Big Nate: Thunka, Thunka, Thunka.

Pierce, Lincoln. Big Nate: Thunka, Thunka, Thunka. 
March 1st 2016 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
Copy provided by the publisher (AMP! Comics for Kids)

I love Big Nate. He is everything that Greg Heffley isn't-- exuberant, hopeful, motivated, and well intentioned. He is also, like many of my students, frequently charging off at top speed in a completely wrong direction! 
It makes me very sad that the vast majority of my students no longer read the comic pages in the newspaper. Their families don't get the newspaper, and I don't think that some of them are even aware that the newspaper has comics in it! 

These comic strip collections, as well as the Big Nate notebook novels, are such fun, and judging from the state of all of my Big Nate books, my students agree with this assessment! 

In Thunka, Thunka, Thunka, Nate has to deal with a psychopathetic elementary "book buddy", Spitzy having a crush on a cat, and a bet with Gina as to whether he can go an entire week without getting a detention. He continues to struggle with Coach John's demands in gym class, his struggles with Mrs. Godfrey, and the attentions of Kim Cressly, who ends up on his baseball team. 

I have decided that every library that deals with middle school students needs to keep a stash of Big Nate around as penicillin for the "I don't want to read" affliction. He's bound to cure even the worst case of it!