Greg and the Cheat Sheets

Gr 3–5—These early chapter books are neither realistic nor enjoyable stories about character education. Greg and his sister and two cousins live with their grandparents in the Trinidad community in Washington, DC. In Cheat Sheets, Greg has been skipped to sixth grade and is finding the work difficult. His cousin James is repeating sixth grade. When they learn that a classmate is dealing in cheat sheets, James buys the answers to a test and Greg is tempted, but decides to do the right thing. There are no surprises in the plot or solution. In Game Dilemma, the grandparents indicate that the children need to help out so Grandma can return to work. Greg the Good (yes, he is referred to that way in the story) earns money for a video game by working for the neighbors doing chores such as mowing lawns. James steals with his friends. Both books are blatantly obvious. The plots are stilted, as is the full-page art scattered throughout, and none of the characters seems real.—Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City