The Next Great Paulie Fink

February 1, 2019

Gr 5-8-Caitlyn has spent her sixth grade year learning the rules of middle school survival, and, while not attaining "silver dollar" social status, has secured a place among the other shiny "quarters." When her mother gets a new job and they move to rural Vermont, Caitlyn must reconsider everything she thought she knew, including the social hierarchy and her place in it. First of all, the Mitchell school, housed in a ramshackle old estate, resembles a haunted mansion. The kids are assigned to care for a herd of goats that are grooming their soccer field and are expected to have lunch with assigned kindergarten buddies. Secondly, there are only 11 students in the entire seventh grade and they are in no way cool. Her classmates are devastated to learn that Paulie Fink, the legendary class prankster and creator of chaos, has not returned to Mitchell and they are too distraught to welcome Caitlyn. When the kids decide to hold a reality TV-type competition for the next great Paulie Fink, Caitlyn is chosen as the logical impartial arbiter. She uses oral histories and interviews to get to know her classmates as they demythologize this larger-than-life figure and learns a great deal about her own strengths in the process. Benjamin has crafted a smart, funny, and deeply felt coming of age story that middle schoolers will relate to and find themselves ruminating on. She incorporates allegories from the ancient Greeks to examine assumptions and to question one's place in the community and in the world. VERDICT A witty, tender, and utterly engaging modern school story that draws on the wisdom of the ages.-Luann Toth, School Library Journal

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 15, 2019
Starting at a new middle school can be a horrifying experience for anyone.Seventh-grader Caitlyn finds it harder than she ever imagined. For one thing, she's expected to help take care of the goats--and the kindergartners. Plus, none of her new classmates appear to play by the same social rules as her old middle school. Instead of trying to be cool, everyone at Mitchell stands out, and they do it on purpose. Even a kid who's no longer there stands out. When Paulie Fink, legendary for his pranks, doesn't return for seventh grade, his old classmates miss him so much they decide to hold a contest to name the next great Paulie Fink. Caitlyn, as the most objective person in the class, serves as organizer, judge, and jury. But by the time the next great Paulie Fink is named, Caitlyn understands that it's far more than one person they're trying to save. A story with massive heart, Benjamin's follow-up to The Thing About Jellyfish (2015) proves this writer's incredible wit, charm, and ability to navigate deep questions while tapping directly into the middle school mindset. The novel is rare for the ease with which it combines ancient Greek studies with modern-day issues such as bullying and change, helped along by a delightful multiracial cast. Diversity is communicated mostly via naming convention; Caitlyn seems to be default white.A book to make readers think, question, reach, laugh, and strive harder. (Fiction. 9-14)

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Starred review from February 4, 2019
A wildly imaginative but never mean-spirited prankster, Paulie Fink was the life of Mitchell School. When he doesn’t appear on the first day of seventh grade, his classmates (called the “Originals,” since they are the school’s inaugural class) are bereft and largely ignore new-girl Caitlyn. Missing her old friends, play-by-the-rules Caitlyn scoffs at her classmates’ eccentricities and those of the easygoing school, located in an old Vermont mansion whose lawn boasts dilapidated statues of gods and where goats trim the overgrown soccer field. To “pull Paulie back to us,” the Originals stage a reality TV–style competition to “find someone to play the role of Paulie. Someone whose official job it is to make school... memorable,” and they recruit Caitlyn to concoct challenges that reflect Paulie’s spirit. Benjamin (The Thing About Jellyfish) adroitly fleshes out her witty premise—and Paulie’s charismatic personality—through Caitlyn’s narration, interviews with Originals and administrators, and reflections on the ancient Greek beliefs taught in class. Genuinely original, the novel offers thoughtful perspectives on friendship, accepting change, and the many rewarding guises of storytelling, as well as a fully gratifying ending that the characters don’t see coming. Ages 8–12.

callie_b - OK... WOW. This book surpassed all my expectations and more! Caitlyn is the new girl in town at the Mitchell School in Mitchell, Vermont, aka THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Seriously! The 7th grade literally only has 10 kids! Well, 11 now, with Caitlyn. And it seems like there used to be 11 kids in the year before too, a kid named Paulie Fink being the eleventh. Everyone expected Caitlyn to be Paulie when she walked in the door, but Paulie never showed up. Paulie was indefinitely missing to the 7th grade class of Mitchell, nicknamed the Originals after being the first class to start off the brand new school in kindergarten. As Caitlyn asks who Paulie is, she is overwhelmed with stories about his tricks and pranks and overall, how great of a person he was and how great he made going to school be. Caitlyn never really gets a grasp of the real Paulie Fink, she only gets snippets through the stories. But what she does know is that this kid was a legend amongst the Originals, and life really seems to be duller without him. But then Caitlyn comes up with an idea to try to get in with the Originals and become a popular 'silver dollar,' as she puts it. Caitlyn wants to have a contest to decide a NEW Paulie Fink to take his place as class clown and make school less boring again! The rest of the students vote Caitlyn as judge, and she puts them through intense rounds of elimination to find a new Great Paulie Fink! I flew through this incredible book and the ending kept me hanging on! Totally different then what I expected, honestly. And it was GREAT. I LOVE LOVE LOVED this book! I've read "The Thing About Jellyfish" by this same author, Ali Benjamin, and this was a great second novel to top it off. This book was filled with laughs, adventure, and realistic situations of middle school, and no joke, my eyes filled with tears as the book came to a close. I didn't want it to end! I recommend this book to any middle schooler, or really anyone who goes to school, or anyone who doesn't! Everyone should read this book! 5/5 stars and I recommend it for ages 8+. A really a great novel, I can't say that enough, and I can't wait to see more novels from Ali Benjamin in the future!

March 1, 2019
Grades 4-7 A reluctant newcomer in a small Vermont town, Caitlyn joins 10 other seventh-graders at the Mitchell School, which resembles a haunted house. Though initially uncomfortable among her classmates, who often reminisce about Paulie Fink, a former student and legendary prankster, Caitlyn comes to enjoy mentoring a kindergartener and running a secret class contest to find the next great Paulie Fink. When she discovers that, with reduced revenues, Mitchell may be forced to close, Caitlyn realizes how much her quirky new school matters to her. Interspersed with frequent statements from classmates, teachers, and the principal, Caitlyn's first-person narrative places her at the story's emotional center, while an ensemble cast of individuals revolves around her and ultimately supports Caitlyn in becoming her own person. Though the pacing seems slow initially, the story becomes more engaging as Caitlyn begins to find her way. Gradually realizing that she feels remorse for bullying a classmate at her old school, she becomes an increasingly sympathetic character. A change of pace for Benjamin, who wrote The Thing about Jellyfish (2015).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)