(NOTE: I was given a copy of this book but all opinions are my own.)
Many K-12 schools have adopted STEAM (or STEM) in their curriculum. It is a learner-centered approach to teaching that integrates technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. STEAM activities help students develop their critical thinking skills, problem solving, creativity, innovation, and team building.
STEAM is at the center of the plot of the book Control Freaks by J. E. Thomas.
In this book, seventh-grader Frederick Douglass Zezzmer attends Benjamin Banneker College Prep school. His long-range goal is to become the World’s Greatest Inventor. His short-range goal is to win the GadgetCon competition before he turns thirteen.
However.
There’s one slight hiccup in his plan. Kids just can’t enter GadgetCon on their own. They have to be selected by their school to attend it. That means Doug has to dazzle the principal so the principal will select Doug.
But then, the principal announced that all students would participate in a week-long STEAM competition. They would be assigned to multi-grade teams. They would have art challenges, technology ones, and even sports ones. (Ugh! Doug is distraught about that category. He is not good at sports. Not. At. All.)
Doug ended up on the worst team ever. They are all misfits — well, except for Doug and his friend, Huey. How in the world can Doug dazzle the principal with this crazy STEAM challenge going on? Especially when his team is so awful? And especially because he won’t stand out because he’ll be surrounded by tons of kids? How would the principal ever be able to notice him?
In addition to everything going on with the STEAM challenge, Doug has to deal with Pops, who expects Doug to attend a sports camp during the summer and who doesn’t understand that Doug prefers inventing things over sports.
Doug also has to figure out how to handle the most horrid step-brother in the world and Pops’ demands that Doug help his step-brother with writing an essay. (Doug wrote one for his step-brother and since then he felt awful about it.)
Doug is not thrilled that Pops returned to Denver (where Doug, his mother, and step-father live). He resents Pops for trying to control Doug’s life. (Doug also resents how Pops treats his step-father . . . )
Will Doug ever be able to impress the principal and get selected to go to GadgetCon? How will Doug’s team of misfits do in the STEAM competition? How will Doug do on the sports section of the competition? Will Doug have to go to the sports camp? How can Doug get around writing another paper for his step-brother?
You’ll have to read it to find out.
This is a delightful book! I think kids aged 8-12 will enjoy reading it, too.
One of the things I really liked were the clever words the author created to describe various groups of students — technovengers, enginerds, art peeps, sportsters, and mathatrons.
Team names are creative, too — Zezzmerites (based on Doug’s last name — Zezzmer), Excellentorators, IxnayOnTheBodySpray, TheNeverLastonians, TallerThanOurGrandpas, and StillCan’tOpenOurLockers. (Doug’s team name isn’t very creative. It’s just a mashup of their first names.)
I like that the chapters are from different characters’ point of view. This gives readers a deeper understanding of the characters — like the step-brother likes to read science fiction and wants to be a sci-fi writer when he grows up; that one girl lives with her grandma in an extended-stay motel where the grandmother is a cleaning lady; and that another girl is an astronaut in training and wants to be the first person to walk on Mars.
I like this book because of the development of the characters. They become friends. They learn that while the school rumor mill is loaded with information some of it is seriously wrong. I like it because members of different teams end up cheering for each other. I like it when Huey freezes up and Doug comes to his rescue and that Huey covers for Doug when Doug forgets the words to the photosynthesis song he’s supposed to sing. I especially like that Doug’s team of misfits become friends.
Best of all, I like that students get out of their clicks (and their teams) and become friends with other students. (I dare say that every student at one point during their middle school days have felt left out and like they don’t have friends . . . )
This paperback book will be available on August 13. Keep your eyes peeled so you can pick up a copy on Amazon for a grandchild — or copies for several grandkids!
So Grandmas, if you’re looking for a good book to give to a grandchild, this is it. If you’re looking for a book that has a good moral (or MANY good morals) to give to a grandchild, this is it. If you’re looking for a book that a grandchild will think is clever and funny, this is it. If you’re looking for a heart-warming book, this is it.
And most important, if you’re looking for a book that shows that teamwork and friendship are more important than winning, this. Is. It!
