Synopsis
Lucas Cott is one of the smartest kids in Mrs. Hockaday's third grade -- but he is also the most rambunctious. Lucas doesn't mean to be the class clown, so he promises to try to behave, even though it doesn't sound like much fun.
With the best intentions, Lucas still manages to cause the unexpected when he accidentally lets a yardful of autumn leaves loose in his classroom, gets his head stuck in a chair during a school assembly, and even makes a daring bet with Cricket, the class brain. But when Mrs. Hockaday assigns him the part of a clown in their class circus, Lucas knows he would be better as the ringmaster. Can he convince his teacher, or will he always be just the class clown?
This is a warm and funny story about a boy who learns that there's a time and place for everything -- even humor.
Publishers Weekly
Hurwitz ( Class Clown ; Class President ) presents the irrepressible Lucas Cott in a new venue. Here, his high spirits are played out not at school but at home, with a French au pair who is spending the summer with the Cotts as his foil. The pranks and mischief Lucas undertakes, in the mistaken belief that Genevieve is as naive as she seems, are vintage Hurwitz: bright, funny and fast-paced. His gradual acceptance of Genevieve in particular; of other things that seem weird or ``different;'' and, even more broadly, of his own responsibiities within the family provide a solid emotional underpinning to this engaging chapter book. Hamanaka's ( The Journey) drawings add to the story's lively spirit. Ages 7-up. (Apr.)