Control Freaks J.E. Thomas Levine Querido, 2023 297 pages Grades 4-7 Realistic Fiction Multiple first person narrations tell the story of a week in the life of an advanced STEAM oriented magnet middle school made up of super-high achievers. Principal Yee announces a weeklong STEAM competition and the students are stoked! Not so much when they realize that they must break into teams, which gets complicated. Out main hero, Frederick Douglas Zezzmer (Doug), knows that he MUST win this competition. He needs to go to GadgetCon this summer to perfect his skills at inventing, but needs the principals endorsement in order to be accepted. To make matters more complicated, Doug's biological father is back on the scene and insisting that he participate in an intense summer sports program of which he has no interest. The other misfit members of Doug's team (TravLiUeyPadgeyZezz) have their own reasons for wanting to win and the need to prove themselves. We see the points of view of the other members of the team, plus that of the principal, Doug's sportster step-brother, as well as other characters to round out the story. Because of family pressures, Doug makes a bad decision with terrible consequences. The competition rolls along with surprising, and sometimes hilarious, results and ends just where it should with all participants changing for the better.
Share this post
Control Freaks
Share this post
Control Freaks J.E. Thomas Levine Querido, 2023 297 pages Grades 4-7 Realistic Fiction Multiple first person narrations tell the story of a week in the life of an advanced STEAM oriented magnet middle school made up of super-high achievers. Principal Yee announces a weeklong STEAM competition and the students are stoked! Not so much when they realize that they must break into teams, which gets complicated. Out main hero, Frederick Douglas Zezzmer (Doug), knows that he MUST win this competition. He needs to go to GadgetCon this summer to perfect his skills at inventing, but needs the principals endorsement in order to be accepted. To make matters more complicated, Doug's biological father is back on the scene and insisting that he participate in an intense summer sports program of which he has no interest. The other misfit members of Doug's team (TravLiUeyPadgeyZezz) have their own reasons for wanting to win and the need to prove themselves. We see the points of view of the other members of the team, plus that of the principal, Doug's sportster step-brother, as well as other characters to round out the story. Because of family pressures, Doug makes a bad decision with terrible consequences. The competition rolls along with surprising, and sometimes hilarious, results and ends just where it should with all participants changing for the better.