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

by Kim Baker, Tim Probert (Illustrator)

This is the story of THE LEAGUE OF PICKLEMAKERS who began it all by sneaking in one night and filling homeroom with ball-pit who figured out that an official club, say a pickle-making club, could receive funding from the Who once convinced half of the class that his real parents had found him and he was going to live in a submarine. 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.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Humor, School, Friendship, Juvenile, Fiction

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was in college I took a course in journalism to fulfill an English credit. I had no real desire to report the news in any way, shape, or form so when the time came to write an article for the paper I had to find something that would be in my wheelhouse. Ultimately I decided to write a piece on the history of pranks at my alma mater. It was a fun piece to write and instilled in me not a love of reporting but rather a love of pranking and all it entails. A good prank, a true prank, does no harm aside from a minor inconvenience for the poor schmuck who has to clean it up. It does not destroy school property, causing only joy for those innocents who witness it. And pranks, the really good ones, are almost impossible to think up. Now it's hard enough to think up a prank for a liberal arts college in eastern Indiana. Imagine how much more difficult it is to think up a whole roster of pranks for a fictional elementary school. That is the task Kim Baker gave herself and the end result is a book that I simply cannot keep on my library shelves. Kids eat this book up with a spoon.

What would you do if you found out your favorite pizza joint was getting rid of all the balls in their ball pit for free? If you're Ben Diaz, the answer is simple. You make several trips with the balls to your elementary school, dump the lot in your classroom window, and then sit back and enjoy the show. It's an auspicious beginning for an up-and-coming prankster, and once Ben gets a taste of the havoc (and admiration) his act garners, there's no stopping him. Next thing you know he's started a prank club with school funds. Okay... technically the school thinks that he's started a pickle club, but that shouldn't be a problem, right? Trouble is, once you've started something as silly as a prank club, it's hard to know when you've crossed a line and gone a little too far.

There's been a lot of talk in the press and the general public about the fact that when it comes to Latino characters in children's books you may as well be asking for the moon. They exist, but are so few and far between when compared to other ethnicities that one has a hard time figuring out who precisely is to blame. Pickle, I am pleased to report, stars a Hispanic kid who is featured on the cover front and center, no hiding his race or getting all namby pamby on who he is. And let me tell you now that the only thing rarer than a children's book starring a Latino boy is finding a children's book starring a Latino boy that's hilarious and fun. The kind of book a kid would pick up willingly on their own in the first place. It's like a little diamond on your bookshelf. A rara avis.

Now the key to any realistic school story, no matter how wacky, is likable characters. Not everyone in this book is someone you'd like to hang out with (personally I wouldn't cry a tear if Bean took a long walk off a short pier) but for the most part you're fond of these kids. Ben himself is a pretty swell guy. I don't think anyone's going to accuse Baker of failing to write a believable boy voice. Best of all, he's a can do kind of kid. He takes charge. His solution to the pickle problem is well nigh short of inspired, and a nice example of a protagonist using their special skills to problem solve. And though the true antagonist of the book is the principal, it's clear that his best friend Hector is a likable but lowly worm that serves as the emotional antagonist to our hero. You can't help but like the fact that Hector is such a stoolie/squealer that he will not only confess crimes he and Ben have committed but crimes they NOT committed as well. There is no better way to get a reader on your side than to tap into their sense of injustice and unfairness. It is a pity that the only girls in the group are the only people incapable of really good pranks. Or, rather, one is incapable of coming up with a good prank and the other is perfectly good but goes rogue with it.

Baker distinguishes nicely between pranks that merely annoy and pranks that upset and destroy. Undoubtedly there will be adults out there that worry that by reading this book kids are going to immediately go out and start putting soap in their own school's fountains/drinking fountains/what have you. Aside from the fact that most of the pranks in this book would be difficult to pull off (unless your kids have access to abandoned ball pits, I think you're pretty safe) the book distinguishes nicely between those pranks that do good and those that do harm. I'm sure there are adults who believe that there is no "good" prank in the world. Those are the folks who should probably steer clear of this one.

Pranking requires a certain set of requisite skills. You need to be smart enough to figure out what the pranks should be and how to make them work. You need to have the guts to pull them off, regardless of the consequences. And you need to know when you've gone two far. Include only the first two requirements and leave off the third and you've got yourself one heckuva fun book like Pickle. Celebrating the kind of anarchy only pranking can truly inspire, this is one of those books for kids that are truly FOR kids. Gatekeepers need not apply. Show one to a kiddo and watch the fun begin.

On shelves now.

[Carissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing you need to realize about pickle making is that it is serious business. Pickling has a long and illustrious history in the food preservation industry. Pssst! Are all of the grown-ups gone? They are? Great. Then we can let you in on a secret. The League of Pickle Makers is really a cover for the newest club at Fountain Point Middle School—the P.T.A. (Pranks and Trick Association). The club was started by me, Ben Ruiz and we only do pranks that are funny or fun and not mean. If you want more information about how we started our club, read Pickle by Kim Baker. We promise that you will laugh out loud. If this book doesn’t make you laugh out loud, it might be because you’re over the age of 20 and have lost your sense of humor. That happens to grown-ups sometimes. Ahem. In conclusion, for more information about the dynamics of pickling, please visit our website at www.picklesforever.com. Thank you for your attention.

note: this was a review i wrote for the library's website. For those of you who are children's librarians, you should know that i was SO impressed with this debut novel that I, upon finishing the book, promptly created a brand new event series for my already crowded summer line-up. I'm calling it Pickles, Pranks and a Picnic Lunch. Kids bring a lunch and eat while I read a few chapters (yes, this sounds like ye ol' standard Lunch Bunch, but here's my favorite part) and then we craft a new practical joke each week to take home and try on our friends and family. want more details? contact me. want to steal the idea? be my guest!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

bob

[Barb Middleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pranksters at my high school made life exciting by doing stuff like plugging a stick up the ketchup dispenser so when the victim, such as myself, pushed down on the pump, the stick went sailing out like a blow dart spraying the victim with ketchup. First time it happened to me, I had to go home and change pants. When the ketchup dispenser was out for a lunch meal, I had to watch out for the blow dart prankster. When toilet paper draped the ten oak trees that sit in my parents' front yard, I thought it was pretty. My dad who is an architect was not happy, especially when an ice storm raged the next night freezing the toilet paper to the branches for 5 months as winter settled in the frigid northern city of Minneapolis. The flowing streamers from the first night looked like used toilet paper by then and it was definitely NOT pretty. But when does a prankster go too far? At our school it was when some students thought spraying the locker room with several fire extinguishers would be hilarious. Most pranks are funny and annoying but it seems that when damage is done to property or another person gets hurt by the caper the laughter stops.

This is just one of the many themes that Ben Diaz and his secret group of pranksters, The League of Pickle Makers, learn as they spice up school life with their shenanigans. On paper, the school club makes pickles which they plan to enter in the Pioneer Fair Days, but their true motive is to covertly pull pranks against everyone at school. The tomfoolery begins when Ben finds free goods online in the Classifieds. He can't resist filling his school classroom full of a bunch of stinky, used bouncy balls that the owner of the local Pizzeria wants to get rid of. Kids at school think this is so funny and exciting that Ben decides to form a club thats antics include dry ice in the bathrooms, Saran Wrap over the bathroom sinks, and more. The pickle club is having a hey-ho time until one of the members goes rogue causing damage to school property.

Students will love this book with its silly pranks, goofy characters, and friendship conflicts. Ben's best friend, Hector, just can't stand up to his grandma, the principal of their school. He's so afraid of her that when she accuses him of something he didn't do, he admits not only to the crime, but worse, he tells her Ben did it with him. When Hector wants to join the club, Ben questions his trustworthiness along with other members, and Hector is refused admittance, causing hurt in their friendship.

Ben's heritage is interweaved nicely throughout the story, particularly when the club looks into the diet of Mexican pioneers when they first came to their city. It is terrific fun seeing how the author creatively ties pickles into the plot with the students and adult characters. And I had to laugh at the reference to "The Joy of Pickling." My parents generation did a ton of canning, with pickles being one of the mainstays, and my mom loved her "Joy of Cooking" book. I even got two of those cookbooks as wedding presents it is so beloved by the older folks. Kids won't get that joke but who doesn't love a mixture of adult and kid humor in a book?

While the pacing clips along through the middle and end of the book, the start has too many subject pronouns that begin with "I" effecting sentence cadence. The last paragraph in the first chapter has nine sentences starting with "I." This is a little nitpicky on my part and most readers are not going to notice it enjoying a very likable main character whose pranks are fairly harmless. The goofy supporting characters held my interest and after a couple of chapters the sentences started to vary in rhythm and more themes were introduced adding nice tension to the development of the story.

The plot becomes more complex as the story progresses and Ben excludes his best friend, Hector, who wonders if he wants to remain friends with him. The students stand up for their First Amendment rights and the adults act authoritarian about the whole incident. I wanted this more hashed out but most readers are not going to care. The first person point of view can be tricky because it limits the view of the protagonist and sometimes I wanted more information from Ben about the supporting characters. Angry Sienna is struggling with her parents divorce and while I like that she fesses up and takes responsibility for her actions, the situation is not resolved. Also, I expected Hector to stand up to his grandma after he stood up for Ben. I wanted Hector to confront her about her bullishness and address her interference with his friendships and interrogating him to the point where he was confessing to crimes he didn't commit. But he doesn't. I thought the story would have been stronger if Hector's grandma showed some willingness to change in how she treated Hector and that she would try to be a better parent and administrator. In the end, she remains more one-dimensional and less interesting to me as the antagonist.

If you are like my dad who saw absolutely no humor in toilet paper hanging from the trees, then I recommend passing on this book. As a kid, I loved books where anarchy prevailed, the adults were idiots, the characters were funny, and exciting adventures oozed from the pages. This book delivers all that and more. I also loved to act out books with my best friend. Good thing this book wasn't around! We'd be dreaming up all sorts of mischief!

A great addition to your library.

Reading level: 5.7

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Kim Baker’s debut, Pickle, is the type of middle grade book that invites the reader in, imparting special secrets and trusting them as part of an inner circle. It is creative, fun, never crosses that line into too cheesy, and yes, a little bit gross. Kids will love this book.

Pickle and the members of the League of Pickle Makers (aka the PTA–Prank and Trickster Association) will bring a little laughter to the lives of all it’s readers (yes, even those over 20–as long as all of their humor hasn’t leaked out). Ben, our main character, realizes that it’s nice to kick back and have a little (mostly) harmless fun. Attending sixth grade at a middle school where the principal is not only strict and humorless, but also the grandmother and guardian of his best friend, Ben realizes that to continue the good life he’s going to have to go underground. He recruits some classmates he feels are of like mind, founds the PTA, and even secures funding by officially registering the club as the League of Pickle Makers.

Pickle involves making new relationships, learning what lines shouldn’t be crossed, and sticking by your friends. It also features two things that, quite frankly, there aren’t enough of–a main character who is both male and a minority. Ben is of Mexican heritage, he speaks a mixture of Spanish and English at home, and his family runs the local Mexican restaurant. In fact, the entire League of Pickle Makers is a diverse group with Frank who is African American, Bean, who is Asian American, and Sierra and Oliver who are white. I really appreciate that this diversity was expressed through the illustrations, but that no deal was made of it in the text. Kids need to see that any character in the book could be diverse, not just as a token sidekick or in ‘issue’ books.



Of course, as one can imagine, the kids don’t always make the best decisions as to what is and what is not a ‘harmless’ prank, and the adults don’t always react with the same amount of humor. I really appreciated that in the end, none of the characters experienced ‘The Great Reform’. The crabby and strict principal was still crabby and strict, and while she and the kids understood each other better, they maintained their rolls. Friendships were changed, because this is the time in life when those things happen, but at the same time it was fairly equitable all around.

I would be remiss if I didn’t tip my hat to Tim Probert for his excellent illustrations in Pickle. They capture a sketchy scene and cagey looks perfectly, and definitely add to the humor of an already good story.



Pickle gives kids ideas of pranks they can do that are, more or less, harmless. The group decides early on never to do anything mean or hurtful, but to do things that will be fun (well, probably less fun for the poor janitor of Fountain Point Middle School). This book has a great spirit, and certainly has a place in classrooms, libraries, and home collections. Just be prepared for some interesting goings-on if you hand this to a child.

Here’s the opening that I love. Follow the directions–they all work, and there is really a secret website for the PTA (Prank and Trick Association):

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 started. Us–and if you think you can handle it–you.

I also want to point out that the character Bean’s website–http://catvsdude.com/ is also completely real! This was such a fantastic added touch to this book, just the type of thing that makes books an interactive, rather than an inactive, experience.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

When sixth grader Ben Diaz fills his classroom with several donated pit balls as a prank, he decides it might be fun to do more of the same. Together, with four other classmates, he organizes the League of Pickle Makers as an extracurricular school club that even qualifies for funding, and under that name, the club's real work is accomplished through the appropriately-named Prank and Trick Association. Because their work must be done anonymously, Ben and the others agree to exclude his best friend Hector, who is the grandson of the school principal, Mrs. Lebonsky. After all, he just can't keep a secret. Most of the pranks are harmless, but when one of the club members goes too far, all extracurricular clubs and activities are suspended until those responsible for the pranks are identified. This was lots of fun to read, with believable, imperfect characters and hints about their lives outside of school and the club.

[Bethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd read December 2014 still a hoot!

February 2014
2014-15 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee. What a hoot - 4.5 stars! Great beginning will pull in kid readers, especially to keep the secret, I went straight to the website to check it out, I'm sure young readers will as well. Loved the first prank, I kept thinking of the disclaimer: don't try this at home! My students will definitely connect with the Hispanic characters. This book will make a great read aloud with its humor and funny figurative language. The zoobreak chapter is hilarious, page 177 has some great language: oatmeal and animosity! Hope this book doesn't prompt a rash of pranks throughout Texas elementary and middle schools!

[Gabriel (Gabriels_universe) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved all the pranks in this book!

[Jen Ifer's Inklings · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely on the lower end of the middle grade range. I could see where middle schoolers would enjoy this book.

[Emma G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny story of how these Five misfits form team of Friends just from one incident.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, what to say about this one?
When it started out, I was really "meh." The writing was very elementary. Not only was it not challenging to read, it basically offered itself caught, shot, and served on a platter. And not in a good, "this just flows so nicely" kind of way. More like a, "hey, there's a word longer than two syllables, let's throw it a parade!" kind of way. You're writing for children, give them something to chew on and stop spoon feeding them.
Okay, enough with the food references.
Once the story got going, things got better. The narrative started out very vague. It was in a hurry to get into the meat of the story (couldn't help it), which made for a bit of a weak start, but once things got rolling it became much more complex and detail oriented.
The story itself was fun, stressful at times, entertaining, and written well enough that, when required, suspension of disbelief went unnoticed. All the things children's books should be.
The characters were well done: very round, and very realistic.
I really appreciate little network of websites accompany the book! This is brilliant on so many levels. My favourite was the Cat Vs. Dude Tumblr (which I now follow), but the hidden PTA website was also excellent.
One of the features of the book I really appreciated was the idea of a "code of conduct." It never really got fleshed out in the book, which might actually have been for the best. Instead it was demonstrated through Seiarra's prank that ended up hurting other people. Then on the website the "club motto" thing is "Harmus Nonus, Amusus Allus," and the rules include "don't be mean. Tears equal the end of the prank." The point of the book was that life should and can be fun, and things shouldn't be taken to seriously, but fun should not be had at the expense of others. I liked this. It wasn't presented in a preachy way, but it was still a strong theme.
One problem I had with the book was the role of adults, and the interactions the children had with them. This went mostly for Ben's parents, who make him work at the restaurant after school. At the end of the book, Ben says he "had a talk" with his parents, and they agreed to ask him to work, rather than tell him all the time. This was an interesting little comment, because this dynamic was not presented as a real problem throughout the book. And what exactly did that "talk" look like? There was also the problem of Seiarra's (I don't think I'm spelling this right) dad, who was an absentee parent who sends his daughter money to make up for everything he misses in her life. I liked this, don't get me wrong. It made her easy to relate to, and help the reader understand her motivations. However it seemed like a big issue, which never was addressed (as opposed to Ben's issue with his parents, which seemed non-existent, and yet was addressed. Sort of.) Then there was the principle, but I actually really liked her. She was a great elementary-school villain.
So! Final thoughts and recommendations: I liked it! I would definitely give it to a kid to read. It's something that is easily read alone, and is fun enough to keep the reader's attention the whole way through. Not likely to be the next big thing in the book world, but still a quick, fun read.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pickle: The (formerly) anonymous prank club of fountain point middle school / Kim Baker / 2012
Genre: fiction
Format: juvenile literature/ novel
Plot summary: Using a bogus name, the League of Picklemakers, sixth-grader Ben and three recruits start a prank-pulling club and receive funding from their middle school's PTA.

Considerations: mischievous behavior

Review citation: School Library Journal, vol 58
"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."

Section source: School Library Journal
Recommended age: 8-12

[Tina Hoggatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pickle is a delight, This first novel by Kim Baker follows a middle school group of friends as they create a prank club, under cover of a pickle making after-school club. Wise and funny, the story starts with Ben who plays plays a prank on impulse that starts off a series of events that threatens to get away from him and his fellow pranksters. This book is about friendship and family and in its gentle, engaging way models the society we actually live in: multicultural, complex, communal - without making a big hairy deal out of it. Kids will adore this book.

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pickle - The (Formerly) Anonymous PRANK CLUB of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim Baker, illustrated by Tim Probert - What a hilarious book where pranks get out of hand and just having fun becomes actions that impact numerous people in a negative light.

[Rogan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was not a great book. Not a lot happened. They just did pranks all around the school and were bad. Not a kid friendly book because it is encouraging being bad. Also, the pranks they do really aren't good.

[Colby Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am predicting this book to be a CYBILS MG finalist.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for review for mamiverse.com

[Saiya Patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really funny and one of my favorite books.

[Nicolas Vucinic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is amazingly funny.

[Hajilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favourite books i've read. It's so fun to read about pranks that you would never do in real life because you would have a high risk of getting caught! There are of course parts i don't like about the book so here are my warnings before reading this book.

:1: : Zombie apocalypse prank: In the book the gang decides it would be funny to do and zombie
prank. It takes place in the gym where they use a fog machine to make it hard to see. They run
around with green face paint and try to bite people. I hated this prank idea, what if someone
was scared of zombies and had a panic attack? It seems unsafe to try and BITE people, (It's
also gross). I am scared of things like this but when i read the book i read this part, it was
short so thats good, It is a short chapter so you can easily skip it if you want.

:2: :hinted swear words: In the book older characters say thing like s***, Or what the h***. But
the main charter says they say sheep, or what the bell. This doesn't make sense and is also
unnecessary. The main character is around ten but he doesn't know what there
saying?!?! Even if he didn't know those where swear words, he would know what there saying!!
This is obviously a way for the writer to make it funny, But it really isn't.


:3: :Roaches: This one is just sort of a pet peeve, But still worth noting. A few times they mention
cockroaches. They are a tad obsessed with the fact that the main character ate a roach by
accident. I almost thew up when i heard this. Just the fact that he somehow ACCIDENTALLY ate
a cockroach is far fetched at best and was thrown in there to make you gag. Hearing this news i
knew they would have a prank about cockroaches... AND THEY DID. I am scared from just
READING this. They go into in depth detail about how there in everything: Cupcakes, water
fountains, EVEN PEOPLES MOUTHS. This is just gross and disturbing. And i think isn't needed...



Apart from all of that the book is EPIC and worth the read! If you can handle this PLEASE give it a go!!! Most pranks are hilarious!!! + they have a website!!!! Go here---http://www.picklesforever.com/blog/?p=4- the website also has a secret area that you can only access through info from the book, so if you wanna get there then read the book. It is really cool to see such a big community over a book! I hope you read it and have a laugh or two!

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cute quirky read has been recommended alot for middle school and I wanted something quick after a disappointing start to another book so tried this one..It will either be shelved or given away to some amazing kid...I love this part of the job, the reading and the curating recommendations..so much fun!
This one tells the story of a prank club that hid behind the brilliant disguise of a pickle-making club right under everyone’s noses…..

“Now you know we are 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.” (Pg. 2)

The book is written specifically and endearingly just for kids that means anyone under twenty because if you are that old you can’t possibly understand this kid business...the dialogue and writing is funny and crisp and you can hear a twelve year old talking like this and its genuine and sweet...It all starts one night when Ben sees an ad for free balls from a pizza parlor ball pit..He makes several trips to get them and decides to flood his homeroom class with the funky balls---this is the beginning of the pranks.

Ben realizes that he loves the secrecy and the planning of pranks but will need help to do any more so he enlists a crew and leaves his best friend out of it as his grandmother is the principal.

“Because sometimes life should be fun, Hector,” I said. “We shouldn’t have to worry about what teachers and parents and principals tell us to do every second of every day! When we do get to choose? I’m choosing now.” (Pg. 175)

The club decides to hide in plain sight from the school by becoming an afterschool club on the most boring and innocuous topic of all--pickle making and so they get a club advisor, money and a location to meet to pickle things aka plan school pranks.. I think the book really should have been called the League of Pickle Makers but its still creative and cute.

Each member is tasked with creating their own prank to prove themselves and things get a little out of control when one member goes rogue and the pranks get meaner and eventually must come to a stop..
This was a cute read for sixth graders and up; some pranks were better than others and there could have been more done on the character development because Frank Lenny and Bean were the best and deserved their own book LOL..
This will probably be a giveaway but it was a fun read I can see kids getting into….It has heart, wit and danger and this may be perfect for reluctant reader middle school boys....

[Jason Gottlieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book Pickle by Kim Baker. It is about a kid named Ben creating his own prank pulling club with his friends Oliver, Bean, Sienna, and Frank. The principal wouldn’t allow a prank-pulling club so they called it a pickle-making club. They pull pranks all around their school but nobody in their school knows who it is. His real best friend is Hector but his grandmother is the mean principal and he can’t keep any secrets. Since they called themselves “The Pickle Makers” they had to make pickles for the pioneer fair. Let's just say they had a little trouble making them and the whole fair didn’t go how it was supposed to.

I thought this book was very good because it was very funny. They pulled many pranks that made me laugh out loud. One thing that I didn’t like was that it wasn’t long enough. I would’ve wanted it to be 100 more pages. I liked how all the characters were unique in their own way. I also liked the pictures because it helps me understand the story. I wish we read more about what happened to the people that fell for the prank. I wish the main character, Ben didn't tell his story of eating a cockroach. It grossed me out.

I really liked this book. I give it an 8.5 out of 10. I recommend this book to people who love pulling pranks. I also recommend this book to people who loves funny books that will make you laugh out loud.

[Erin Yun · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so fun! That’s honestly the first thing that springs to my mind when trying to describe Pickle. The plot of the book stays close to the premise—the focus is on the pranks the kids pull (everything from dressing up in animal costumes to scare people at the zoo to putting dry ice in the locker rooms), which are definitely more creative than anything I would have been able to come up with.

While readers might crack open the book for the prank-loving fun, the interactions between the members of the P.T.A. (Prank and Trickster Association) will keep them flipping the pages. The members all have distinctly unique personalities, and I liked watching Ben slowly open up to the group, as the dynamic tipped from being in a formal prank club to being actual friends. It was also nice that there were multiple POC in the club! As the book goes on and Ben becomes closer to his new friends, he begins to drift away from his best friend, Hector. Although Hector feels excluded, Ben refuses to tell him the real reason he is hanging out with the new group, as Hector is related to the school’s strict principal and has been known to tattle in the past. Baker handles this dynamic well, in a way that had me rooting for both characters in the end. And while it’ll only take you a couple hours to reach the end, this fast-paced, delightful read will linger in your mind for far longer.

[Kenneth]

After Ben performs the epic prank of filling his school classroom up with the entire contents of a ball pit he gets from a local pizza parlor, he decides that he needs a group to help him pull off more pranks. His best friend, Hector, won't be any use, since his grandmother is the principal of their middle school. He enlists Frank and Oliver, since they seem like likely candidates for trouble, and Bean, since Frank won't join without her. They plan a birthday celebration for a new girl on her first day, then decide to become an official school group. As a cover, they pretend to be interested in making pickles for the school pioneer fair, and their teacher, Ms. Ruiz, gives them a lot of free reign as their advisor. Eventually, the new girl, Sienna, wants part of the action, which is okay with Ben, since he thinks she is cute. The group manages to pull off several fairly harmless pranks, like filling the school fountain with dish washing liquid and causing a panic at the local zoo while wearing animal costumes, but they save their final prank for the school pioneer fair. Ben doesn't agree with the prank, which ends rather disastrously, with all school activities being taken away as a result. Ben and his group pull one more prank a protest to get school activities reinstated

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baker, K., & Probert, T. (2012). Pickle: the (formerly) anonymous prank club of Fountain Point Middle School. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Characters: Ben, Frank, Oliver, Bean, Sienna

Theme: Humor

Target Audience: Upper Elementary/ Middle School

In this humorous fictional book, the characters form a Pickle Making Club. However, this “club” was not meant to make pickles, but to pull pranks in their school.

It all began when Ben found free ball-pit balls in an ad and decided to take them and pour them inside his classroom window. The prank went so well the next day that he decided to invite others and create the Pickle making club, a club that no one would ever want to join. Principal Lebonsky, who is also the grandmother of Ben’s best friend and his neighbor, is not a big fan of all the pranks. It was all fun and games until all the clubs and sports were shut down by Principal Lebonsky.

Ben needs to decide what to do. Should he come clean or let everyone else suffer from the pranks?

This book was cute and funny. It is an easy read for reluctant readers to perhaps begin considering chapter books. It illustrates some of the pressures students face at school, making friends, keeping old friends, and just trying to have some fun.

[Austin Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging read. I really was able to care about the characters. This book took me by surprise because I expected something very juvenile, what with the pranks and all. I ended up really worrying about Hector and Ben’s friendship (normally don’t care too much about that) as well as what would happen as the pranks get out of hand.

I was disappointed by the end. It ends realistically, but there was so much more the author could have done. The pranks begin to spiral out of control which puts the members at risk. The principal, a woman up until recently was called Grammy by Ben is outright rude. The characters each have their own problems, from foster care to family life. We only get glances into what is happening, suffering the effect of the naivety of the main character. In the end, I wanted more resolved.

[Connor Waterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the sixth-grader Ben Diaz throughs a pit ball party in his homeroom he decides that the school needs more of these so-called "pranks" and creates an extracriculum club called the Prank and Tricks Association. There are 5 people in the group(Ben, Frank, Oliver, Bean, and Sienna). They pulled off a couple of pranks but then one of the pranks go sideways and the principle decides after all these pranks to shut down all of the extracriculum clubs but Ben won't stand for that he decides to tell the whole school about a plan that they were going to pull off during an assembly. After the assembly, Principle Lebonskey decides to reunite the extracriculum clubs.

[Mindy Swedarsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a reader, I like characters with a lot of depth and back story. As a middle school teacher, I picked this book up because I wanted to try a slap-stick genre to see if it would be interesting for some of my students. It might work for them, but I had to abandon this book after 100 pages or so. The characters in the book do not have a lot of depth despite the fact that it takes at least 50 pages to introduce them all. The Pickle club is a cover for a school prank club; but the characters say what the pranks are, do the pranks, then slightly laugh. The pattern was on repeat and I was not invested in the characters enough to endure the cycle.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting threads, but they never tied together to make a cohesive whole. It was like the author tried to do too much--friends growing apart, challenges of middle school, divorced and disinterested parents who live far away, protesting in the name of the first ammendment, to name a few--and ended up not really succeeding in any of the storylines pursued. I also wasn't fond of the fact that the lamest prank and the one that SPOILER ended the club's run were the ones hatched by the girls in the group.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben can't keep his prankster inside of him. Will this led to trouble at school? He turns that prankster inside him and others to a club called the league of Pickles!!! Why in the world would he pick such a name for his club? Hector, Ben's friend, tries to get his old friend back but with little success. Will Ben come back to be Hector's best friend again? Want to find out more? Read the book if you dare. This is a good book for pranksters.