Brand-new third grader, Chris Anderson, has his whole year mapped out, and it starts with two words: BE NICE! Easy enough, right? Well...
...it seems like it at first. But when Chris and his best friend, Bobby, meet new kid, Kevin, being nice proves harder than Chris thought. Kevin is EVERYTHING Chris trying not to be. He's rude, he's mean... and Bobby seems to like him much better than the new Chris.
Try as he might, Chris cannot get on Kevin's good side, who is now acting like a bully, and has Bobby acting like it too! Once Kevin and Bobby create a top-secret treehouse club in Bobby's backyard and leave Chris out, Chris is left with no other choice.
THIS MEANS WAR!
Brand-new third grader, Chris Anderson, has his whole year mapped out, and it starts with two words: BE NICE! Easy enough, right? Well...
...it seems like it at first. But when Chris and his best friend, Bobby, meet new kid, Kevin, being nice proves harder than Chris thought. Kevin is EVERYTHING Chris trying not to be. He's rude, he's mean... and Bobby seems to like him much better than the new Chris.
Try as he might, Chris cannot get on Kevin's good side, who is now acting like a bully, and has Bobby acting like it too! Once Kevin and Bobby create a top-secret treehouse club in Bobby's backyard and leave Chris out, Chris is left with no other choice.
THIS MEANS WAR!
It was a sort of hot day in August, but not too hot you couldn’t play outside. School was coming up, so eight-year-old Christopher Anderson and his best friend Bobby were trying to make the most of the summer they had left. Much to the dismay of their parents, they launched bottle rockets into the sky—one landed on top of Chris’s grumpy neighbor, Mr. Laketon’s, car. Chris and Bobby immediately ran back into Chris’s house. The next day they did it again.
Then there were the water gun fights with other kids on the block. And the secret meetings of the Chris and Bobby club, in Chris’s treehouse. All they talked about was their schemes, like what kind of trouble they’d cause at school.
During the summer, they did nutty things like climbing out of the treehouse window and seeing if they could grab onto one of the further branches of the tree. Once Chris fell and broke his leg, and he always bragged that when it happened, he never cried. Eventually that story got old.
Chris and Bobby lived next door to each other, and in the house next to Chris, lived an elderly couple, the Petries. They were nice; they acted like grandparents to every kid on the block. One day, Chris noticed a FOR SALE sign on their front lawn. Then, after a while, it became a SOLD sign. Chris later found out that they were going to move in with their daughter, who lived in the city. It was always a problem when somebody moved away. You never knew who would move in next. It could be the nicest kid in the world or a bunch of loons.
Everybody would miss the Petries, and it was sad when they drove away, down the block, and disappeared out of sight. They probably lived in the neighborhood longer than anybody else.
“They always gave out the best Halloween candy,” Bobby said. Chris nodded in agreement. Then they went back to his house to launch another bottle rocket.
A week later, like magic, there was another moving truck in front of the Petries’ house. Whenever new people moved in, every kid on the block gathered around on the streets to see who the new family was. If it was just grownups, or a man, woman, and a baby, they got bored, and went back to their business. But this time it was something interesting.
“Who do you think it’ll be?” Bobby said when he saw Chris coming out of his house.
“I dunno. You don’t think it’ll be a movie star, do you?”
“Probably not,” Bobby replied. “What if it’s a secret agent?”
Chris shrugged. “If it was a secret agent they probably wouldn’t move in with a big moving truck. Or at least not during the day time. They’d probably come at night.”
Bobby nodded and they waited as the men from the moving truck carried out big fancy furniture and were being yelled at, by a man in a business suit, not to drop anything. Then there was a woman who came out of their car, and a boy with spiky brown hair who came out after her. He looked like he could be Chris and Bobby’s age. They wanted to go over and talk to him, but he disappeared into the house along with the woman, who was probably his mother. It seemed like the furniture in the moving truck was never-ending. Out came more fancy tables and chairs, and a big lamp that looked old but well kept.
“What kinda ritzy people are these guys?” Bobby said. Chris agreed. It seemed like whoever this family was, they belonged in a mansion. Not that Chris and Bobby’s neighborhood wasn’t nice, but these new people made it seem like nothing, compared to wherever they probably came from.
The day after that, Chris heard sawing and and banging sounds coming from the house next door. He woke up early that morning to find two men working in the big oak tree right across from Chris’s treehouse. Chris’s first thought was, maybe this new kid is having a treehouse built in his backyard too! That didn’t bother Chris one bit, although he was assuming the new boy was copying him. But it might be fun, if they became friends, to have two treehouses across from each other. The ideas were already churning. If they tied a bunch of clothes together and had one kid on either side hold the ends, another kid could climb between them like a makeshift zip line. Or, if this kid was so rich, he could get a real zip line.
By this point, school was very soon. Only two days away. One morning, Chris’s parents sat him down in the living room to have a talk.
“Chris,” said his dad.
“Chris,” his mom repeated.
Chris slouched on the couch and waited for his mom and dad to get on with it. “Yes?”
“You know that last year, you got in trouble… a lot of trouble. Almost all the time,” Chris’s dad said.
Chris nodded. “Yeah.” This didn’t bother him at all. “Well, you know, it’s not a good thing to get in trouble,” his mom added. “Your report card from second grade had us worried you might even get held back because of all your shenanigans. Your grades were a bit low, too.”
Chris shrugged. “So what is it? I mean, what did you ask me to come down about?”
Chris’s mother and father shared a glance before turning to him. “We want you to… be nice this year. Please, don’t cause any trouble. It’s not fun going down to your school and hearing about all the tricks you pulled on your teachers. We don’t like hearing things like that, because we love you very much. Do you understand?” Chris’s mom said.
Chris nodded. “Okay.”
Then his dad jumped in. “And I want you to know that if you cause any more trouble, there will be problems. There were problems last year, and there will be problems this year if you keep on with this attitude of yours toward your school. We send you there to get an education. Not to have you running wild, sticking wet wads of toilet paper on your classroom ceiling and waiting for them to fall on your teacher’s head.” Chris saw his dad almost break into a smile when he said that. Remembering his second grade teacher, Mrs. Berne’s, reaction when those wads starting dropping on her head made Chris want to burst out laughing too. But he also understood his parents. After all, causing trouble was fun. Getting in trouble was not.
So he agreed and promised he’d try to be nicer this year. It seemed easy enough.
It’s the Kool Peeple’s Klub vs. The Good Guys in this eminently engaging and clever children’s book about bullying by Sophia Bella Errico.
It’s a hot day in August when eight year-old Christopher Anderson and his best friend, Bobby, settle in for a secret meeting in Chris’s backyard treehouse. While the two boys are trying to squeeze a few more ounces of fun out of summer before school starts, they notice that one of their elderly neighbors has moved out. When new neighbors move in, they include a boy about their age. His name is Kevin.
As a new school year looms, Chris is reminded that his attitude toward school and his high-spirited hijinks have landed Chris in trouble with his parents. So he promises to be “nice” when the new school year rolls around. But that’s easier said than done. Especially for a rambunctious third grader whose new teacher is “Ms. Fizzlebottom.”
And while trying to be “nice” may work at school and keep Chris out of trouble at home, it doesn’t keep Chris from losing his best friend Bobby to “Cool” Kevin, the new kid. But underneath Kevin’s slick, smooth exterior of “cool” lurks a pretty prickly personality. When Kevin turns out to be a bully and he and his gang start picking on Chris, Chris must learn to stand up for himself. Fast.
When Kevin steals Chris’ book and denies doing so Chris decides, “This means war” – and it could get “interesting,” especially as both sides start “recrooting.”
And interesting it is in this highly readable and eminently enjoyable story by Sophia Bella Errico. It’s a clever, creative, and timely take on the topic of bullying. As the story unfolds, the author gently and expertly guides young readers toward some helpful suggestions and healthy options regarding dealing with a bully. There’s also a “lucky baseball” that suddenly turns up missing.
The positive portrayal of the friendly and helpful policeman whom Chris runs into in the park when trying to escape Kevin and Kevin’s henchman, Gene, is refreshing. So is the positive portrayal of Chris’s caring and connected parents, particularly his father.
There’s a lot to love about this book. It includes themes of friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, honesty, and courage. Sticking up for yourself and your friends. Also parents who care enough to confront and correct.
Chockful of full-bodied, dynamic characters who learn and grow, The Treehouse is well-written and structural sound. A richly flavored story with a timely message, plenty of action, and age-appropriate vocabulary, the narrative is enhanced by drawings that help propel the story forward. Brisk pacing and a nimble plot will keep young readers engaged and turning pages until the very end.
Scene stealer: Big George. (Just sayin’.)
As The Treehouse winds down, the door is left open for a sequel. Let’s hope so. Because I can’t wait! I’d grab a copy now ‘fize you. Cuz this one’s a winner!