On my honor I will do my best

To be good at being bad;

To disrupt, but not destroy;

To embarrass the dour and amuse the merry;

To devote my mind to japes capers, shenanigans, and monkey business;

To prove the world looks better turned upside down;

For I am a prankster.

So be it.

Frankly, the book had us at shenanigans. Entertaining and enjoyable, The Terrible Two is a caper that put me in mind of a childhood favorite, This Can’t Be Happening at MacDonald Hall.  (Oddly, MacDonald Hall was one of only three books I read multiple times as a child.  The other two were The Little Princess and The Sword of Shannara.  It is unclear what this says about my psychological profile…)  It was endearing to see a friendship evolve and refreshing to see kids being kids while creating fun in a time-honored (old-fashioned?) way that involved thinking, planning, chalkboards, and the great outdoors–rather than a game console or screen.

The novel is graced with a liberal dose of amusing illustrations by Kevin Cornell and sprinkled with obscure, but entertaining trivia about bovines.  This is a sure-fire read for those hard-to-please elementary-aged boy readers and a big step up from many of the current popular “doodle diaries”.  Take the oath and take the plunge into a fun read!

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Amulet Books

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None

Violence/Gore:  Verbal threat(s) to beat-up; bully purposefully bumps another; bully punches a character in the stomach.

Sex/Nudity:  None

Mature Subject Matter:

Bullying, pranking (involving deception and minor property damage).

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None