Romance of the Snob Squad

by Julie Anne Peters

Overview

Another funny and heartfelt story starring the misfits of the Snob Squad, from National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters.

In this touching, wryly humorous sequel to Revenge of the Snob Squad, readers are reunited with sixth-grade misfits Jenny, Max, Prairie, and Lydia as they cook up an outrageous plan to ignite a romance between Prairie and the object of her affection, Hugh Torkerson (otherwise known as "Tork the Dork"). A science lab rat, a set of embarrassing glamour photos, and a mysteriously disappearing notebook all play a part in this scheme, but the results may attract more attention than the Snob Squad planned.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316008136
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Pages:	166
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Julie Anne Peters is the critically acclaimed author of Define "Normal," Keeping You a Secret, Pretend You Love Me, Between Mom and Jo, She Loves You, She Loves You Not..., It's Our Prom (So Deal With It), and Luna, a National Book Award finalist. 

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Romance of the Snob Squad:

"[Full of] laughter and tenderness... [readers] will recognize the dreams of glamour and the painful farce at home and school. - Booklist

"[The] wry, wisecracking first-person narration is even funnier in this book... the characters, already solidly realized previously, are even better developed this time around." - Kirkus

"Fans of Peters's earlier Snob Squad books will want to read this one, too." - School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Gr 3-6A book that attempts to put the fun back in dysfunctional. Jenny is an overweight adolescent with an anorexic sister. Their eating disorders are symptomatic of their parents constant arguing. The whole family participates in various types of therapy, none of which seem to help. At school, Jenny is part of the Snob Squad, a group of four misfits. When Prairie, her fellow Snob Squadder who stutters and has an artificial foot, wishes Hugh Torkerson would ask her to the sixth-grade dance, the girls try various tactics to unite the couple. They finally get Hughs and everyone elses attention with their Pavlovian Extreme Rat-o-rama science project, in which a rat runs through a homemade maze chasing various bits of food. Unfortunately, Harley succumbs to overeating, causing Jenny to confront her own eating disorder. The plot is too neatly wrapped up when Jenny and her sister plan a dinner date for their parents to solve their marital problems. The characters seem real enough and readers will relate to some of the events, but the pat ending is too simplistic and the issues are glossed over. While fans of Peterss earlier Snob Squad books (Little, Brown) will want to read this one, too, Richard Moshers The Taxi Navigator (Philomel, 1996) is a more thought-provoking story about a child who must deal with quarreling parents.Linda L. Plevak, Alamo Area Library System, San Antonio, TX Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

The Snob Squad is back (Revenge of the Snob Squad, 1998) and this time the four elementary-age outcasts need to come up with a project for the science fair. Although, in this group, science is nobody's best subject, a rat that Max captured in her family's junkyard provides inspiration, and they create an obstacle course for a study in rat motivation. It doesn't take Jenny—whose wry, wisecracking first-person narration is even funnier in this book—long to figure out that what motivates the rat is the same thing that motivates her: food. She's secretly sweet on Kevin Rooney, a fact that provides some counter-motivation; meanwhile, shy Prairie confesses that she likes computer-geek Hugh Torkerson. The squad rallies, especially since Hugh and Kevin are on a science-fair team with the girls' rivals, Ashley and Melanie. The book becomes strained when the problems become more serious; Jenny, the squad's leader, has a dysfunctional family, with estranged parents and an obsessive-compulsive, anorexic sister. The glib tone never meshes with such somber material, and the resolutions come abruptly. Fortunately, the characters, already solidly realized previously, are even better developed this time around, while the sweetly awkward first-time alliances with members of the opposite sex are nicely done. Most readers will skate over the rough spots for this well-paced novel and its many funny moments. (Fiction. 8-12) .

Kirkus Reviews