Regarding the Sink: Where, Oh Where, Did Waters Go?

Regarding the... #2

by Kate Klise, M. Sarah Klise (Illustrator)

Geyser Creek Middle School's cafeteria sink is clogged, and the smell is . . . well, P-U-trid. Of course, the savvy students in the sixth-grade class know just who can create a fabuloso new sink--Florence Waters, who designed the school's OTT (over-the-top) water fountain. But the famous fountain designer (and, more important, their good friend) has gone missing! Undeterred, these kids follow their hearts and noses all the way to China to find Florence . . . and sniff out a few stinkers along the way.

Told in letters, newspaper articles, and BEAN-mails, this story is guaranteed to make you laugh until beans fly out your nose!

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Humor, Childrens, Mystery, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

127 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Catherine "Kate" Klise is an American author of children's literature. Many of her books are illustrated by her sister, M. Sarah Klise. Their popular Regarding series is presented in a scrapbook style format, with letters, journal entries, and related ephemera telling the story. She is also known for her picture books as well as the bestselling 43 Old Cemetery Road series. Kate Klise's first adult novel, In the Bag, was released in 2012.

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book number 2 in the regarding the... series that I'm working my way through while I'm on break. This second book is even better than the first in my opinion. Sam N's 5th-grade class has become Sam N's 6th-grade class and they are trying to find their friend Florence Waters who has gone missing and hoping that she will build them a new cafeteria sink. The mystery in this book is once again very charming and fun and the names continue to be very clever. I think the plot of the book is very fun and you can really see how the characters are growing up and relationships are forming. I can't wait to read the 3rd book because it was always one of my favorites.

[Amita · Rating 4 out of 5]

corruption plot of the CENTURY. literally show me one other series that went as hard as this one

2022 popsugar reading challenge: A book with cutlery on the cover or in the title

[Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, excellent twisting plot! I love the mixture of Letters, Faxes, News Articles, BEANmail, and all other forms of communication used in this book. It conveys everything easy enough without an actual novel part!

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An even more compelling volume than the first. More mystery, more threads to track, more subtle information to explore.

[Margaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fun book full of collages of memos,letters,etc :D

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and a lot silly. Puns galore, especially sink related ones. I imagine the next in the series 'Regarding the Trees' will have a lot of tree and/or plant related puns.

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where O where has Flo Waters gone? The kids need her help in replacing their cafeteria sink. Included in this second installment is a political scandal that literally stinks. Missouri Senator Sue Ergass is supporting a Chinese company that wants to replace rain. Meanwhile she has started an drive called BLAST (Beans Lift America's Spirit Tremendously) and sending tons of beans to China. There's an endangered fish in the mix and lots of great punny names like Annette Trap, Sam N., Anne Chovey, Mayor I.B. Newt, Goldie Fisch, and Pearl O. Ster. Told in the form of emails, BEAN mail, newspaper articles, letters, and other formats, this little book is a commentary on school red tape and our congressional shenanigans. Looks like Geyser Creek Middle School needs some trees trimmed. Looking forward to seeing the ideas Flo has for that project.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another series from the sisters Kate and Sarah Klise. Just as much fun as the 43 Cemetery Road series with the same format - play on words in a letter - Bean mail - format.
Geyser Creek Middle School has a Sink problem - it is clogged and getting smellier by the day. Calling on their friend, Florence Waters, to help, they receive no answer. Did they upset her? Where is she?
The plot has twists and turns just like the plumbing. And modern inventions like BEAN mail. The beans work themselves into several plot lines.If you weren't suspicious of Sue Ergas from the beginning, y0u need to read more slowly and say them out loud to get the joke.
I love the obviousness of the names to get you to realize their hidden plots. Such a fun series.

[Amy Langston · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is the follow-up to a silly story about a middle school needing a new water fountain? Needing a new sink! As if the story couldn't get any sillier...heheh, yes it does. The story's conflict grows from a local conspiracy in the first book to more of a national/global conspiracy. Kids will learn a bit about investment and projections in this book. I recommend reading Regarding the Fountain first, to become introduced to the characters and the style.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say that I liked this sequel as much as Regarding the Fountain, but it was still a fun quick read! Another rollicking adventure with Sam N. and his class of now sixth graders, another mystery or two, and a bunch more punny names!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as tight a story as the first, but very enjoyable.

[Mae sturgeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it for reading groups or light reading to it is enjoyable for the hole family 📖

[Ryan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another pun-filled adventure with proper villains and clever kids.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as cute as the first one!

[Marah Angeles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Kate Klise. Left me wanting to read and finish the entire series as soon as possible!

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series continues to be highly enjoyable, as the kids raise money for a class trip and solve a mystery! I love all the funny names and spot-on ads in the newspaper.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this follow-up to Regarding the Fountain, the sixth grade class at Geyser Creek Middle School invites designer Florence Waters to return to their school to build a replacement for the clogged sink in the cafeteria. When Flo doesn’t respond to their letters, they become concerned for her well-being, and soon they learn that their friend might have been on a ship that sank, leaving no survivors. While they do everything they can to hunt her down, the kids also befriend their principal’s mother Ima Crabbie, and their teacher fights with the principal over whether it is necessary to use electronic communication.

I first read Regarding the Fountain in a Writing of Children’s Books course I took with Nancy Willard when I was a college freshman. I thought the book was absolutely brilliant. I loved the format, where the entire story is told in documents, and I loved the clever wordplay and somewhat silly approach to storytelling that the Klise sisters have mastered so well. I loved the book so much that I imagined none of the sequels could ever live up to it, and thus never read them. Now, though, it has been 12 years since I first discovered this series, and I think I have had enough distance to be able to appreciate the sequels on their own merits.

I think the first thing I noticed about Regarding the Sink is how much educational information is packed into it. Not only does the reader have the chance to be entertained by clever jokes and puns, he or she also learns about the stock market, the environment, and China. Though much of the plot centers on finding Flo so she can fix the sink, it also brings together these seemingly unrelated elements in a way that makes perfect sense and that teaches kids a lot of different things without beating them over the head with the information. I’m not suggesting that we have to fool kids into learning, but I think this book is so entertaining it will make kids want to know more about the information presented, simply because it is packaged in such a fun way.

Regarding the Sink is definitely a wacky school story, and not everything that happens in it is completely plausible. (How many sixth grade classes can really travel to China?) This is not a problem, though, because everything makes sense within the story universe. This book is now 9 years old, but it fits right in among books like the Wimpy Kid and Origami Yoda series and provides a somewhat tamer view of middle school for those younger readers who might not be ready for all the dating dramas and bullying plots that are so popular in diary fiction today.

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, part of a group of books, is composed of letters, memos, and newspaper pages. With witty names, a funny plot, and a ton of beans, this story is very entertaining. The book is abot a group of sixth grade students planning to go on a trip, they have no idea where they want to go or how much money. They soon, however, make friends with an unlikely person, the principal's crabby mom, and hear wind about another friend introuble and a fishy, and stinky, plot that would make you question government. All this is found out because the school needs a new sink.
I enjoyed this book mainly because of the format. I enjoy strait stories, but this kept you guessing. This book is about friendship. The kids in this book are friends with the famous designer of the school's fountain and later saved her from a sinkhole in China because they never gave up. They also make friends with Imogene "Ima" Crabbie by doing work for her. This relationship helps them with earning money from the stock market and even sofens Ms. crabbie, so it's a win, win. Because of all of this, a mother/ son relationship is forged, from what used to be a disowned family. Friendship is a good thing to have, whether it's in a family or so good you might as well be family, it's why people are happy and loved.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's stinky sink troubles for the Geyser Creek crowd in this book in letters. It's stopped up and stinking up the whole school. The kids reach out to fountain designer and friend Florence Waters to create a one of a kind sink, but when their letters go unanswered they worry that they've upset her or that she's gone missing.

Meanwhile, it's all about stocks; what's up and what's down, when to buy and when to sell. A politician goes crazy for beans, a company attempts to eliminate rainy days forever, and the search for Florence takes the kids on the class trip of a lifetime: to China!

Funny and informative (I was impressed with the way the stocks/stock market was explained). This series is a great read for grades 3-5, especially reluctant readers due to its highly graphic format and zany appeal.

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This completes my Read Harder challenge for guilty pleasure. I often find myself drawn to illustrated works and to children’s (middle grade) books as a fallback read especially when I want something quick and fun. Usually when I am very much busy in the mind with work and school stuff, I don’t have much energy to go into serious and heavy reading so I find it very convenient to have children’s literature readily at hand to pick up. This particular series was an unexpected find. I believe I first stumbled upon the book in one of the book sale bins and was immediately attached to the format of how the story was presented; in scribbles and drawings. To my fortunate surprise, the book proved to be interesting and funny. My sister and I was able to complete the series through different sale bins. I only have one more book to read to finish off the 5 part book series.

[Lmaeila · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you were a fan of the 43 Old Cemetary Road series or the Klise Sisters' Regarding the Fountain book, you will FOR SURE enjoy this book, Regarding the Sink, a lot. The only thing I didn't like was how it was so little like Regarding the Fountain that it almost makes me not want to read Regarding the Trees, however, I will because you can't just stop in the middle of the series. As I think about it, this book did take me a few days to read because I didn't have a lot of time to read it. But in general, this book should take the average reader 1-3 days to read. I'd recommend this book for children ages 8-12, however, I do not at all think that children, teens or adults ages 12+ would enjoy this book. A good four stars from me, though!

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regarding the Sink is a very clever tale that uses old-fashioned written correspondence between sixth grade students at Geyser Creek Middle School, Flo Waters (fountain designer extraordinaire) and various other residents of Geyser Creek. Tons of puns, plays on names, and silly happenings are sprinkled throughout the story. The characters are engaging and the demise of the school sink is foremost on these young peoples' minds...they can't read, they can't study, the can't stay focused; all because of the rotten, smelly stink coming from all over. What's causing it? One thing's for certain; the cafeteria meals aren't worth a hill of beans :-).

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read by the Klise sisters, funny, interesting, and educational all wrapped into a cute little package.

The 6th graders of Geyser Creek Middle School have taken on a challenge of finding their favorite designer, Florence Waters, in hopes that she will design a new sink for their school. Their sink is hopelessly clogged and leaving quite the putrid smell throughout the school. They have quite the adventure, leading them on a field trip to China, and quite the education on how some politicians definitely follow their own agendas, and not what is really needed for the people they govern.

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book with a somewhat unique format - the story is told through letters, memo, newspaper articles, poems, and diagrams. There's cute wordplay, especially with the characters names (Flo Water, Wally Russ, Ima Crabbie - you get the idea). I'm sure that all the gags will appeal to the demographic it's aimed at - children aged 9 to 12 - but for me, it was a little boring and almost tried too hard to be clever.


I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12087036

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kate Klise's epistolary fiction always puts me in a good mood. Regarding the Sink wasn't quite up to par with the first book in the series, Regarding the Fountain, but it was a cute book nonetheless. I feel that children wouldn't be interested in the stock market and the geography of China's environment that was discussed in the book. I love all the silly puns, like Walter Russ, A.V. Ayter, and Sue Ergass that relate to the water theme. I accidentally ordered a double copy of this book but I plan to exchange it for the next book in the series. Regarding the Trees, here I come!

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

So the Gyeser Creek Middle School's sink is clogged and it is making the whole school smell more and more bad every day. They send latters to Florence waters who wont send them a letter back so the go looking for her but you will have to see what happens at the end.. if you read this book.

My opinion about this book is I love it... it is a great book for kids.

I recommend this book for kids that like to read letters and newspaper articles.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kid's book - worthy of recommending to young readers. This is a follow up to Regarding the Fountain. The first one was better but the clever format makes it worth reading. These are mysteries written in correspondence, letters, postcards, memos, etc. It is always a favorite of my 5th grade reading group, leaving them wanting to read more. Can't beat that.

[Brad Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay book, easy to follow storyline and a fun hip new feeling, but the letters and newspaper clipping style was not easy to read. there was to many unresolved cliffhangers and connections that made my head spin.
All in all, it was a good book, but i would not reccomend unless you want to have to take notes.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Regarding the Sink: Where, Oh Where, Did Waters Go? was my first disappointment from the Klise sisters, but it sure won't stop me from reading their books/letters/memos!

[Nadine · Rating 2 out of 5]

difficult to say what type of kid would read this. On the one hand it's supposed to be funny and written as a set of emails and letters and newspaper clippings, on the other the disjointedness makes it hard for average readers to follow, but I'm not sure more sophisticated readers would give it time of day. my final conclusion was meh