Carter Avery's Tricky Fourth-Grade Year by Rob Buyea
Published by Delacorte Press on September 3, 2024
ISBN: 0593376188
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads

Carter Avery is dreading 4th grade.  Everyone said his teacher Ms. Krane is mean and he is stuck with his bossy nemesis, Missy Gerber.  To make matters worse, Carter struggles in school because writing is hard for him, he can’t sit still for long, and often blurts out the first thing he thinks of.  Luckily Carter has a good support system at home in his grandma and his older sister (his parents died in a car crash when he was young).  After suspecting his teacher will trick him somehow, Carter’s perspective slowly shifts when he realizes how kind and creative she is.  He also works on a project with Missy, and he starts to think differently about her too.  Things are going relatively well until Ms. Krane isn’t at school anymore.  Eventually he finds out that it’s because she had her baby prematurely, not because of a petition some families are signing to get her removed because she is pregnant through artificial insemination.  After getting off to a rocky start with the long term substitute, Carter is able to make things right and works as hard for the substitute as he did for Ms. Krane.  

Carter learns a lot in this novel geared towards 4th-6th graders.  He overcomes many obstacles, learns what it means to be a true friend, and how to be brave and stick up for others.  Carter values friends of all kinds because he has a hard time making them.  He comes up with creative ways to show the people in his life that he cares about them, including hosting Thanksgiving and throwing a party for his teacher.  Carter is very accepting of others, like his teacher who has a prominent birth mark on her face and Mason and his guide dog Susie, whom he met at the library during Summer Reading.  Carter isn’t perfect, but he is always working hard to be better.  This story is told from Carter’s perspective and his funny yet thoughtful voice is a strength of this novel.  Readers will enjoy getting to know Carter and will appreciate how his confidence and success grows because of a variety of caring adults in his life.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library