Pottymouth and Stoopid.

Grabenstein, Chris and Patterson, James. Pottymouth and Stoopid.
June 12th 2017 by jimmy patterson
ARC provided by the publisher at ALA

David and Michael have been known by their crass nicknames since their earliest school days; David because the mean Kaya saddles him with it and Michael because he is being raised in a foster home where the parents swear all of the time, and he uses words like "hicklesnicklepox" instead. The other students in their school use the names all the time, and the teachers don't stop them; in fact, the teachers are pretty mean as well, with the basketball coach telling them that they can't try out. The upside of that encounter is meeting Anna Brittoni, whom the children call Anna Britannica because she is smart, and smart is not "cool" in the school. All three have a hard time in everything they do. David's father won't pay child support, and the one bright spot in his life is his grandfather, who dies suddenly. At the funeral, David's father comes and promises to take the boys out to lunch. When listening to their stories, he doesn't feel the need to intervene at the school-- he shops the idea of a television show to producers who put out a cartoon based on the boys. The boys are confused as to who is writing the show, and are given an even harder time about it. Eventually, the father's involvement is revealed and attempts are made to make things right for the boys.
Strengths: Children will pick up any Jimmy book that comes out. Grabenstein is a good writer. The antibullying message is important.
Weaknesses: While the elements were all in place, this book failed for me. The adults in the picture are all fairly incompetent, especially the father, and the situations didn't feel realistic to me because of how they were handled. Something just felt off about this one, and I don't know that the antibullying message is delivered in an effective way.
What I really think: I don't think I will purchase this for my school library. Perhaps I will buy an extra copy of Anderson's Posted (which deals more effectively with the issue of bullying) instead.