Teacher's Pet

From Publishers Weekly In this companion book to her popular Class Clown, Hurwitz focuses on Cricket Kaufman. A bright and highly motivated girl, Cricket is assigned to a teacher who refuses to play favorites and is scrupulously fair and even-handed. All of the teacher-pleasing techniques Cricket has perfected over the years don't work. Even worse, the new girl, Zoe Mitchell, is as smart as Cricketmaybe even smarter. Fourth grade turns out to be the year Cricket learns some hard lessons about competition, fairness and friendship. Throughout the story, Cricket remains a complex and ultimately sympathetic character; the book is full of similarly realistic, believable and likable kids. Hurwitz masterfully demonstrates why she is one of the premier practitioners of the humorous school story genre. Ages 8-12. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Grade 2-5 Cricket loved school and had always been the teacher's favorite, but fourth grade was not turning out the way she had planned. Her teacher did not have favorites; a new girl in town was challenging her position as best student in the class, and even her best intended efforts went wrong. Hurwitz has a fine-tuned ear for dialogue and an understanding eye for classrooom dy namics. Through the author's generous helping of humor and no preaching, Cricket and readers learn that a close friend and a teacher who is fair to all the students add up to a pretty good school year after all. Hurwitz sets up the situa tion quickly in the first few pages and keeps the plot moving so that even re luctant readers will be caught early and held. Amy Kellman, Carnegie Library of PittsburghCopyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.