This book really is hilarious. I'm going to miss Charlie Joe, having listened to the first two books back to back in the car. My drives are going to seem pretty boring now. I would have given this a '5', but a book has to be pretty darn near perfect for me to do that. Some of the on-stage events at the end were a little too over the top for even me. I wonder if kids will realize just how satirical some of this book is. Will they really understand that Greenwald is making fun of there being a play about paper towels?

That said, there are some near-perfect chapters. The first SGC (student government) meeting was a hoot! Sometimes it's hard to tell where stereotype ends and satire starts. Will kids get the PE teacher's push for ambidextrous week "because we're behind the rest of the world!" as a swipe at our current test score mania (or whatever else it is that people are paranoid we're behind in?) So many of the characters are stereotypes, or caricatures; it would be fun to talk about this with students. Charlie's lists are always very funny, and the boy-girl relationship angst is portrayed pretty well.

After this week's episode of "The Middle", I started comparing Charlie Joe to Axl Heck. I think they have a lot in common. The characters in this book definitely lead a more privileged life than many of my students, but I still think they will be able to relate and enjoy it. I am going to purchase it for all three of my schools.