Revenge of the Green Banana

October 31, 2016
Jimmy Murphy is “the sort of kid who could try the patience of a saint,” and he gets plenty of opportunities to test that billing in this semi-autobiographical tale of Catholic school trauma, set in 1950s New Jersey. Jimmy begins sixth grade determined to start fresh in an attempt to redeem himself in the eyes of his crush, Kathy Guenther. But when his teacher, Sister Angelica, humiliates him in class, Jimmy and his friends come up with a plan to “invalidate, detonate, terminate, and murderlate her to pieces.” Elaborate prank-planning ensues, all to help Jimmy get his revenge on the nun, but he winds up in deeper trouble before long, and even gets cast as a dancing banana in a second-grade play (embarrassment being the nuns’ ultimate tool for punishment). Though the boys’ threats of violence against Sister Angelica are made in jest, they come across more as disturbing than amusing. Still, Murphy (Breakthrough!), in a detour from his nonfiction work, conjures up some sweet, relatable moments for Jimmy and his peers. Ages 10–12. Agent: Nancy Gallt, Gallt and Zacker Literary.

October 1, 2016
An underachieving sixth-grader plots to murderlate a bullying nun in this darkly comic semiautobiographical novel.The author claims it all happened, and he hasnt changed any of the names either. Joining his 61 overwhelmingly white New Jersey classmates on the first day, Jim is singled out by Sister Angelica Rose, who treats his academic efforts with scorn and his every action with suspicion. Fueled also by the way she repeatedly puts his friend Philip, who stutters, on the spot in class, Jims anger swells to rage, and with a group of classmates he concocts an elaborate get-back prank. Meanwhile, the 1958-59 school year carries on through memories of school food (The first item offered was always the brown soup), a memorable visit from a black Sister of Charity who works with lepers in Hawaii, and a stage production in which Jim wears a banana suit and leads a dancing corps of similarly clad second-graders. Though the author puts his putative self in a good light at the end with a last-moment change of heart about the prank and, thanks to determined volunteer tutelage from a female classmate, improved study habits, sudden belated efforts to give Sister Angelica a few redeeming qualities come off as perfunctory at best. Wry commentary and schoolboy machinations lighten but dont mask the sour tone, and Sister Angelicas free pass will likely leave readers feeling cheated. (Historical fiction. 11-13)

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October 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-Jim Murphy has decided that sixth grade is going to be different-this year he will not sit in the back of the class, he will do his homework, and he just might manage to impress his crush, Kathy Guenther. This plan goes awry within the first minutes of the first day of school, when Jim's new teacher, Sister Angelica Rose, reveals that she has an entire folder detailing his past antics. After repeated humiliations at her hands, Jim and his friends start work on elaborate revenge plots. The author and main character share a name, which, along with a "warning" at the beginning of the book, sets up this goofy tale as an autobiography. It often reads like a story told by an older relative, and though this conversational style can be appealing, younger readers aren't given a lot of context for the world of a 1950s Catholic school and the secondary characters aren't always well realized. Nonetheless, the quick plotting, school high jinks, and charming protagonist will go a long way for many readers. VERDICT Recommended for fans of slapstick humor.-Gesse Stark-Smith, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

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