Operation Frog Effect

December 1, 2018
Inspired by their radical teacher, eight elementary school students speak up for what they believe in and make change in their school community.In Scheerger's middle-grade debut, she tackles issues of friendship, bullying, immigration, women's rights, access to education, and homelessness/poverty. Speaking in a series of notes, letters, journal entries, and comics, eight diverse voices lead the storytelling as readers follow the fifth-grade year of Ms. Graham's class (and their class frog, Kermit!). Ms. Graham's unconventional approach encourages her students to make new friends and think outside of the box. When a few students take her advice to "immerse" themselves in their projects a little too far, the consequences are dire. Her students find the strength to fight for their rights and for one another; they remember their teacher's words: "Remember change can take place on multiple levels. Even change within yourself is change." When things finally start to look up, one student who's accustomed to always speaking her mind writes: "I've learned something; / Once our rocks are thrown, pebbles or not, / We cannot stop the ripples / They have a life of their own." Because this novel touches on so many important social issues, some feel neglected. Luckily, Scheerger's attention to careful characterization keeps this novel afloat. Her characters are genuine and complex as they grow and change into radical young adults.A thoughtful exploration of the power of the collective voice--growing up is owning up and speaking up. (selected resources, acknowledgments) (Fiction. 9-12)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Gr 3-5-Scheerger's (The Boulder Brothers: Meet Mo and Jo) latest is told through the voices of eight students in Ms. Graham's fifth-grade classroom as they deal with issues including bullying, homelessness, and immigration. Ms. Graham's teaching style relies upon her students' problem-solving skills, beginning with the injured frog that arrives in class the first day, and the students' decision to keep it as their classroom pet. The majority of the story is told through journal entries from each of the students. One of the kids writes in free verse, one creates a movie script, and another tells his stories through short comics. The students do not always understand the impacts of their actions, and one of their decisions leads to their teacher being removed from the classroom. The shifting perspectives lead to some characters having less depth than others, and not all of the characters ring with authenticity, but all the students experience personal growth as the school year progresses. The ending is unrealistically quick and tidy but will be satisfying to some readers. VERDICT A hopeful, if somewhat predictable, story about students trying to resolve problems large and small.-Judy Poyer, Anne Arundel County Public Library, MD

November 15, 2018
Grades 4-6 Eight fifth-graders actively tackle both personal relationships and social issues in this epistolary tale. On the first day, Ms. Graham announces that all are required to keep written journals. The ensuing mix of letters, free verse, theatrical scripts, and wordless sequential drawings track a m�lange of secrets, insecurities, and politics in the classroom and beyond. When one group makes a unilateral decision to study homelessness by spending a night under a bridge, it spells serious trouble for both Ms. Graham's job and a student's undocumented Mexican family. Scheerger does an expert job throughout of keeping multiple subplots untangled and the voices of her narrators distinct. If in the end the character development is all of a positive sort and the outcomes a bit too tidy for easy belief, there are still nuances aplenty in the cast and plot for readers to ponder. Moreover, the author infuses her story in nonpreachy ways with themes of kindness, respect for others, and the importance of acting responsibly, capped by a list of helpful web resources.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)