Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School

by Kim Baker, Tim Probert (Illustrator)

Overview

This is the story of THE LEAGUE OF PICKLEMAKERS

Ben: who began it all by sneaking in one night and filling homeroom with ball-pit balls.
Frank: who figured out that an official club, say a pickle-making club, could receive funding from the PTA.
Oliver: Who once convinced half of the class that his real parents had found him and he was going to live in a submarine.
Bean: Who wasn't exactly invited, but her parents own a costume shop, which comes in handy if you want to dress up like a giant squirrel and try to scare people at the zoo.

TOGETHER, they are an unstoppable prank-pulling force, and Fountain Point Middle School will never be the same.

Latino Interest.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250044273
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	05/06/2014
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	101,462
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	700L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kim Baker moved around a lot as a kid, which taught her two things: silliness is a great way to make pals, and goofy people make the best friends. She lives in Seattle with her family and still goofs off. A lot. Pickle is her first book.

Read an Excerpt

1
Top Secret
 
 
Can I trust you? I mean, to tell you this story I need to know that you can keep a couple of secrets. I’m already in a whole lot of trouble, and it’s not just me. But I want to tell you everything that happened. Everything. I’ll assume that you can keep the important stuff secret and not pass this book on to anyone older than twenty. I’ve been paying attention, and I’m pretty sure that’s when a person’s sense of humor starts leaking out. If somebody is that old, this isn’t their kind of story, anyway.
I’m talking about the League of Pickle Makers. Can you think of a club a person would be less curious about? That’s the point. Five of us meet on Thursdays, after school in the science lab. You’d expect somebody would think it was fishy that a group of kids are excited enough about making pickles to meet every week. On meeting days we take turns making a show out of carrying around some vinegar or a sack of cucumbers. We even have a website. Check it out—www.picklesforever.com. Click on the “Fizzy Pickle Soup” recipe, and then click on the word “simmer” down at the bottom. The password is “cheese.”
Now you know we’re not really an organization of picklers. Honestly, I don’t even like pickles that much. Only a few people know how it all started. Us—and if you think you can handle it—you.

 
Text copyright © 2012 by Kim Baker
Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Tim Probert

Editorial Reviews

Baker’s debut is a lighthearted romp with cross-gender appeal. When good- natured sixth-grader Ben Diaz stumbles on the chance to pull a perfect, anonymous prank at school (the balls from a pizzeria’s ball pit are involved), the satisfaction—and his schoolmates’ reaction—inspire him to seek out bigger opportunities. He recruits two classmates for his “secret prank task team”; they are soon joined by two more, creating a multicultural and personable crew of mischief-makers. Together they go undercover as the most boring official school club they can think of, the League of Pickle Makers. Soon the school fountain is overflowing with soap bubbles, and kids in soaked clothing are emerging from the restrooms (where the sinks have been wrapped in plastic), thanks to Ben’s Prank and Trick Association (the other P.T.A.), which must also keep up its pickle-making cover for an upcoming Pioneer Fair. Fair warning: the practical jokes are troublesome and annoying to authority figures but harmless and hilarious to kids, and thus may prove inspirational to like-minded readers. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger Inc. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A CBC 2013 Book of the Year Finalist

A New York Public Library Top 100 Book for Reading and Sharing

Fuse #8's 100 Magnificent Children's Book of the Year

Mamiverse.com: Top 50 Latino Children's Books You Should Know

From the Publisher

Pickle is fun and hilarious! The pranks pulled off are so fantastically fun that it's almost dangerous to let kids read it.

Sid Fleischman Humor Award Winner and author of Th Chris Rylander

A book that I simply cannot keep on my library shelves . . . kids eat this book up with a spoon.

Elizabeth Bird

Reading Pickle makes me want to fill an entire school waist-deep with bean dip; stage an impromptu zombie attach during lunchtime; wear a cowbow hat while driving a herd of house cats through the halls. . . . Whatever it moves you to do, you'll find Pickle to be inspired fun.

co-creator of Babymouse and Squish Matthew Holm

Baker writes with a light and lively hand, depicting a realistic urban setting peopled with engaging characters from various ethnic backgrounds.

The Horn Book

Even though this is a fast-paced, humorous story, it tackles the true meanings of friendship. . . . Pair this with James Preller's Justin Fisher books or Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Booklist

When Ben reads about free balls from the local ball pit, he decides to spice up sixth grade with some fun. As the one-and-only mastermind behind the secret, stinky ball caper, he is proud that he can pull it off without any finger-pointing. He envisions even bigger and better pranks but realizes he can't do them alone. So Ben sets about identifying a posse of fun-loving kids who can keep secrets. It can't include his best friend Hector because the principal, Mrs. Lebonsky, is his definitely-non-fun-loving grandmother—and Hector has a proven track record of not being able to keep secrets from her. She would label the entire group troublemakers and put them in detention forever. When Ben discovers that clubs are not only sanctioned but given start-up money, the League of Pickle Makers is born. Boys and girls are sure to enjoy this peek into a prank-playing, friend-making, us-against-the-principal world of learning how to get along in middle school. Reviewer: Bonita Herold

Children's Literature - Bonita Herold

Gr 4–6—Ben Diaz has a secret. His after-school pickle-making club is just a cover for the group's real purpose: pulling pranks. Ben also has a problem. His best friend wants to join, but Hector can't keep a secret, and Hector's grandmother is the stern principal of the boys' middle school. When a prank releases thousands of crickets at a school fair, the principal suspends all extracurricular activities until the culprits turn themselves in. The club members organize a protest to reclaim students' rights, as Ben says, "to be responsible for our choices. We can't if she won't let us." The resolution will satisfy even if it's a bit idealized, just as the novel's kid-empowerment theme will resonate with young readers, but it does not help them to consider that their choices-like pranks-can have unintended consequences. Ben's first-person narration feels authentic. What feels forced is the device of the protagonist warning readers in chapter one to continue with the story "only if you think you can handle it." The club members all have backstories that make them distinct characters; the adults get less attention. Probert's finely detailed, expressive illustrations depict the club's racially diverse makeup. Baker's debut novel shows promise and offers an enjoyable read.M. Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY

School Library Journal

Would you want to join the League of Pickle Makers? Sixth-grader Ben Diaz is not a troublemaker. (His best friend Hector's grandmother is the persnickety principal of Fountain Point Middle School; troublemaking is inadvisable.) Ben does think harmless pranks enhance the school experience, though. So when he sees an ad for thousands of free ball-pit balls, he responds and fills his homeroom. It's so much fun he starts a club of pranksters (by invitation only). The Prank and Trick Association (P.T.A.) masquerades as the League of Pickle Makers ('cause who would want to study veggie brining after school?). Several pranks later, the school's abuzz, and the principal is cheesed off. Success! However, the exclusivity of the club jeopardizes Ben's friendship with Hector, whose grandmother can get him to confess to anything. And then a rogue prank threatens to expose them all. Baker's debut, with genial black-and-white illustrations by Probert, is a gently sarcastic, multicultural tale. The characters and conflicts are stock but no less entertaining for it. (The associated website with passwords and chat boards was not seen, but it sounds like a promising addition.) Sure to please anyone with a puckish sense of humor or a hankering for innocent prank ideas. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews