Richard’s parents are exasperated but supportive and unwavering in their expectations for their son. However, Richard is a good-natured guy, and readers will cheer when he finally tackles the report. Skateboarder Richard spends so much time mastering a flat-ground Ollie that other things fall by the wayside avoidance and procrastination prevent him from doing as well as his teacher and family expect, and it can be frustrating for the reader to watch him spend more time on avoiding tasks than simply getting them done. No such luck, and after blowing off his assignment-again-he finds himself staying in for recess. He knows that his report on howler monkeys was due last Friday, but he hoped his fake-sick-day absence from school would throw Ms. 1/14) just can’t seem to get out of his own way. English continues to earn her place as one of the most reliable early-grade authors, and readers who haven’t discovered the Carver School kids will find this a satisfying entry point.Richard (best friend of protagonist Gavin in Dog Days, rev.

Freeman’s sturdy black and white spot art focuses on kid action, but there are also some revealing looks at Richard’s worried face as he tries to tackle-or avoid tackling-his obstacles. The warm details of Richard’s African-American family are tempered by the realism of life with a bunch of boisterous boys (as when Richard dribbles soda on his sleeping brother’s face). His delaying of passing on that important message only gets him into further trouble, so has he blown his chances at the skateboard party for good? As with her Nikki and Deja books ( Nikki and Deja, BCCB 2/08, etc.), English gets to the heart of kid logic and reality here Richard isn’t a problem child, just a nice guy who loves to please his teacher, dislikes confrontation, and hasn’t quite matured enough to grasp the consequences of procrastination (“Why hadn’t he just done his report in the first place?” Richard wonders. However, he’s had some focus problems on his schoolwork-he slacked on his part of a group report and missed school the day it was presented, and his scores on spelling and math tests have been poor-and now his teacher wants to talk to his parents. In this new outing about the kids at Carver School, Richard can’t wait to go to the bigger kids’ skateboard party and show off the smooth moves he hopes to develop by then.

Skateboard party by karen english