Slugfest

After spending all year playing on the local high school’s JV sports teams, middle schooler and athletic superstar Arnie “Yash” Yashenko is shocked to learn that he’s failed PE due to numerous unexcused absences. And because he won’t graduate eighth grade or be eligible to try out for high school sports until he attends summer school, he reluctantly joins the Physical Education Equivalency class known as Slugfest. His schoolmates include perpetually bickering twins Stuart and Sarah, practical joker Jesse, clumsy genius Kaden, and former athlete Cleo, who was held back a year due to a serious injury. The unlikely assortment of unhappy students bond over their dislike of the class, whose retired elderly teacher prefers baking to instructing, and even develop close friendships. And when Yash concocts a plan to compete in the citywide flag football tournament as a way for him to try out for the high school football team, he determines to turn his athletically disinclined classmates into champions. Korman (Mixed Up) balances humor and heart, delivering a tale that is both plausible and a little outlandish, realistic and just a bit goofy. Snappy dialogue, idiosyncratically depicted characters, and a madcap plot keep this lively, good-natured story moving at a brisk pace. Most characters read as white. Ages 8–12. (Jan.)