The Worst Night Ever

January 15, 2016
Wyatt Palmer returns for another adventure. A few months have gone by since Wyatt, Matt, and Suzana saved the president of the United States (The Worst Class Trip Ever, 2015), and now the trio is settling in at their new high school. Suzana strikes up a friendship with the Bevin brothers, the star athlete hunks who rule the school; unfortunately, Matt and Wyatt end up on their bad side. When the Bevins steal Matt's pet ferret, Frank, the boys plot to break into the Bevins' mansion and get him back. What they discover there throws the rest of the novel into a mystery that is often funny but rarely interesting, dangerous illegal animals and development politics being a comedown from the international terrorists in the previous novel. The adult characters are still flat, and there's still an annoying "this is how it all worked out" chapter at the novel's end, but fans of the first book will have few complaints. The teen characters remain smart and engaging and funny, and while the mystery's elements might be tame, the mechanics and structure are solid enough. Wyatt's presumably white, but many of his classmates, including Matt and Suzana, are Latino; his poking fun at his teacher's West Indian accent sounds an off note. An inferior sequel whose only real crime is not meeting the highs of its predecessor. (Thriller. 10-14)

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February 15, 2016
Grades 5-8 In this follow-up to The Worst Class Trip Ever (2015), Barry brings back Wyatt Palmer, the inadvertent hero who saved the president. Now in high school, Wyatt lobs off plenty of funny observations about school life, pesky sisters, bullies who look like Hollister models, and a best friend (Matt) with a ferret. When the Bevin brothers (of the Hollister good looks) take the ferret hostage, it is up to Wyatt to get it back. Naturally, things don't go smoothly as Wyatt and Matt infiltrate the Bevins' backyard, where they discover a trove of dangerous, exotic, and illegal animals. Barry blends zaniness with classic Florida mystery, incorporating greedy developers, loopy environmentalists, and a dastardly scheme that needs to be stopped before anyone gets hurt by, among other things, a raging Komodo dragon. The action, climaxing on Halloween night at the zoo, is a romp for readers who enjoy wise-cracking characters who are a little larger than life. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Name recognition plus an author tour will give Barry's new middle-grade comedy a large, eager audience. Have plenty on hand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2016
Now a freshman, Wyatt--who foiled a terrorist plot in eighth grade (The Worst Class Trip Ever)--inadvertently uncovers illegal animal trafficking by the powerful family of the bullying Bevin brothers, which leads to a Halloween night of typical Barry shenanigans. The stakes, and therefore the tension, are lower than in Wyatt's first adventure, but comical first-person narration makes him easy to root for.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)