I originally received this as an ARC (Advance Reader's Copy) and wasn't able to read it immediately. Never in a million years could I have predicted that I would end up reading this for the first time during a pandemic and shelter-at-home order. As Sachar started writing this years ago, he couldn't possibly have known just how prescient this would feel now. Though the connection is completely unintended though, it turns out to be quite relevant. Now that many of us may feel like we're living und

I originally received this as an ARC (Advance Reader's Copy) and wasn't able to read it immediately. Never in a million years could I have predicted that I would end up reading this for the first time during a pandemic and shelter-at-home order. As Sachar started writing this years ago, he couldn't possibly have known just how prescient this would feel now. Though the connection is completely unintended though, it turns out to be quite relevant. Now that many of us may feel like we're living under a Cloud of Doom, we may not feel like we want to look for another, yet even though this might not be what we're looking for, it's *exactly* what we all need right now.



Even a school as wacky as Wayside School can't escape the apprehension and pressure of testing. As Mrs. Jewls' crew preps for the looming Ultimate Test where they're somehow supposed to demonstrate everything they've ever learned their entire lives, a dark cloud emerges over the school and threatens to make things even stranger than usual.



While I would argue that the individual chapters of WSBCOD don't necessarily work as well as stand-alone vignettes as some of the previous books, the build throughout the book, the callbacks, the character-building is the best of the Wayside books I've read. Similarly, even though it seems to be just a touch more serious/subdued than some of the others, the funny parts are some of the funniest in the series. My son (who is technically younger than the book's true demographic) was fascinated with it and could not stop laughing at the parts with the school psychologist and the "face" (no spoilers!) among other things.



Because our circumstances are what they are--it's impossible to know just how much this impacted my interpretation of the reading, but I was genuinely moved several times in this book. Even in the Wayside universe where everything is ridiculous...except when it's not. Sachar manages to cut through to the humanity at the heart of things as he always manages to, and we needed it more than ever. The humor is a good distraction but also the explicit acknowledgment/parallel of going through something weird and worrisome and working with it the best you can.



I would recommend this book anyway, but truly this (or any of the Wayside books) is tailor-made for these strange quarantine/shelter-at-home times because of the short, engaging, and fast-moving chapters. My son and I finished it in two sittings, I think, and with his age, he probably has a much shorter attention span than most of the kids who would typically be reading this on their own. This Wayside book in particular, with the chapter endings feeling more open-ended than the books that came before, lends itself particularly well for a bedtime read-aloud. Entertaining enough to engage the adult as well as the kids and leave lots of questions and interest so everyone looks forward to the next installment.