Revenge of the Green Banana

Gr 4–6—Jim Murphy has decided that sixth grade is going to be different—this year he will not sit in the back of the class, he will do his homework, and he just might manage to impress his crush, Kathy Guenther. This plan goes awry within the first minutes of the first day of school, when Jim's new teacher, Sister Angelica Rose, reveals that she has an entire folder detailing his past antics. After repeated humiliations at her hands, Jim and his friends start work on elaborate revenge plots. The author and main character share a name, which, along with a "warning" at the beginning of the book, sets up this goofy tale as an autobiography. It often reads like a story told by an older relative, and though this conversational style can be appealing, younger readers aren't given a lot of context for the world of a 1950s Catholic school and the secondary characters aren't always well realized. Nonetheless, the quick plotting, school high jinks, and charming protagonist will go a long way for many readers.