...even if he fails. (Fiction. 8-12)

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November 1, 2012

Gr 4-7-The boy introduced in Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading (Roaring Brook, 2011) is back, and with the summer looming and his grades far from par, Camp Rituhbukkee (Reading Camp!) seems inevitable. Charlie Joe makes a seemingly impossible deal with his parents-if he brings his grades up to all A's and one B (science is a hopeless cause for him), he can avoid the dreaded camp. Deal in place, he begs each of his teachers for extra-credit projects. The drama teacher tells him that he needs to audition for the school play, Paper Tiger: The Life and Legend of Arthur Scott, which is based on the life of the man who invented paper towels, and his art teacher uses Charlie Joe as a painting model dressed as a boy foxhunter in 19th-century England. As in the first book, Charlie Joe intersperses tips for readers throughout, such as, "If you're doing extra credit for a teacher, you have to like them. (Or at least pretend to like them.)" His likable friends try to help him achieve the nearly impossible, and along the way he begins to realize that completing the actual schoolwork in the first place would have been much easier than trying to catch up with studying and doing extra credit. Small comical illustrations complement the breezy writing style. Sure to appeal to reluctant readers who will identify with Charlie Joe's knack for avoiding reading and schoolwork, this title would also make a fabulous read-aloud. Luckily for fans of Charlie Joe, another installment in this unlikely hero's life is forthcoming.Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2012
Grades 4-7 In his 2011 debut, Charlie Joe Jackson offered his Guide to Not Reading. Now he has got to get his grades up if he wants to avoid the dreaded Camp Rituhbukkee (Camp Read-a-Bookie). But the only way to improve his grades is to try to get some extra creditnot easy when you're barely getting credit in some courses. But Charlie Joe gamely poses for his art teacher, wearing a goofy costume; agrees to serve on student council to satisfy its advisor; and tries out for the school play to boost his drama grade. Naturally, all this effort comes with a downside (he doesn't even think about his crush for six straight hours), but there are some surprising pluses as well. Charlie Joe is a fun and funny character (as are the many entries in his handwritten Tip Sheet document), and readers will get a kick out of his evolution and his own shock at the ways he adapts to change. Comic line drawings add to the humor.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2013
Charlie Joe Jackson gets involved in extracurricular activities to improve his grades in Extra Credit. In Summer, he goes to a camp for gifted kids (a.k.a. nerds) and tries to remake the campers in his own image. These second and third installments contain some caricatures, but Charlie Joe's middle-school wise-guy voice is entertaining. Black-and-white drawings add humor.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)