The Dunderheads

The Dunderheads are a motley crew of resourceful misfits, underestimated by their gleefully-horrible teacher Miss Breakbone. When Miss Breakbone messes with the wrong Dunderhead, it's payback time, and the gang plots an Ocean's Eleven-style mission to exact revenge (and to recover a really cute cat statue). This book is a triumph on the part of author Fleischman, whose rapid-fire writing sets a perfect tone, and illustrator Roberts, whose detailed, colorful, sometimes macabre drawings (think Edward Gorey for 9-year-olds) tell the story as much as the text itself. One of my favorite middle-grade books of the last few years!

 

If you like it, be sure to check out the sequel, The Dunderheads Behind Bars.