Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall

Sheree Haughian is an elementary-school teacher-librarian in
Orangeville, Ontario.

Firecrackers sizzle in the breakfast waffle mix. Water balloons burst in
math class. A statue of John A. is wearing full scuba gear. Young ladies
in a nearby “finishing school” are under a voodoo curse. It sounds
as if Bruno and Boots, Gordon Korman’s intrepid Macdonald Hall
rapscallions, are having a particularly inventive year.

But the two notorious pranksters claim innocence in Something Fishy at
Macdonald Hall. A phantom joker, who seals each incident with a brown
feather, is on the loose at the boys’ school, and the dynamic duo turn
detective in self-defence. If Boots and Bruno don’t find out the true
identity of the culprit, they face certain expulsion by default. The
resident genius, the school newspaper editor, the lively girls next
door, and Boots’s mischievous little brother Edward are all on their
suspects list. Who will finally fall into their phantom trap?

As the plot would suggest, Korman’s novel is typically manic, chaos
churned up by caricatures in perpetual motion. The stereotypes Korman
creates—from ditzy Miss Scrimmage to Elmer the science nerd—don’t
have time to grow weary or stale. They’re too busy reacting to the
latest caper. Reading Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall is a bit like
viewing a TV sitcom. It’s an experience light on substance, but a
welcome anesthetic to real-world stress and strain. Kids, like adults,
need a regular dose of humorous froth. Recommended.