The Odd Squad: Bully Bait by Michael Fry (review)

Seventh-grader Nick is perfectly fine with his loser existence (even with the occasional times he gets stuffed into his locker) until his well-intentioned but ultimately misguided guidance counselor forces him to join a club with two other similarly odd outcasts, gangly Molly and portly Karl. The club not only raises Nick’s consciousness, it immediately goes rogue and decides to seek vengeance upon Roy, the school bully making their lives miserable. Complications arise for Nick when Becky, the love of his life, is spotted in Roy’s company; with the help of a proverb-spouting janitor, a stuffed pig, and the apparent ghost of Emily Dickinson, Nick manages to make his peace with Roy and snag Becky’s attention. The bully story follows a stereotypical arc, first presenting Roy as an unintelligent jerk and then revealing a family history that makes him sympathetic and deserving of compassion. While Fry manages some restraint by having the two boys merely agree to a truce rather than become sudden besties, the ultimate outcome is nonetheless predictable. The oddball humor is the book’s biggest appeal, with plenty of age-appropriate jokes that dabble in both witticisms and more scatological content. Fry (author of the Over the Hedge comic strip) provides grayscale spot illustrations throughout that are essential to the story, often delivering a joke’s final punchline or a zingy one-liner. With their bulging eyes and large heads, figures are just slightly misproportioned, adding to the book’s playful tone. There’s not much new here in the way of middle-school territory but it’s still plenty of fun—after all, who doesn’t love a bunch of farting dog jokes?