Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom

 

I love the Frankie Pickle series by Eric Wight!  The kid is seriously cool.  He's got a great imagination, a good attitude, and listens to his mother (as much as an 8-ish boy possibly could).  Yes, he's a daydreamer, and probably drives his teacher crazy because of it, but he's such a great character that you have to love him!

Here is the summary from Goodreads:

Meet Frankie Pickle...the kid with the world's most amazing imagination!
It takes him on adventures.It helps him save the day.And sometimes it gets him into trouble.
When Frankie's mom says he never has to clean his room again, he goes hog wild. The more he plays, the bigger the mess grows, until it tumbles out of control! Now Frankie must clean up his act, but will his imagination be enough to conquer the CLOSET OF DOOM?

Frankie, imagining himself in an Indiana Jones-ish situation trying to find treasure, soon finds himself at breakfast, getting ready to go to his friend's house to play video games.  But, his mom stops him and tells him to clean up his room before he goes anywhere.  Frankie complains that its just how he likes it, so his mom, in what he probably thinks is a fit of insanity, tells him that as long as he keeps his door shut, he can leave his room however he wants it (little does he know, but mom is patient and will soon get her way).

After about a week of not cleaning his room or himself AT ALL, Frankie realizes that its better to have a place for everything and everything in its place and starts to clean his room and himself.  All the while imagining himself as a grand adventurer.  (That mom, its like she had it planned all along...)

The book is written in a half graphic novel/half chapter book form, so it really works great for your struggling older readers, your advance younger readers, and everyone in between!  I'm so happy I bought this book, I can't wait to share it with my students!

I read this book as it was a suggestion on the Virginia Reader's Choice Committee.  All above opinions are solely my own and not of the committee.