Airi Sano, Prankmaster General New school skirmish

Zoe Tokushige

Book - 2022

"Meet Airi Sano. After spending her entire childhood moving from one military base to another, she's excited to be settling down for the long-term in Hawai'i. She's less excited about her new teacher, who's determined to make Airi like school. But she's got a plan: prank her teacher so hard that she gives up on even trying to get Airi to do any work-especially any reading. But Mrs. Ashton won't give up, no matter what Airi does. Airi will need the help of her new classmates-who might even be her new friends-to get Mrs. Ashton to crack. It's time . . . for a prank war!"--Back cover.

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Subjects
Genres
School fiction
Children's stories
Published
New York, NY : Philomel Books 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Zoe Tokushige (author)
Other Authors
Jennifer Naalchigar (illustrator)
Physical Description
292 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Audience
Reading age 8-12
Grade level 3-7
Lexile measure 600L
ISBN
9780593465783
Contents unavailable.
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.

The US Army has a file on me at least five hundred pages thick. An OMPF. That's what Mom says, anyway. She says we ought to request it so I can "learn the effects of my behavior" and "start to think before I act." She always sighs when she says that. Then she looks up at the ceiling and asks, "How did I raise such a delinquent?" I like it better when she gets mad. Her face gets all red like a pepper, and she uses my full name: "Airi. Evelyn. Sano." Like that. You can hear the periods. It always makes me giggle. When she sighs, there's nothing to laugh at. I had to look up the word "delinquent" online when she first used it. There were a few definitions. Here are my favorites: delinquent (de-­LING-­kwent) 1. noun-- ­a usually young person who regularly performs illegal or immoral acts 2. adjective --­neglectful of a duty or obligation; guilty of a misdeed or offense Synonyms: offender, wrongdoer, malefactor, lawbreaker, culprit, criminal I also found a bunch of mug shots. Turns out that means pictures of criminals, not actual mugs. At first I thought "mug" stood for something, like MUG: Mostly Unwashed Guy. Then I remembered back when Dad was stationed at Fort Mackall-­Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, I heard one of my teachers say a kid had "a mug only a mother could love" after he broke his nose falling off the jungle gym. I asked Dad about it later and he said "mug" is an old-­fashioned way of saying "face," but he didn't know why. I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now. These days, when Mom calls me a delinquent, I leave little drawings of what my mug shot might look like--­if I ever actually get arrested--­all over the house for her. I even asked my obaachan (that's what I call my grandma in Japan) how to write "delinquent" in kanji (꼇좁큽) to really make my point. I like to hide the pictures so she'll find them when she least expects it. Sometimes I'll be across the house and I'll hear her yelp when she opens the bathroom cabinet and sees me smirking back. "Smirking" means "to smile in an insincere manner." A teacher once accused me of smirking and gave me a demerit. When I said I didn't even know what a smirk was, she gave me a second demerit and a note to give my parents. Mom sighed extra loud that day. I started drawing the mug shots because I thought they were funny. I hoped they would make Mom laugh. Dad likes them. He collects them all for my file and compliments me on the different faces. But Mom never laughs. Which is the whole point. What I'm saying is that she thinks I'm bad. Everyone thinks I'm bad. People just don't have a sense of humor. They don't get it. That's why I started my own case file. An Official Personal Personnel File (aka an OPPF). If the army is going to keep a report on me, I want to tell my side of the story too. Now when I get put out in the hall or sent to the vice principal's office, I'll be documenting it. Then the next time I get called in for a "talk" on why I'm not "fitting in," I won't have to say a word. All I'll have to do is give them my file. This portfolio of information, all for them to see. Just like the ones that Dad brings home sometimes, the ones that aren't classified. That way when Mom or my teacher or anyone asks, "What were you thinking, Airi?" I'll be able to show them this. And if you still think I'm bad, then fine. If this is bad, then I'll be bad. I'll be the happiest, baddest delinquent you've ever seen. Excerpted from Airi Sano, Prankmaster General: New School Skirmish by Zoe Tokushige All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.