WOW!

Nobody thought that Epiphany Middle School would ever win the Academic Bowl. Not in a million years. It just never could happen. Especially not with a team of four sixth graders. However, every time a question is asked, the team seems to know the answer, and they each have a story to back it.

Before I tell you anything else, I want to let you know that this book was one of my favorites for years. I don't know what it was that just made me love it, but it had that special little "thing" that made it hard for me to understand how anyone couldn't like it. However, I'm now going to write as if it didn't have ingredient 'X' so that you get a clearer picture of the book.

I really enjoyed this book, but it may be a little confusing to some people. The narratives by the students jump around a lot, so it's hard to figure out what they mean in relation to the story. For example, the story starts with some random boy telling about his experience at a wedding for a bride and groom living at a retirement complex. It then goes on to talk about turtles and a bus ride, each with a student connected to them. The last narrative, however, is the most important. It brings the team together in a way that makes them all seem important and completely abnormal.

The real reason that I could only rate this book a four is because you know the ending from the very beginning, and so the narratives are a little bit irrelevant.

However, once you get into the feeling of the book, it's a good read and not hard to understand at all. Happy reading!!