Roxie and the Hooligans by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

image from LibraryThing

I've decided to add a few books that I've recently read aloud to my 4th graders. This is a new book in our library and was a fun and fast read....

The book takes place in a small seaside town in the northeast. Roxie is a meek and mild girl who lives through her uncle's adventure stories as he accompanies Lord Thistlebottom to the wilds and through many narrow escapes. She has poured over each of his books and memorized his many methods of escapes - always beginning with "Don't Panic."

Roxie's life is also filled with adventures - but of a nasty nature. She is ruthlessly harrassed by a gang of bullies she calls the hooligans. They have chosen this little girl due to her huge ears. Each day they pursue her and the escape gap gets narrower and narrower until one day...

Roxie is walking along the edge of a dumpster to get to an open window - the holligans are right behind her. And bing, bang, boom they all fall down...into the depths of garbage. At that moment, the dumpster man arrives to take the dumpster away - to a ship - to be dumped in the ocean.

So begins the real adventure. Roxie uses her wits and the wisdom of her uncle's books to keep herself and the hooligans alive on a small island - not deserted but inhabited by 2 bank robbers.

This book sounds English - and seemed a little hard to get into... but only at first. My 4th graders loved it!

it's got a great anti-bullying message - the harrassed girl saves the savages and they begin to understand one another!

We all loved it!