For years, Adam Canfield has been the number-one star reporter for the Harris Elementary/Middle School paper, the Slash. Nowadays he’s also the most overprogrammed kid in America. Gladiator quiz bowl, jazz band, statewide test prep class—he’s always running somewhere, and nine times out of ten, running late. When does a guy get time to just shoot some baskets anymore?
Then his friend Jennifer talks him into being co-editor of the Slash. Between supervising know-it-all cub reporters and arguing with Principal Marris about which articles will “propel the Good Ship Harris forward,” Adam worries he might lose it altogether. But then a third grader delivers a scoop bigger than any of Adam’s career, and only Adam can dig deep enough to crack through a cover-up that will rock the very foundations of Harris itself.
From Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Michael Winerip, here is a first novel that delivers the rush of the newsroom, the adrenaline of a reporter on the trail of a hot story, and some keen insights into human nature—all with a lot of laughs.
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"Great story! There must be a sequel... It's great to see kids running a newspaper and working hard at it. Loved the fact that Front Page Phoebe had to really think about how her words affected others. Good book to recommend to boys, but girls will enjoy it as well."
— Lorelie (4 out of 5 stars)
" I think my middle schoolers will love this! Adam has a great voice. It feels like a Disney channel movie--in a good way. "
— Stephanie, 1/23/2014" middle school battle of the books 2010 "
— Carrie, 1/7/2014" Good story line and likable characters. Somewhat predictable, but still satisfying and pleasurable. "
— Carol, 1/2/2014" This is really good book it made me read it twice.And its about 2 reporters trying to find the secret. Of what their principle did with 75,000 that was supposed to go to the students. "
— Youraj, 12/22/2013" This is another one of the Sunshine State Books I read with my kids. It was one of the better ones. I liked the school newspaper uncovering school "dirt" concept. I would have loved this when I was in middle school. "
— Tiffany, 12/21/2013" not what I was expecting, but really enjoyed the surprise of young journalism adventure, town scandle, and adults being stupid "
— Mr., 12/16/2013" This is a great book, written by a NY Times reporter. If you know an 8 -11 year old that likes a good book, I really recommend this trilogy, it keeps your interest from page 1 all the way to the end. "
— Bari, 12/12/2013" Grades 5 and ^ "
— Jessica, 10/7/2013" this book was as fun as watching a plant grow it is good in the last 50 pages. good luck if you can with stand it. "
— Joshua, 9/24/2013" I like it it made me want to join the school newspaper "
— Gabriela, 8/27/2013" I enjoyed this one a lot. Involving and suspenseful, with interesting characters. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. "
— Andy, 7/21/2013" This book was a mystery and a "kids are better than grown-ups" book. The Principal was the bad girl but Adam and his co-editor had to find proof that she really was using donated money to upgrade her office. Kids will like this one. "
— Georgene, 10/31/2012" journalists should not write novels for kids... this was AWFUL "
— Fariha, 9/15/2012" it was for bob. i dint like it tht much as ravens gate. "
— Manleen, 5/15/2011" This was a great story for 4 - 6th graders, it was engaging and the characters are people you can care about. Young people would be able to see themselves in this gook. "
— Frannie, 12/21/2010" Experience the life of two busy middle school editors as they attempt to solve a mystery within their school. "
— Veronica, 11/20/2010" i cried a lot. Great book! "
— Tiffany, 7/22/2008" The title says it all. It helped me to accept why Brandon was deployed and helped me through many many rough nights.. Loved it, I will read some of the stories to children so the will grow to appreciate the country we live in. <br/> "
— Brooke, 4/7/2008" this book is very interesting. Some people may think this book is sad but i dont. "
— Jasmine, 10/25/2007Patrick Lawlor, an award-winning narrator, is also an accomplished stage actor, director, and combat choreographer. He has worked extensively off Broadway and has been an actor and stuntman in both film and television. He has been an Audie Award finalist multiple times and has garnered several AudioFile Earphones Awards, a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award, and many starred audio reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.