President of the Whole Fifth Grade

Brianna Justice #1

by N/A (Contributor), Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Reading)

When Brianna's hero, the famous celebrity chef Miss Delicious, speaks at her school and credits her success to being president of her own 5th grade class, Brianna is determined to follow in her footsteps. She just knows that becoming president of her class is the first step towards having her own cupcake-baking empire
But when new student Jasmine Moon announces she is also running for president, Brianna learns that she may have more competition than she expected. Will Brianna be able to stick to her plan of working with her friends to win the election fairly? Or will she jump at the opportunity to steal votes from Jasmine by revealing an embarrassing secret?
This hilarious, heartfelt novel will appeal to any reader with big dreams, and the determination to achieve them.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Childrens, Friendship, School

Audiobook

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Margarita (margaritathedrink) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi my name is Abbie`Jean and I am using my moms account to write my review for my book report.

President of the whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston.

This book was about Briana Justice who is in a Fifth Grade. She is trying to be President of her class. She becomes more determined to be President when a new girl, Jasmine Moon, arrives an takes away Briana`s friends and her chance to be President. I don`t think Jasmine Moon is very nice.
Briana also wants to bake Cupcakes and be a baker when she grows up. I really like Briana because she is Brown like me and it’s exciting to see someone who
Looks like me who turns into class President. I also like Briana because she is sweet and tries to fight for her friends and she doesn’t give up.

5 stars.

[Oyinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 176 of 2021

I loved this MG book sooooo much! 😻 This is such a beautiful and well done book. Hats off to Sherri Winston for her work on this book.

Brianna Justice is such an amazing heroine. I loved reading about her and her exploits in this book. She's a fifth grader with big dreams and after her role model visits her school, she comes up with a plan to reach her goals, and this starts with her winning the class election.

Some changes in the school result in the class election becoming a school election. A devious new girl joins the student body and makes it her mission to beat Brianna in the election.

This book revolves around so many themes, the most important being friendship and morality. The inclusion of politics as the driving plot point is a genius stroke by the author. It's a great way to introduce middle graders to serious issues and she did it using characters and language that they'll relate well with.

Lots of trivia was included in this book, and I love that this can double as an history book of sorts for young American kids without being too serious.

Finance and entrepreneurship for young kids also played a part in this book, as we see Brianna and her friends saving towards their future goals. I love love love that!

This was such a fun read and I definitely recommend it.

[Mercedez]

It is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took this out to the elementary schools in May/June 2016.
Just wanna add my evidence - you know that myth that nobody wants to read a book with a black person on the cover? Totally totally wrong. I let the kids pick out which books I talk about, and this one was picked a lot. Often by mirror kids, but not always.
I started out by asking the kids what job they wanted to have when they grow up, and this was one of my favorite parts of outreach visits this season. I would go around the entire room of kids if I could. I love looking at them and imagining them as grown-up vets, or professional basketball players, or youtubers, or whatever.
I rushed reading and promoting this book so that I could feature it during a presidential election year.

I wasn't completely charmed by it, or sucked in - Brianna's drama is very kid-level, and as a grown-up, I saw logical fallacies a few times. I'm trying to decide if it's smart or lazy that the cupcake recipes included all require a cake-mix (they sound delicious anyway). But it is what it's trying to be. I like that it's one of the longest books I took out. It's didactic, yes, but pretty much always in a good way.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. I wanted to support it because the main character was a POC and because this was prominently displayed on the cover. Young Brianna Justice has a plan. She has been working on her goal to be cooking show star and milionaire like her idol Miss Delicious. When Brianna learns that her idol not only attended her school but was president of the Fifth Grade. Thus begins Brianna's campaign, where she will learn about friendships, how power can corrupt and about forgiveness. A wonderful read! I'm so glad this series exists in the world!

[Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is plenty in this book that I found to like. It features an ambitious African American girl who sets no limitations on her future. Those ambitions are not superficial things like being a movie star or pop star, or hoping to marry her favorite movie/pop star. Not only does she have serious entrepreneurial aspirations but also practical plans for how to begin moving towards them. It starts with becoming President of her grade at school. Enter a conniving rival who is willing to stoop as low as necessary to throw a monkey wrench in these plans. Enter an ally who encourages her to put ambition ahead of ethics. Eventually Brianna learns that ambition is as noble as the path one takes to to make their dreams come true. If success comes at the expense of losing loyal friends and losing respect for yourself, can it be considered true success? Brianna Justice's attitude towards education is refreshing. Learning is promoted as interesting and fun rather than imposed drudgery. This is a girl with a good head on her shoulders and eyes firmly set on the prize. I applaud the messages of this story but feel that the execution could have been a little tighter. There was also one too many easily found "deep dark secrets" lying around for convenient plot machination. I'm not the intended audience of this book though. My 8 year old daughter loved it from beginning to end. There's much to be said for satisfying your target reader above and beyond anyone else. #WeNeedDiverseBooks

[Janet C-B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this story narrated by the main character, Brianna, who has big dreams for her future, starting with an intense effort to become the President of her 5th Grade Class. Brianna is both spunky and funny. The story is laughable, yet also addresses common issues among middle-school students including jealousy, shifting alliances, and competition.
While the target audience is middle-school, it struck a chord from my life many years ago.
I thoroughly enjoyed the listening to this book, and will return to this series when I am looking for a light, funny book.
4 stars

[katarzyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be great for elementary and/or middle school readers. It's engaging and fun. The main character, Brianna, and her family are fleshed out really well but the side school characters are a bit one-dimensional, such as Brianna's group of basically interchangeable stock friends. Maybe the author is planning a series where each girl gets her own book in which the reader gets to know her because the book does have that breezy, Baby-Sitters Club feel to me and would serve as a good intro to a whole series.

Brianna is a great role model for readers and learns some lessons along the way so the story definitely has lots of positive messages. It might even get kids interested in presidential history since little facts about various U.S. presidents are woven in throughout the narrative. Its also awesome that Brianna is a black girl because the reader gets to see a black girl in a leadership position in a starring role in a book since unfortunately these stories don't get published at the same rate as kids lit with other heroes/heroines. This would be an excellent addition to a classroom library in terms of representation as well as plot.

Anyway, the reason I gave 4 stars over 5 is that I agree with the reviews that say it crammed in a little too much and parts of the story got a bit boring. As an adult, I'm not the target demographic here, so hopefully kids wouldn't agree on the "boring" assertion, but I just worry that struggling readers in particular might tire of the story and get turned off when some of the election shenanigans get repetitive and dragged out. Fast, eager readers would probably just zip through either way. With appropriate scaffolding and support, though, I think struggling readers would enjoy the book, too.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brianna’s story was inspiring to say the least. I love how she starts off so spunky and determined when talking about her dream to become the fifth grade president, but then as soon as someone else steps in wanting the same dream with what feels like an even bigger tenacity to get it, her confidence falters. It’s honestly so relatable even reading as an adult. The structure of this story was really well put together and there’s a good lesson to take away from the journey Brianna goes through with the election. I would definitely read this story again.

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was curious about this book because it was on a summer reading list in my town. The text, which includes: presidential trivia, delicious cupcake recipes, and an inspiring message, was a delight to read.

Favorite quote "...the best recipe for success was one that included all the right ingredients: staying true to yourself, following a plan that makes sense, and trusting the ones you love."

[Jamya]

i think this book is awesome most enspiering and fascinating book I'm in fifth grade now i read it in 3rd grade I'm a goal reader at my school and this book expired me to be more challenging






love,jamya brown write more books

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much here. So many better stories for this age group.

[lizé · Rating 3 out of 5]

sends a good message but i think im just too old for this LOL

[January · Rating 4 out of 5]

President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston
President/Brianna Justice #1
+276-page Paperback ends on 273

Genre: Middle Grade, Juvenile Fiction

Featuring: Titled Chapters, Detroit, Michigan Suburbs, Notes, Cupcake Recipes, Baking, Elections, Leadership, Timeline Graphic, Historical Information, October, Scholastic Drama, New Kid, Teachers, School Setting, Presidential Trivia, Sneak Peak of President of the Whole Sixth Grade - 20 unnumbered pages not counted

Rating as a movie: PG

Songs for the soundtrack: "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½🏫👩🏾‍⚖️

My thoughts: 📖 Page 100 of 273/276/296 [15] The Real Benedict Arnold! - It's okay. I love a good school story but this one isn't my favorite. I don't dislike it but it's taken a while for me to get really into it. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot better if I had read it in 2017 when it originally got added to my TBR.

This wasn't bad. I wasn't expecting recipes, that was a nice surprise. I was very annoyed with the conflict in the story I don't understand why her friends did it take her side, so that got me into the story. I also wasn't expecting the presidential trivia which made this story more educational than entertaining, but in a good way.

Recommend to others: Yes! This was a pretty decent morality read.

President
1. President of the Whole Fifth Grade (2010)
2. President of the Whole Sixth Grade (2015)

Brianna Justice
President
1. President of the Whole Fifth Grade (2010)
2. President of the Whole Sixth Grade (2015)
3. President of the Whole Sixth Grade: Girl Code (2018)

[Cindy Coats · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a bookseller I’m trying to read books for all ages to recommend. SO many things to love about this.

A brown girl on the cover. Takes place in Michigan. Lots of history. Baking. Teaching kids to save money. And a funny book.

I would have loved this as a kid and it was a cute read as an adult. Definitely recommend for that young reader in your life. I may even read the rest of the series.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could envision using this book to relate to elections. There were some great references to presidents and events in history. I was a little confused by the presidential trivia question that included MLK as an option for one of the questions.

[Carla "Kar" Schmidt Holloway · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate that this book is about how dirty politics and ruthless ambition can get the best of you. But I found it upsetting that this was about 10-year-old children, and the resolution was the public humiliation of the "bad children," including humiliation inflicted by one child's own mother (yikes) and this was all presented as a "everything worked out in the end" resolution. I was also bothered by the message that there's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to be rich, famous, and powerful as its own goal. It felt like the "helping people is what it's all about" vibe was an afterthought. The "villains" were altogether flat, inhuman characters. Jasmine is a bloodthirsty rich girl, and very little compassion is extended about her being exposed - literally - in public, twice. "Weasel" is a caricature weird kid who shows almost no after effects from his public humiliation, and in fact his mother is presented as righteous for bullying her own child. I liked that there was an effort to de-mystify the problem of unhoused people and that Bri really wanted to help them. I think that could have been better served by the characters actually meeting these people rather than keeping them at a distance. They're a project for Bri; they're never really humanized.
I saw other criticism saying that the way Bri's friends treat her is unfair and maybe not believable. But having been bullied at this age, I can say this is the part that really rang completely true to me. At that age it IS easy for kids to be manipulated, and for them to lack to complex understanding of social situations where they imagine things from other people's point of view. It was very easy to believe that well-meaning girls ended up almost gaslighting one of their oldest friends instead of believing what she says, because they were fooled by the performance of this new girl. 100% spot on. And that conflict was definitely a compelling, story-moving plot point. That was very well-done.

[Miri Gifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of things about this book that I really liked, most importantly that it had a non-white protagonist as well as supporting characters. That's refreshing. The characters were totally un-stereotyped by gender as well as race, and it just made me feel comfortable with them. I loved the path Brianna took, the lessons she learned, and how creative she was for a fifth grader. I did roll my eyes a bit at the inclusion of recipes, but at least they were relevant to the story (and those cupcakes did sound delicious).

[Natalie Tobar · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is very pleasant i really enjoyed it. It's about Brianna becoming presisdent of the 5th grade, and accomplishing her dream. I reccomend this book to people who like to bake.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

What started out as a light, airy read became a frustrating, somewhat dull endeavor. The bulk of the book is Brianna curtailing new girl Jasmine Moons' plans to be class president.

(Note: Class president has actually been bumped up to school president starting this year but I'm still going to call it class president because that's what the book calls it throughout. I just wanted to clarify.)

There were a few red flags from the beginning that I initially was going to dismiss as my personal preference butting up against the authors' tastes. Eventually I started to feel that it was not only me, but issues that objectively mar the intent of the novel.

First off, Jasmine Moon is the mean girl of your 5th grade nightmares. She knows exactly how to play the game; act nasty in private, pretend you're a sweet girl who never meant anybody any harm in public. I love her as an antagonist. She serves her purpose in the book perfectly.

Her little routine drives Brianna mad, of course, because she's the only one who can see it.

When she enlists Brianna's own friend for her campaign is where I started to see cracks. First off, the whole process seems dumb. You have to elect your team in front of everybody and Jasmine picks Bex first. The teacher guilts Bex into staying on the team since Jasmine is new.

How do you just pick literally anyone in the class to help out? There was no volunteer system set up or sign up sheet. It's just 'I want you to help so you have to'. This is certainly a nit-pick but it did put my guard up because it was so easy to fix by just having the teacher privately ask Bex to join Jasmine's team because Jasmine requested it instead. Teacher guilt + Jasmine manipulation still in play.

This is all apart of Brianna's ire towards Jasmine. She gets away with things because she puts on this facade of kindness. It drives me crazy that the book explicitly sets this up as what is definitely going on then spends most of the book lambasting her for it.

Towards the middle of the book her friends start telling Brianna she's become obsessed with winning the election. They accuse her of not being concerned with the job itself but the act of holding the position. She only wants to win to beat Jasmine.

This is complete garbage for two reasons.

One, while being class president is her dream, Brianna has done a lot more than simply covet it. She has a whole plan she spent the entire summer prepping for involving ideas for field trips, budgeting, how to improve the school. If anyone has proven that they care about doing a good job it's Brianna. Prepared, well equipped people can be equally as desperate to win as the unprepared.

Two, what's wrong with wanting so badly to beat Jasmine Moon? Jasmine Moon is a jerk who is not above lying and cheating to win the election. I'd be determined to beat her too. I hated that Brianna was tacitly being shamed for 'wanting it too much'. The book is supposed to be celebrating an ambitious, self-assured little budding entrepreneur. Yet it simultaneously punishes Brianna in the narrative for that same conviction it wants praise for adding. Does Brianna make a mistake because her drive for the win is overshadowing everything else? Yes, but that's totally separate from her desire to beat Jasmine specifically and her big mistake takes too long to unfold for me to feel like she'd compromised herself. Admittedly, towards the end Brianna is specifically commended for her drive by an authority figure she looks up to. However, it rang hollow because the book spends a majority of the time implicitly penalizing her for it.

Related to two, the pacing is off. Brianna really does not do all that much. So when her friends Sara and Lauren confronted her about hanging out with the skeevy Weasel I was confused because up until that point Brianna hadn’t done anything other than air her frustrations. The events that reflect poorly on Brianna mostly occur in the latter half of the book making for a rather uneven progression.

It also had the unfortunate effect of making me think less of her friends for being annoyed at Brianna when she had a legitimate grievance against Jasmine.

Criticism aside, I did not hate the book. I like that Brianna is a confident, compassionate Black girl who not only knows what she wants, she puts in the work to make it so. She screws up, but when push comes to shove she takes accountability for her actions. She’s the bigger person even when the other person doesn’t deserve it because it’s important to her to not compromise her integrity. I think she’s a wonderful role model for other Black girls to read about and relate to. It’s kind of nice to read about a situation where a girl is striving for success that isn’t social media based.

It’s not bad to want fame or stardom and I understand why it’s a popular theme in middle grade books especially as the 2010s progressed. I grew up in the murky transitional period in regards to Internet culture so the fact that it can be a full time job is only a relatively recent concept for me. Also, while I’m not against social media I do believe that parents need to be a lot more critical about their kids’ usage. As such I think that it’s important to have books that don’t completely feed into its prevalence in their lives. Kids can dream all they want and it’s good for them to do so. I don’t want their dreams to be dashed too soon in the name of reality. But, I think that there are a lot of downsides to social media - for all ages - that we have only begun to see in the last few years or so and it’s good to model what alternative career paths or ambitions can look like. I appreciate Winston for offering another equally as valid option.

I think this is more suitable for the lower half of middle grade. It’s a bit simplistic in terms of writing style and character wise the kids can sometimes read as a bit younger than they are - which is saying something considering how young the kids are in the first place. It’s not bad, it just doesn’t stand out to me. If you’re looking for something quick and competent, then you’ve come to the right place.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute upper elementary / middle grade novel about democracy and how influential people can be when it comes to elections. Brianna drinking coffee in Chapter 12 shouldn’t have been something a 10/11 year old should have been doing (unless the author forgot temporarily that Brianna wasn’t an adult?) but minus that, something I’m going to try to get for my classroom when I can.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m writing this review on my mom’s good reads. The book was really good and some parts made me laugh. The book was very fun to read because I’m a 5th grader like Brianna Justice. My favorite part was the end. The book taught me to remember to be myself and stay true to who I am. I recommend this book for 4th graders and 5th graders.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it incredibly hard to like the main character until close to the end of the book. I didn’t feel like she was making great personal growth throughout most of the story. The lesson in the end was sweet, but I would not use this for a read aloud with my fourth grade class.

[Reading For Sanity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this review and others at https://www.readingforsanity.com/2020...

[Melissa Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty cute children’s book with some good messages about friendship, generosity, and honesty. It also has some American history and election information the kid characters learned in context. I thought it was a good little book.

[Collette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute young reader book about running for 5th grade president.

[Andrea Frazee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Anna Traasdahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. I could tell I didn't like it very much just because I am getting a little too old for it but it was worth it to read it.

[Mary Wren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in my quest to acquaint myself with YA. and middle grade books in order to put the right book into the right hands of my middle schoolers.
This book featured Brianna Justice, a fifth grader, who is running for class president. It includes tidbits of history facts (which actually may inspire students to learn more history), cupcake recipes (which may spark an interest for students to try their hand at baking), fifth grade friendships and of course drama (which helps students see ways to work out their own problems.).
All in all, I found the book repetitive and slow at times, but I reminded myself thatt I was not the intended audience. It was an elementary level – middle grade level book - with Brianna Justice being a person of color and heroine. I plan on reading more about her escapades in Sherri Winston’s https://voteforcupcakes.com/ other books- including President of the Whole Sixth Grade.
After finishing most of my books, I am always interested to read about the authors. Sherri Winston is not only an author but an illustrator as well. Kudos to Sherri and the inspiration she gives students and adults alike to read, read, READ!

[Emmaleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a very strong female lead and I believe would speak well to the audience it is written for. As a fifth grade teacher I was very excited for this book because there were several areas where fifth graders will be able to relate. Holding the elections and the connections with U.S. History was great and how the author pulled in historical figures and connected it to modern issues and in a way that the elementary audience would understand. Also, as a Michigan native it was great to see a few links to home.

However, I was disappointed with how some of the story was written. Majority of the issues in the story could have been left out and the main points would have still been strong and shown through. It was a lengthy book and I found myself getting boring and waiting for the heroine to finally get to the ending that we all knew was coming. Although I think it is important to remember I am writing this from an adults perspective and this is written for a younger audience. I am looking forward to hearing what my students have to say about this book!