Third Grade Angels (review)

Incoming third-grader George ("Suds") Morton is looking forward to being an "angel" this year, according to his school's playground rhyme: "First grade babies, second grade cats, third grade angels, fourth grade rats!" His cool new teacher, Mrs. Simms, capitalizes on this notion, offering her students the chance to earn cardboard haloes for exceptional behavior, and Suds' competitive nature kicks in as he determines to be the first one in the class to get a halo. When he unexpectedly saves a puppy from getting hit by a car after school hours, he writes a letter to his teacher to ensure that he gets credit for the act. Another classmate, Constantina, witnesses it as well, however, and when she also writes a note to the teacher recommending that Suds get the first halo, the teacher awards it to Constantina for her selflessness. While the questions Suds raises—Why be good if no one sees it? Are you really a "good loser" if you're still upset on the inside?—are worthy ones for middle-grade discussion, the dialogue about these issues is sometimes contrived and artificial. The book also ends somewhat abruptly with Mrs. Simms revealing to Suds why she gave Constantina the halo, and readers may feel cheated that Suds never gets his own halo before the resolution. Still, the quick pace and the book's brevity make this lesson go down easily, and Spinelli does a decent job of capturing third-grade thoughts and emotions. Fans of Suds from Spinelli's Fourth Grade Rats will likely want to catch up here on Suds' prior year. Final art unseen.