Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind by Judy Finchler & Kevin O'Malley (2006) stars an elementary school age boy who does not like to read. Actually, this main character is never given a name, but hangs with three male friends. They love to play video games. This child's school is participating in the Everybody Read in America program. The school will read 1,000 books by June 12, at which point the principal will dye his hair purple and sleep on the roof. This student's teacher, Miss Malarkey gives her students a wide variety of books to choose from. Gradually, this student's three friends play fewer video games and read more books because Miss Malarkey succeeded in finding books they actually enjoy. Will our main character find any book fun? Of course he does. Kevin O'Malley's illustrations remind me of those by Harry Bliss. The characters are crisply defined and speech bubbles complement the text.
