The Misadventures of Max Crumbly 2: Middle School Mayhem

by Rachel Renée Russell, Rachel Renée Russell (Illustrator)

Overview

From #1 New York Times bestselling Dork Diaries author Rachel Renee Russell comes the second book in an all-new series about Max Crumbly and his daily ups and downs in middle school.

Max’s exciting adventure picks up right where it left off at the thrilling cliffhanger from the end of Book 1 as he faces off with the burglars out to steal from South Ridge Middle School!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481460033
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	06/06/2017
Series:	Misadventures of Max Crumbly Series , #2
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	17,486
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	9 - 13 Years

About the Author

Rachel Renée Russell is an attorney who prefers writing tween books to legal briefs. (Mainly because books are a lot more fun and pajamas and bunny slippers aren’t allowed in court.) Rachel lives in Chantilly, Virginia.

Rachel Renée Russell is an attorney who prefers writing tween books to legal briefs. (Mainly because books are a lot more fun and pajamas and bunny slippers aren’t allowed in court.) Rachel lives in Chantilly, Virginia.

Read an Excerpt

The Misadventures of Max Crumbly 2

I knew middle school was going to be challenging, but I never expected to end up DEAD in the computer lab, wearing a SUPERHERO COSTUME, with four slices of PIZZA stuck to my BUTT!

My morning actually started out pretty normal. . . .

Hey, I’m NOT stupid! I KNEW I wasn’t superhero material! But that never stopped me from staring in the mirror and wishing . . .

. . . that one day an average kid like me could actually make a difference. You know, do something great!

Yeah, right! WHO was I kidding?! My situation was HOPELESS! I could never change the world. . . .

But then I had a brilliant idea! Just maybe, I could CHANGE the MAN in the mirror! HOW? . . .

By using my knowledge of anatomy, my awesome drawing skills . . .

AND AN ENTIRE TUBE OF TOOTHPASTE!!

Yeah, you’re right. I guess you could call me kind of . . . WEIRD!

But it’s all GOOD! Most of the famous superheroes and infamous villains are ALSO a little disturbed. So I like to think of it as untapped potential.

You’re probably sitting there wondering HOW I managed to create such a HUMONGOUS MESS (I mean the mess at my school, NOT the mess in my bathroom).

It all started when Doug Thug Thurston shoved me into my LOCKER after school. Unfortunately, I was trapped inside there for HOURS!!

I’m not going to lie to you! I totally FREAKED!

But give me a break!

I was all alone. In a dark and creepy school building. Locked INSIDE my locker.

For possibly an ENTIRE THREE-DAY WEEKEND!

Honestly, dude! YOU would have freaked out too!

Anyway, after what seemed like forever, I finally managed to escape through the ventilation system.

But as I was passing the computer lab, I accidentally stumbled upon three burglars in the process of stealing the school’s brand-new computers! It was SURREAL!

I started thinking about how I’m such a LOSER that kids at school call me BARF because I accidentally threw up my oatmeal on Thug’s shoe in PE class.

Sorry, but if you had seen those pus-filled ZITS on his face up close, you would have thrown up too!

Anyway, I FINALLY had the chance to completely CHANGE my pathetic life. HOW?!

By stopping the burglars and saving the school’s computers while at the same time impressing Erin, president of the computer club!

But don’t get it TWISTED! It’s not like I’m crushing on her or something! I BARELY know the girl!!

And then, B O O M ! !

My rep would BLOW UP, and I’d instantly go from ZERO to HERO!

SWEET!!

This, my friends, is the very STRANGE but TRUE tale of how I fought EVIL and INJUSTICE in the DANK, DARK, DANGEROUS halls of South Ridge Middle School.

I’ve documented every detail in my journal, The Misadventures of Max Crumbly, which I keep with me wherever I go. So let’s pick up right where I left off in my last entry. . . .

I had just outsmarted those bungling burglars and was BLASTING through my school like a rocket to go exchange intel by cell phone with my trusty sidekick, Erin! . . .

ME, AS MIGHTY MAX, BLASTING THROUGH THE SCHOOL!!

ERIN, MY SUPERHERO BFF!

Okay, I’ll admit I may have exaggerated a little. This is what REALLY happened. . . .

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2017
Gr 4–6—The first volume of this series concluded with Max landing on the pizza of the villains who were stealing the school's computers. This next installment follows his attempts to retrieve his father's prize comic book and thwart the thieves before his partner in high jinks, Erin, calls the police. Caught in the school building after hours because a school bully trapped him in a locker, Max now tries to capture the leisurely and incompetent criminals by sliming them with cookie dough, enticing them up a gym rope ladder tied to a fan, and luring one into a bathroom stall that explodes into a poop fountain. Along the way, he relays anecdotes about previous mishaps and connects further with his crush and technical adviser, Erin. Max also struggles with his asthma and gets in trouble at home because of his adventures. This notebook-style novel includes crossed-out text (when Max tries to edit his own story), rap lyrics, jokes about bodily functions, and digs at the insufficiencies of the school building and the criminals' abilities. The computer thieves are still on the loose at the end, so another entry can be expected. VERDICT Student demand will make this purchase a necessity. Those who prefer a bit more plot and character development may find Tommy Greenwald's "Charlie Joe Jackson" or Nate Peirce's "Big Nate" titles to be equally amusing but more substantial reads.—Karen Yingling, Blendon Middle School, Westerville, OH

School Library Journal

2017-05-01
Max Crumbly is back, blundering through his second misadventure. When readers last saw the white middle schooler, he had just plunged out of the school's "vast, labyrinth-like" ventilation system onto the pizza ordered by the three bumbling, white crooks who have taken advantage of the three-day weekend to execute the most incompetent computer heist ever. They are fortunate that it's dimwitted Max who's locked in with them. Unbeknownst to them, however, his new, smart friend Erin, also white, is on the phone with Max and has hacked her way into the school computer and now controls all its systems. With Erin's help, it should be easy for Max to thwart the crime, retrieve his father's precious comic book, and escape the building. Alas, it is not. As in series opener Locker Hero (2016), Max's journal provides a play-by-play of the episode (including cartoons of scenes he could not have witnessed), elongated by digressions and larded with vomit and excrement jokes. Also as before, Max's faux hand-lettered account features cross-outs and emendations that make little to no sense. A couple of well-paced cartoon-only sequences offer effective (if gross) slapstick, but they cannot compensate for the overall unfunniness of the caper. Kids who want to see this sort of adventure done well should opt for Varian Johnson's Jackson Greene books; kids who are charmed by puke jokes may find this mildly diverting. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews