The Capybara Conspiracy

August 8, 2016
Olive Henry takes matters into her own hands after her principal goes too far in this entertaining school drama from Perl (Aces Wild), written as the script of a play. Seventh graders Olive and Reynaldo are fed up: while the drama club is relegated to meeting in the basement, anything sports-related gets top-notch treatment at school. Furthermore, mascot Cappy, a live capybara, is credited with the school’s sports winning streak and treated with more respect than students pursuing academic extracurriculars. When Principal Higgley gives the auditorium to the Ultimate Frisbee Club for practice, Olive is determined to “do something radical”—kidnap Cappy—because “every kid here who can’t catch or throw or look cute in a uniform is being persecuted.” When some unlikely students, including ex-baseball player Pablo and animal activist Brie, join their scheme, Olive’s plan gets hijacked. Staged over three acts, Perl’s novel zips along thanks to all the back-and-forth dialogue, and is well suited to be performed. An unexpected ending and comprehensive notes on how to stage the play round out an amusing tale. Ages 10–up. Agent: Carrie Hannigan, Hannigan Salky Getzler.

July 15, 2016
A seventh-grader's play chronicles the rise and demise of a kidnapping plot and the contradictory motives of the conspirators. In three acts, with scenes that leap back and forth in time, Olive Henry describes a conspiracy to kidnap Edmund Farley Middle School's live mascot, a capybara. The original goal, for Olive and her flamboyant best friend, Reynaldo Delgado, was to earn a reward for the mascot's return: equal treatment for all students in their sports-happy school. But, as Olive explains to new student Devin Bevins, they were joined and betrayed by Pablo Fuentes, secretly a baseball player wanna-be, and animal rights activist Gabrielle "Brie" Greenberg. Perl makes humor out of middle school traditions and even out of Brie's animal rights organization (the Pony and Capybara Dignity League), but she's also making important points about the treatment of both animals and middle school students. The narrative begins as Olive describes the recent events to Dev but quickly flashes back to depict the events, concluding with a scene that will leave readers wondering just how real her "play" might be. As a novel presented as a script, this also includes extensive staging notes as well as a wide-ranging bibliography. The author dedicates the book to Lin-Manuel Miranda and, though the only specific ethnic diversity indicated is Latino, explicitly encourages "inclusive" casting--for the human roles, anyway. Humorous and cleverly constructed, this deserves a "hoof five." (Fiction. 10-14)

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August 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-Perl's latest offers the perfect opportunity for a reader's theater program. Seventh grader Olive is tired of feeling left out at school because she prefers acting in the drama club rather than playing a sport. Her school is so sports crazy that the principal never acknowledges any of the other clubs during the morning announcements. Olive decides it's time to take action and embarks on a game plan to ensure that her drama club and other groups at school get the attention they deserve. This is a perfect read for fans of Louis Sachar and Andrew Clements who like comedic protagonists who take action when they feel their rights have been violated. Olive provides the perfect role model for middle schoolers. VERDICT A delightful read that begs to be performed aloud.-Margaret Capobianco, Seaford Library, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2016
Grades 5-8 The latest middle-grade from Perl (Aces Wild, 2013) is a bit of a departure, yet delivers the same sharp wit and humor that readers are used to. Seventh-grade playwright Olive Henry reveals the exciting kidnapping, return, and rekidnapping of beloved school mascot Cappy the capybara as new student Dev patiently listens. Quirky and endearing characters enrich Perl's hilarious three-act script, which, as she suggests, would make a fun read-aloud. Additional staging notes are conversational and informative, though the practicality of memorizing and performing the entire script might be challenging for younger participants, as Olive and best friend Reynaldo constantly have lines long enough to be monologues. Though the messages of animal rights and funding for the arts in school are a bit heavy-handed, it's easy to root for determined Olive and company when their plan goes haywire. The big reveal (was it all just Olive's newest creation?) not only adds a clever metafictional element; it might even make readers flip back to the beginning to discover what really happened.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)