Fifth Grade Top Dogs

Suds Morton is about to enter fifth grade. He and his best friend, Joey, can’t wait. At last, they will be the top dogs at the school. Little kids will bow down to them and do their bidding. All Suds and Joey need to do is be cool. It seems to come easily to Joey, but Suds needs to practice. He spends a lot of time at the mirror practicing his cool looks and his cool walk. His little sister doesn’t seem impressed. Once school starts, Suds and Joey find they have a new teacher, Mr. Miles, who seems to be on to their shenanigans. The boys get in trouble at school, and Suds’s parents call for changes. Maybe being top dog isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Jerry Spinelli has owned the elementary reading space for a very long time. This book is part of a series that sees these characters in earlier grades, but this one seems like an afterthought. There isn’t much depth to the characters, and it doesn’t have a very compelling plot. His writing is great, as usual, and there is a lot of humor, but the story is a bit ho-hum.