Ninja Boy Goes to School by N. D. Wilson (review)

Addressing fellow ninja wannabes, the narrator cautions that the path of a ninja is not an easy one. It takes great self-discipline (“A ninja must be still and patient, like a deep- rooted tree”) while being prepared to take action (“… and strike with the VIPER’S speed when the time is right for disappearing”). All this wisdom, however, is in the service of what viewers will quickly recognize as a questionable mission—to sneak out the classroom window and beat the playground tetherball within an inch of its life. Now more ninja skills come into play: “A ninja knows when to be silent,” especially as the principal phones the parents. “In the face of injustice and hardship, a ninja’s emotions are as smooth and still as a clear pond,” especially on the ride home with an angry Dad. Harrison’s pictures stand in zany contrast to the measured, tongue-in-cheek text, supplying a wealth of detail that presages the coming debacle, from Ninja Boy’s bleary parents’ unawareness that their son is packing up his ninja gear for the day, to the bus driver’s obliviousness to Ninja Boy attached with suction cups to the bus ceiling. Any kid who’s longed for a break in the school day to work out some energy and frustration will cheer Ninja Boy’s mission and trust that—after he’s not grounded anymore—he’ll return to fight another day.