The Best Fight

Susan DeRonne

Jamie repeatedly gets into fistfights with the other fifth-graders. He attends a special class for reading, and his peers tease him about his disability. The principal, Mr. Wilson, eventually delivers an unusual punishment to Jamie for his violent behavior: he must show up for a week after school to talk about his "burden." To his surprise, Jamie finds Mr. Wilson very understanding and begins to recover some of his lost self-esteem. Mr. Wilson gives Jamie practical ways to deal with the teasing of his classmates and a sensible way of internalizing his disability. Readers with and without disabilities will benefit from the conversations between Jamie and the principal. The full-page illustrations will appeal to younger readers, but the subject matter is weighty in a well-written book that offers sensitive insights into learning disabilities and the social problems associated with them.