Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix-up

Keena Ford #2

by Melissa Thomson, Frank Morrison (Illustrator)

Keena Ford doesn?t mean to get in trouble. In fact, she is very excited to go on a field trip to the United States Capitol with her second-grade class. At school, she is running for a spot on the student council, and on the field trip she?s going to meet a real live US Representative. She?s trying to be on her best behavior. It?s just that mean Tiffany Harris keeps teasing Keena, and Keena does not like to be teased. Award-winning artist Frank Morrison has once again created spot-on illustrations to perfectly compliment this new laugh-out-loud Keena Ford adventure.

Genres: Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Juvenile, Humor, Chapter Books

101 pages, Hardcover

First published June 5, 2009

About the author

Melissa Thomson is the author of the KEENA FORD series (Dial) and TITO THE BONECRUSHER (FSG, 2017), as well as ALONE ON THE ICE, a short story about a child who must survive on an ice floe with only a friendly polar bear to protect him. It was written when she was in third grade and won last place in the school district writing contest. If anyone would like to publish it, please contact her.

When she is not writing new stories or figuring out how to monetize old ones, Melissa is an elementary literacy coach and mom-wife-friend-person in Northern Virginia (and everywhere else, when she travels). Her favorite things in life are working with young readers and writers, playing pretend games with confusing rules invented by her preschooler son, and complaining that she is cold.

Reviews

[Tip Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is cute little book for little girls to read. My daughter picked this book up and I wanted to enjoy it with her so I checked out a copy as well. I like how the story goes and it shows that even though you may be a little girl who seems to have bad days there is always a positive lesson to be learned. Also, it shows that even when someone is bullying you you don't have to go out of your way to be different, just stand firm and ignore them.

[Sharleah Bullock · Rating 1 out of 5]

My daughter always wanted to have this book. After her teacher was finishing the book, she said to me was "I want that book too" !

[Abby Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keena Ford is a spirited little girl with the best of intentions, but sometimes things get a little mixed up for her. Elected as an alternate for her school's student council, Keena is super excited for their class field trip to the United States Capitol... but then things start to get a little mixed up. Will it be the best field trip ever? Well, it'll certainly be one that Keena will always remember...

Hand Keena to your fans of Clementine, Junie B., and others in that spunky girl ilk. This is a cute, funny story with a lot of heart and a transitional chapter book character you'll love to love. I chose to read the middle book and I think it stands up without having read any of the other Keena Ford books.

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

101 pgs. A journal-style story is about a second-grade girl named Keena. She wants to run for student council. Another great realistic fiction story of a little girl with lots of spunk who easily gets into one kind of trouble or another. This time she has a hair accident and tries her best to cover it up. She heads out on a field trip with her class to visit the capitol building in Washington DC. Funny and not-so-funny things happen throughout the day. Keena learns a great lesson this time. Little girls will enjoy this one. Highly recommended for second-grade girls.

[Gianni Llano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keena Ford experience at the United States Capitol isn't at all what she expected. She experiences things no one would image or bare to experience. But she pulled through and learned her lesson!

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Keena visits the Capitol with her class, an unexpected mishap really mixes up her field trip. It all has to do with the enviable "Caboose" spot in the class lineup. Tiffany, another girl in Keena's class, seems to end up in that spot more than she should. Keena wants to change that, but worrying about herself too much results in minor disaster. She will have to take some steps to make things right and remember to think of others in the future. I enjoy the illustrations and the diary format in this series. Looking forward to the third and final book.

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

You will surely never be BORED while reading Keena FORD!

Keena is back to her antics in this installment. The second-grader is starting a new journal, running for student council, and going on a big field trip to the U.S. Capitol. Needless to say, things do not go as planned. What I admire about Keena is that her intentions are good, and her perspective on right/wrong is authentic for her age. The adults in her life hold her accountable and help her learn.

I would recommend this series for grades 1-2. It would be a good read-aloud. I can imagine lots of laughs!

[Sammy]

I’m behind on my reading challenge and this book was over 100 pages (by 1) so I’m counting it in my goodreads part 3. My reading slump is no joke right now…

This is a great book series to do as a book club with independent readers around a M level. So much to discuss and so many different areas we can go over together: friendships, accountability, honesty, government & more. I think it’s going to make for some lively conversations!

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keena is the superheroine young readers deserve

My daughter and I read about Keena every Saturday morning and so far I'll have to say this one was my favorite. Keena really Keena in this one. I can't wait to read about her mom's reaction to all the mischief Keena was able to do in that short time.

[Susannah Goldstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Super super cute. This particular installment had a section that was an info dump and was a little difficult to imagine a 2nd grader following, but it was funny and realistic and relatable.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vocabulary in this is really good. Story is a little high anxiety for small stakes.

[Jennifer Dusek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute follow up to the first book. My second graders will enjoy reading it after we do Keena Ford and the 2nd Grade Mix Up.

[Pawpaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's ok. Too much focus on punishment... (as opposed to compassion, rehabilitation, restorative /transformative justice.

[Sharon Donnelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd graders loved the series

[Wenonah Hlavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read

Hilarious. Entertaining. Tears rolling down cheeks from Keenas use of a thesaurus. Would recommend to any young girls who enjoy a funny story.

[Kimberly Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much! It will probably be me one day during my field trip saying sorry so many times.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good for kindergarten through third grade kids. I really enjoyed the voice Keena has through the books. It was very fun to read, educational and my daughter really loved it.

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a totally charming book about young Keena Ford, an elementary school student on a field trip to the US Capitol. Bad luck seems to follow Keena everywhere, and Keena's first person narration provides a disarmingly innocent perspective on every mishap. The book too provides a sweet atypical family unit too; Keena is an African American girl whose parents do not live together. These elements are so nonchalantly woven in to the text that it is precisely the type of thing that young children in traditional households should be reading in order to broaden their horizons! I'm looking forward to reading more of Keena's adventures with my daughter!

[Tanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Keena Ford books have been very popular with our second and third grade girls for some time - now I know why. Very enjoyable to read and I can just see how young readers relate to Keena's troubles and little disasters. I will keep on ordering new titles in the series as they get published.

[Cayce · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to my son, a second grader: "It was a good book because I liked how Keena found ways to get out of trouble. She was nice and she was sorry when she did something wrong. I liked the setting because I've never been to the Capitol. I could read this book to my baby brother."

[Gracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a great elementary school book because it introduces students to quotations, exaggeration, and diary entries. I also enjoyed how it had pictures every once in a while. I liked the story and how it accurately depicted a second grader.

[Ofilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the vein of Ramona or Clementine we now have Keena Ford that keeps things lively. She is smart, fun and always inadverntently causing trouble. Cute fun read.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book about DC girl, Keena Ford, an African American Junie B. Jones kind of girl. This time her class goes on a field trip to visit a congressional rep. Fun.

[Emory]

I loved this one!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this book nearly as much as the first one, but my students were still laughing out loud at Keena's antics.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really like this series. Keena is a fantastic and relatable main character. Great for beginning readers!

[Amy Chesman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute story about a sweet second grade girl, who has many mishaps that most kids her age can relate to. It is a good selection for second or third grade readers.

[Ashely · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very good it is very intersting to me

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Realistic fiction about a 2nd grader dealing with things that our kids can all relate to - extreme hair disasters, never getting the spot you want in line, and plenty more.

[Illey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keena definitely has the best intentions at heart but things usually don't go as plan. This book was really funny!