Troublemaker - IgniteLit

Title: Troublemaker
Author: Andrew Clements
Major Themes: School
Synopsis: Clay loves to cause trouble and make people upset, but after his idolized older brother gets into trouble, Clay decides he must change his ways.

About 20 years ago, I read my first book by Andrew Clements when the curriculum I was using assigned The School Story. I remember really enjoying it as I read it to my daughter, and started looking for other books by him from the library. Now, my younger children are enjoying his books. When the 12-year-old needed to choose a read-aloud a couple of weeks ago, he picked Troublemaker. At first, I was not impressed, but knowing what Clements’ books are like, we carried on.

Publisher’s description:

There’s a folder in Principal Kelling’s office that’s as thick as a phonebook and it’s growing daily. It’s filled with the incident reports of every time Clayton Hensley broke the rules. There’s the minor stuff like running in the hallways and not being where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there. But then there are also reports that show Clay’s own brand of troublemaking, like the most recent addition: the art teacher has said that the class should spend the period drawing anything they want and Clay decides to be extra “creative” and draw a spot-on portrait of Principal Kellings…as a donkey.

It’s a pretty funny joke, but really, Clay is coming to realize that the biggest joke of all may be on him. When his big brother, Mitchell, gets in some serious trouble, Clay decides to change his own mischief making ways…but he can’t seem to shake his reputation as a troublemaker.

From the master of The School Story comes a book about the fine line between good-humored mischief and dangerous behavior and how everyday choices can close or open doors.

My thoughts:

I like Troublemaker. This story starts with a boy doing all he can to cause trouble and be irritating to the principal of his school, and ends with him discovering that it feels good to act right. He also learns that whatever you do has consequences…people might not believe that you have changed; you have to show them, maybe for a long time, that you are different now! I also liked seeing the change in Clay’s father. He started out being a person I didn’t like, but by the end of the book, he was different. I also liked the way a scene from the beginning of the story was repeated in a different way at the end—clever! Troublemaker is a good book for middle-school children.

WARNING: Chapter 5: “I’d knock the living daylights.” Chapter 6: “Probably talking to some girl.” Chapter 14: “pointed at some girls and gave him a thumbs-up.” Chapters 15-17: Halloween. Chapter 17: “I swear.”