Mr. Burke Is Berserk!

My Weirder School #4

by Dan Gutman

My Weirder School weirder than ever

Mr. Burke cuts the grass, trims the bushes, and does the landscaping around Ella Mentry School. He wants to have a corn maze on the baseball diamond and drag races with his riding mower. What's up with the crop circles in the soccer field? And what did he bury under the monkey bars?

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books, Fiction, 2nd Grade, Humor, School, Juvenile

106 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

The author of over 80 books in a little over a decade of writing, Dan Gutman has written on topics from computers to baseball. Beginning his freelance career as a nonfiction author dealing mostly with sports for adults and young readers, Gutman has concentrated on juvenile fiction since 1995. His most popular titles include the time-travel sports book Honus and Me and its sequels, and a clutch of baseball books, including The Green Monster from Left Field. From hopeful and very youthful presidential candidates to stunt men, nothing is off limits in Gutman's fertile imagination. As he noted on his author Web site, since writing his first novel, They Came from Centerfield, in 1994, he has been hooked on fiction. "It was fun to write, kids loved it, and I discovered how incredibly rewarding it is to take a blank page and turn it into a WORLD."

Gutman was born in New York City in 1955, but moved to Newark, New Jersey the following year and spent his youth there.

Reviews

[Joey Oborne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book!

[Reiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated Mr. burke is berserk 4 stars, because it got annoying at times. Like how AJ said what do you have against violins. Then everybody would say violence AJ.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gold and "Gliver" rush on the playground.

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids of Ella Mentry School are back, and this time politics and corporate corruption threaten the fabric of the school's art and music programs, and in a Wild West kinda twist, Arlo "AJ" Jarvis and his companions need True Grit to go with their eggs and sausage biscuits!
When Principal Klutz leaves for what he calls Principal Camp, the town Mayor, Mr Hubble, threatens to cut art programs, music and recess to balance the town's budget. Lots of beloved Weird Teachers are fired for no reason other than politically motivated psychology, stuff used by Trump and countless Republican leaders, even Democrats, as"reality therapy as a means of improving moral standards" blah blah blah. That is, all are fired except for Mr Burke, the southern fried groundskeeper with a brain like Gomer Pyle, aka, hidden genius inside the dumbest brain ever to have made "rednecks" the stereotype we've loved/hated from countless hours binge watching Andy Griffith, Green Acres, et all! The kids catch him with a chainsaw, fashioning a bush into the head of Mayor Hubble (take note, it's a BUSH, as in author Dan Gutman openly mocking a certain George Dubya for making us think we're stupid for believing it's the economy after all). Then Burke starts digging with his shovel and, wouldn't ya know, it's a nugget of gold...or is it? Pretty soon everyone is digging for gold, silver, or a mix of both Burke calls "gilver", which naturally gets the attention of Mayor Hubble and his team of Secret Service bodyguards. Hubble wants that gold for State possession and political power. Then Klutz comes back, like a rider of the purple sage, and stands in Hubble's way in a showdown for the ages (all ages 10 and above, Fer sure!) involving a duel with cellphones, where whoever ringtones the other's LG wins. You wanna reach out and touch someone's butt, it's "your call, partner". The most intense Weird School episode yet, one that'll have kids really thinking about what's really behind the claims of top educators and political leaders today when they make false claims about "improving the economy" by cutting off educational programs. And that story from the WHO about a deadly virus, just in time for Trump to ask for reelection....you see what I mean.
In essence, if kids want to question authority, you have my permission to start now.
Four stars
Give Weird School the Silver, Blue and Gold!

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

60/100

I just re-read this last night and it is a decent book that has it’s many flaws, but it isn’t a bad book at all. The book has repetitive jokes that can get REALLY annoying at times. It would say “Not violins, violence!” about six times. Not just that. It would also say “That’s when the greatest thing in the history of the world happened.” countless times. The book has a scripture that feels like it is for ONLY kids. If it’s the jokes, the word choice or even how the characters would act just feels like it is 100% directed towards kids. The twist at the end when Mr. Burke reveals that the Gold and Gilver are fake was sort of necessary but poorly executed and predictable. Overall, Mr. Burke Is Berserk is just slightly worse than the average My Weird School book, but still is a delightful book. Catch you on the flip side folks!

[Monica Lundberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

These books are full of awful stereotypes. The title character, Mr. Burke, who is depicted as black in illustrations, is introduced like this:
--
"Get ready to lose, pardner!" shouted Mr. Burke. "Ah reckon Ah'm a-gonna give you a whuppin' you'll never forget."
He talks funny. He has a toothpick hanging out of his mouth, too. What's up with that?
--
Another character, a student, is described as "a girl but is cool anyways". A reference is made to a character having "probably escaped from the looney bin". The mayor is mentioned to have "girls in bikinis who feed him grapes". An animal is mentioned solely to remark that it a burro, not a donkey, and it's name is Josè.

It's a shame, too, because the absurdist plots are funny - or they would be if they weren't bogged down by the rampant offensive stereotypes.

[Nicola · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had two of the series out from the libary and Miss 6 insisted that I read both of them. She found them amusing, for the most part, but wasn't aware that I was doing minor edits as I read. She didn't like that the kids were mean to each other and kept trading insults. I didn't like that the books feel very gendered and stereotyped in their approach. I won't be actively seeking out more of the series.

Miss 6 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

[Kristin Feliciano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Book is great!!! The book is about Mr. Burke who is in charge of taking care of the school. The Mayor needs to balance the budge and has decided to make cuts at the school level instead of raising taxes. Mr. Burke and the teachers go a little crazy but they solve the budget cut by finding something valuable or is it? I think this book is great for kids because the main character is relatable for students in Elementary school.

[Anna Salvesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but all of the teachers got fired. Mayor Hubble fired them. Mr. Burke dug up some rocks that were painted gold and then he tricked everyone, which is kind of good because Mayor Hubble is a robber and stole them. That ended up being ok because they were just rocks. He eventually got put in jail. Mr. Klutz saved the day and rehired the teachers.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This kids book is surprisingly political, a satire about austerity. The mayor wants to balance the budget by cutting services in schools, and fires the art and music teachers and limits every classroom to one pencil and doesn't fund toilet paper. In the end, the mayor goes to jail (which is the most unrealistic part). Good for this book series radicalizing the youth!

[Nam · Rating 1 out of 5]

The hell??? Don't waste your time with this one.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this is a wild one. Lots of laughs and opportunity for accents when the school gets 'gold fever.' For the adult reader, this one skewers politics and budget cutting for the sake of cutting.

[Baiju John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lawnmowing is weird

[Jaden John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lawn Mowing is weird

[Marya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes you just have to embrace the cheesy. And sometimes, the whole gang of teachers sound like Paint Your Wagon. It's crazy, silly, and (finally!) not offensive in the least.

[Dennis Miller]

Read a few of this series to my 7 year old (he helps me read some to the pages too).
They are short, fun reads.

[#KindnessTrioLibrary Librarian]

Donations to the #KindnessTrioLibrary 2019

BookCrossing.com BCID: 987-15718489

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teachers are seriously under paid.

[Sarah LeGear]

Love reading these with different kids. They love the repetitive nature of each book. We always just call them "A.J. books," and we enjoy them.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack Boland is

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fun and whacky and a little too over the top, but I had fun reading this to my seven year old.

[Reed W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Burke Is Berserk By Dan Gutman This book was good and funny and this is why. So in this book the school is running out of money ,so the mayor takes away the music and art program and a whole bunch of other stuff. so then he cut Mr Burke he was not mad because he had a trick. so the the next day he got a shovel and the kids were wondering what he was doing until he hit something hard in the ground. It was gold he had struck gold under the monkey bars. but when the Mayor came and took all the gold away he was not sad. Because the gold was not gold it was painted rocks so the mayor got arrested for stealing and the town had to make more money by making it themselves. This months theme was funny and scary and I chose the funny one. It was a really funny book so that is why i rated it 5 stars. I recommend this book for comedy people who like funny books.

[Parisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

شهردار هابل بودجه مدرسه رو قطع کرده و همه چی رو میخواد برای پول بفروشه
باغبون، تو حیاط مدرسه طلا پیدا میکنه، شهردار همه رو میدزده
اما بعد مشخص میشه باغبون الکی گفته تا شهردارو گیر بندازه

[Tandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did this as a read aloud with my 10 yr. old and we both loved it! Lots of fun vocabulary to practice with, too.

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book were hysterical... than other parts crossed that fine line from humorous into stupid town.

Budget cuts are effecting everyone, including the staff and students at Ele Mentary School. Mayor Hubble has called an assembly to discuss all the cuts that are needed to help balance the budget. Some of these outlandish cuts just won't do. How can a classroom of students all share 1 pencil? Post-It notes instead of toilet paper? No water for the water fountains? Will this work? If it does it won't be easy.

Dan Gutman understands young reader’s humor and has created a fantastic book formula to draw in even the most reluctant of readers. The My Weird School series is perfect for students to practice their reading skills with its repetitive yet hysterical narrative and story lines. But don’t mention that part to your kiddos, they might run away in fear they could learn something. A must have collection for any grade school library or classroom!

[Ruth Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is part of Gutman's third series, My Weirder School. Mr. Burke is the school groundskeeper, responsible for mowing, trimming, shoveling sidewalks, etc. He is fired by the Mayor due to budget cuts. The Mayor also fires many other teachers due to his cuts, which is part of his plan for
re-election.
Then Mr. Burke discovers gliver, a blend of gold and silver, under the monkey bars. All the school staff quit doing their regular jobs and begin mining.

I don't enjoy any of Gutman's book that include the "corrupt" Mayor, so I'd suggest another in the series as opposed to this one.

[Jnase1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second and third graders at my school love these books. They like that they are funny and use words like "shut up" and "butt" as well as the exaggerated humor, some of which they don't always get. What I like about these books are the many idioms contained within each. It might be fun to make a class book about all the idioms and their meanings contained within each book...and you can also use this time, if you so choose, to address why using the words "shut up" and "butt" in school are frowned upon.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the mayor comes to Ella Mentry school to announce budget cuts, he fires the teachers, shuts down the music and art programs and threatens to sell the coffee maker on eBay. But when Mr. Burke, the lawn maintenance guy, also gets the ax, he takes matters into his own hands. #4 in the My Weirder School series, this silly easy read would tickle the early elementary readers. Fun series.

cross posted to http://kissthebook.blogspot.com CHECK IT OUT!

[Christine Rains · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mayor takes away much of the funding for Ella Mentry School. The groundskeeper, Mr. Burke ends up acting really strange. He starts digging up the playground, and the kids are freaked out. What's really going on at this weird school?

Another fun book in this series. The jokes can get repetitive, but my six-and-a-half-year-old son is enjoying the books.

[Tina Lowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving it 3 stars as a compromise. For me, it's less than 3 stars, but I predict children would find this funny and not mind the combination of goofy humor with somewhat pointless plot. I know many children who would give this more than 3 stars, especially boys.