Mary Korte

Bully Jake and Grace's Fate Mary Korte

Bully Jake and Grace's Fate, book 1 of 3 in the Cocky Chicks Series, dramatizes in rhyme what happens when all-day play replaces learning in a combined sixth- and seventh-grade classroom.
EIGHT illustrations LESS THAN fifty words per page EYE-APPEALING formatting A GLOSSARY that defines text-underlined words. NO supervision, NO limit setting, NO teaching, and NO homework means NO brain stretching for twenty-nine cocky chicks.
Stepping off the school bus each morning to a day filled with nothing but play leads to creative minds wandering in devious ways. It also gives bully Jake-who clamors for attention-free reign to trap timid Grace in a no-win situation.
School day after school day, twenty-nine cocky chicks manipulate their wimpy teacher, Mr. Cock-Rooster (also the school principal), into sending them out to play. The drill is simple. Create a rowdy-ruckus roar and Mr. Cock-Rooster will shoo us out the door.
But oh, their non-learning endeavor makes Mr. Boar (the fifth-grade teacher next door) angry to the core.
All year, not a smidgen of schoolwork gets done as day after day the class plays baseball out under the sun. But in one game more lies at stake than either side winning as proven by one cocky chick not grinning.
Besides being fun reading, this rhyming parody also promotes diversity, builds vocabulary, teaches valuable life lessons, and emphasizes the importance of education.