Who Is the Bucks Bandit?

by Gina Loveless, Andrea Bell (Illustrator)

Overview

In Book 3 of the Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw illustrated novel series, it's Halloween, and the merry misfits are in for more tricks than treats!

When Bonus Bucks start disappearing from teachers' desks, Nadia immediately blames Wilu, the new kid in class. Robin launches "Mission Make Wilu a Friend" to figure out if he's really the Bucks Bandit—but it's hard to befriend someone who's determined to go it alone! Will Robin win Wilu over and learn the truth about the disappearing bucks?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524860899
Publisher:	Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Series:	Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw , #3
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	181,653
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	730L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Gina Loveless fell in love with kids’ books when she was eight and fell back in love with them when she was twenty-eight. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from California Institute of the Arts and resides in eastern Pennsylvania. 

Andrea Bell is an illustrator and comic artist living in Chicago through the best and worst seasons. She enjoys rock climbing, making playlists, being surrounded by nature, and indulging in video games.
 

Editorial Reviews

08/14/2020

Gr 3–7—The Merry Misfits are at it again as Halloween arrives and with it, a new student. Wilu seems kind of weird and standoffish. Should the gang try to befriend him? When the Bonus Bucks disappear from the teacher's desk, keeping kids from getting rewarded for good behavior and performance, accusing fingers point to Wilu. Narrator Robin isn't so sure that the new guy is the culprit and decides to get to know him better. What is really happening to the Bonus Bucks? All is revealed in a climactic scene riddled with accusations, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings. This series will attract reluctant and struggling readers. The story line is simple and linear. The print is large, the size of the book is manageable, and the first-person narration puts readers right in the middle of the action. The attractive book design boasts full-color illustrations that help to move the plot along. Loveless drops lessons about giving people a chance, doing the right thing, and not getting caught up in the school rumor mill. In this book featuring a racially diverse cast defying gender norms, readers will learn from Robin's example, and maybe give fellow classmates the benefit of the doubt. Previous knowledge of the other books in the series is helpful, but not necessary. VERDICT Not an essential purchase, but schools will find this series especially helpful for supporting struggling readers and teaching proper school citizenship.—Kate Nafz, Fair Lawn P.L., NJ

School Library Journal

2020-08-18
Could the new fifth grader be a thief?

In this third installment in the Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw series (loosely based on the Robin Hood mythos), green-hoodie–clad Robin Loxley decides that she will befriend Wilu Johnson, the new student at Nottingham Elementary, no matter what. Robin’s friends, the Merry Misfits, try to welcome him in, but he is standoffish and aloof, proclaiming he is a “solo kid.” At Nottingham, good behavior and grades are incentivized with Bonus Bucks; when Wilu’s arrival coincides with the mysterious disappearance of Bonus Bucks, he is immediately suspected as the perpetrator. Robin is sure he is innocent, but will she be able to prove it? Loveless’ newest installment follows its predecessors’ format, with short, bustling chapters punctuated with distinctive crayonlike full-color illustrations and comics panels. Despite the breezy pacing, Robin’s friendship journey with Wilu feels tedious and heavy-handed, lessons like “mean nicknames are a bad call” plopping into readers’ laps. In addition to the forced cheer and morality, series conventions, such as the rapping twins and Robin’s references to foods, feel contrived and formulaic instead of like comforting touchstones. Robin is White while the rest of the Merry Misfits are diverse. Wilu has brown skin, and the fact that suspicion immediately falls on him, a kid of color, is not interrogated.

Doesn’t come close to the bull’s-eye. (author's note) (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews