The spreads are sometimes defined by "panels," whose straight and curved lines form unexpected shapes and add another element of excitement to the dynamic diagonals and extreme perspectives. The compositions are a pleasing mixture of busy scenes, with funny or important details rendered via judicious touches of color, gray washes, and black line work and ample white space. Together, the Dunderheads are a formidable force, and Roberts's quirky watercolor and ink interpretations of Fleischman's deadpan humor and impeccable pacing produce hilarious results. The talents of the children in this diverse group are foreshadowed by their nicknames, e.g., Spider, Spitball, Google-Eyes, and Hollywood. They devise elaborate plans to retrieve the treasure from the teacher's fortresslike home. When she confiscates Junkyard's latest find and makes him cry, the class reaches the tipping point. She makes Viola Swamp look like Glenda the Good Witch. Her alligator purse, warden-style key ring, and electric chair offer further inklings into her psyche. Miss Breakbone suffers no fools she refers to her class as "fiddling, twiddling, time-squandering.dunderheads!" Her militaristic form is capped by severe red hair and a menacing mouth the latter is wide open and shrieking insults on the first page. School Library Journal Review Gr 2-5-As long as children must endure the whims of tyrannical teachers, there will be an appreciative audience for a book such as this. Schoolchildren will adore this story of pupil revenge. But if they tested for paper-clip chains." Roberts's (The Dumpster Diver) drawings, with their delicate lines and sly cultural references (Miss Breakbone looks like a cold war-era prison guard), convey just the right note of dastardly charm. "I nodded to Clips," Einstein says about the kid whose creations help them enter Miss Breakbone's lair. Action and zaniness animate every page of this picture book/early reader hybrid, but the story's real virtue is Newbery winner Fleischman's (Joyful Noise) appreciation for kids whose loser exteriors hide unexpected talent (each gets an apt nickname). Einstein, the genius hero, marshals his classmates' skills (hypnotism, spitballs, perfect knowledge of movie plots) and pulls off the perfect break-in. They have no choice: Miss Breakbone has insulted them ("doodling, dozing, don't-knowing dunderheads!"), confiscated a cat figurine that Junkyard was saving for his mother's birthday and then dared them to retaliate. Publishers Weekly Review The fiendish Miss Breakbone-a teacher with her own electric chair and a subscription to Guard Dog Lovers Monthly-is no match for her students, once they put their heads together.
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