Review by Booklist Review
ldquo;Zeroes are my heroes," chirps army brat Airi, entering her umpteenth school resolved to convince her new teacher, as she has all the rest, that she is "unteachable," through a relentless campaign of pranks and refusals to do any work. Skilled as she is at disruptive "Teacher Tactics," Airi has never run into anyone like infuriatingly patient, cheery, clever Mrs. Ashton--and the war is on. Readers will soon figure out that the 11-year-old narrator's often ingenious pranks, amusing as they may be (to read about, anyway), are really cries for attention; her tone may be buoyant, but underneath she is a simmering, sad, and angry child--afflicted not only by the repeated disruptions of her military father's reassignments but also (as Mrs. Ashton turns out to be perceptive enough to spot) a learning disability that has turned school into a place where nothing good happens. While bringing the entertainingly back-and-forth struggle to a conclusion that believably counters that last notion, Tokushige embeds her tale and its realistically multicultural cast in a Hawaiian setting that positively bursts with vivid details of daily life, speech, and spirit. Airi chimes in with a side disquisition on "Hawaiian for Haoles," and Naalchigar adds lots of monochrome portraits and spot art of food, shirts, and other local color to match.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Airi uses every trick she knows to test her new teacher's limits. Airi Sano often gets in trouble with adults because she likes to pull pranks, but she just wants to make people laugh. As part of an Army family, Japanese American Airi's moved around a lot, and she's always felt misunderstood and left out. Now that they're settling in Hawaii, where her dad is from (her mom is from Japan), she's excited at the prospect of making real friends but less thrilled about starting sixth grade. Airi tries to get her teacher to see that she's a lost cause, but Mrs. Ashton never gets angry with her. A prank war ensues--documented through Airi's Official Personal Personnel File as well as incident reports, situation reports, maps, and footnotes--and Airi enlists the help of her new friends to get Mrs. Ashton to snap. Airi's feisty attitude and love for joking around lighten this clever story that is full of laughs, family, and friendship. Her difficulties in school and diagnosis of dyslexia touch on struggles and feelings many readers experience. Numerous sweet black-and-white illustrations add to the fun, showing lively scenes, food, and more. The supporting cast represents the diversity of Honolulu. A hilarious, charming story full of humor and mischief. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.