The Very Worst Ever: Catch Zoo Later by Andy Nonamus and Amy Jindra - OPTIONAL

The Very Worst Ever: Catch Zoo Later by Andy Nonamus, illustrated by Amy Jindra. 122 pages,  Little Simon, Simon and Schuster, 2024. $18 

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

Field trips should be the best day ever! Unless your teacher gives you a packet of worksheets and you set a bunch of geckos loose. Then it just might be awful. 

The protagonist has no name, just an emoji instead of a face, so perhaps readers will see themselves in the protagonist role. There's a mix of believable and unbelievable, like mom delivering a permission slip by flying a motorcycle over their heads. The plot is pretty simplistic, but anyone whose been on a field trip may relate. There seems to be a variety of races and since the main character has an emoji face, race is anyone's guess. 

Michelle in the Middle