Laggan Lard Butts

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

In an introductory note, Walters explains that the idea for this
high-interest, low-vocabulary novel for middle schoolers came during a
visit to a real public school bearing the name Laggan, one whose teams
were actually called “the Laggan Lairds.” In the book, the fictional
school’s small student population and rural location doubly
disadvantage the school’s teams. In comparison to their larger
competitors, Laggan has fewer athletes from when to choose and, because
of student busing, reduced informal practice opportunities. Sam
Campbell, 13, now in his third and final losing year at Laggan, is on
the school’s basketball team, which is presently in seventh place in
an eight-team league. However, if the Lairds beat the sixth-place team,
they will make the finals.

Sam’s team has a Cinderella run and reaches the championship game
where, realistically, they lose. The book’s title comes from an
opponent’s taunt delivered to Sam during a game. When Coach Davidson,
who is also Sam’s homeroom teacher, introduces the concept of
democracy in a class discussion, the coach decides to concretize the
learning by holding a school-wide election, with a number of proposed
names for the school’s teams being put to the vote. Although Principal
McGregor agrees to abide by the vote’s outcome, Sam’s nomination of
“Laggan Lard Butts” causes the principal significant anxiety,
especially given the community’s Scottish roots. Similar to the
outcome of the championship game, Walters provides a realistic, but
satisfying, result to the election. Recommended.