I’m a fan of Tommy Greenwald’s realistic style and he continues his Charlie Joe success with Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Extra Credit. Charlie Joe is not a horrible student, but he does cause some trouble for himself that results in a lower report card than his parents had hoped. They threaten to send him to an academic camp over the summer if he cannot pull his grades up. Enter the extra credit.
Just like the Guide to Not Reading, Extra Credit has some funny insights into how extra credit is earned and how it is perceived. One of the things that is brought out is how extra credit is sometimes connected to how well the student is liked by the teacher, which isn’t fair to the unlikeable students or to the ones who did their work in the first. Charlie Joe has some insight, not just for students, but for teachers who offer extra credit.
While there are still the humorous scenes – Coach Rodonski is adamant that ambidexterity is the key to global domination – Charlie Joe is faced with tough decisions that most middle schoolers have to tackle and that’s why I appreciate the series. You can tell that Greenwald knows his audience. The series will get more serious as the characters mature, so it will be interesting to track the growth of Charlie as a character.
Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Extra Credit is a fun read and a great continuation of the series.
