Here's the beginning of THE MANY TROUBLES OF ANDY RUSSELL:
"Andy Russell rushed to the edge of the stairs and looked up. The doors to his parent's and sister Rachel's rooms were closed. He hurried back to the kitchen and climbed onto the counter by the sink. He reached up and pressed one hand to the ceiling to keep his balance."
THE FIRST ANDY
***THE MANY TROUBLES OF ANDY RUSSELL***
Meet Andy Russell! He means well, but there's always trouble for him!
In THE MANY TROUBLES OF ANDY RUSSELL his many gerbils have escpaed and are scampering all over the basement. He's late for school, and he sure doesn't want to give boring Ms. Roman another excuse to call his parents. And today Andy wants to ask his parents if Tamika, his friend from school and next door, can move in with them. This is definitely not a good day for gerbil and other troubles.
HERE'S THE BEGINNING OF **** IT'S A BABY, ANDY RUSSELL
“Yikes!” Rachel Russell hollered. She turned and called to Andy, “You’re in trouble now. Real trouble. Just wait till Mom sees this mess.”
Andy Russell, his sister Rachel, and their friend Tamika Anderson had just come home from school. Rachel was standing by the open front door to the house.
“Let me see,” Andy said. He hurried up the front walk to the house and looked in.
The closet door was open. Coats, hats, scarves, gloves, umbrellas, and the morning newspaper were on the floor.
“I’m not in trouble. I didn’t make this mess and you know it,” Andy said. “I was in school all day. We got on and off the bus together.” “Then who did?” Rachel asked.
How would I know? Andy thought, but that’s not what he said. Instead he joked, “Who did? It was my teacher Ms. Roman. She found out I was the one who spilled the doughnut holes all over her desk and she’s getting even.”
“Spilled doughnut holes on her desk,” Tamika said. “That’s funny.”
Andy bowed.
“Well, this mess isn’t funny,” Rachel said, “Maybe a raccoon came down the chimney. I’ve heard they do that.”
From Publishers Weekly
Seven of Andy's gerbils have escaped from their cage at home (and his mother hates animals). At school, preoccupied with thoughts of his pets on the loose, the boy offers "China" as the solution to a math problem. And just when he's about to ask his parents if his friend Tamika (whose foster parents are moving away for a year) can come live with the Russell family, he learns that his mother is pregnant. Such are the woes of Andy Russell, whom Adler (author of the Cam Jansen books) introduces in this jaunty novel, the first of a series. Displaying a knack for creating credible characters and amusing dialogue, Adler shapes a cast that youngsters will want to follow up on in future tales. Among them are Tamika, whose birth parents are recovering from a serious car accident; and earnest Bruce, Andy's best friend. Other personalities with potential are Rachel, Andy's snippy older sister, who condescendingly refers to his pets as "mice"; and Stacy Ann, the class brown-noser who corrects Andy's wrong answers "in her best I-know-and-you-don't tone." Though the hero manages to solve his problems this time, it won't be long before he next hits hot water. Readers will likely be standing by when he does. Ages 7-10.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5-Fourth-grader Andy Russell faces a host of problems over a period of a few days. They range from escaped gerbils to finding out that his mother is pregnant to worrying about a friend who would like to live with Andy's family because her foster parents are going to South America. All of the boy's troubles, though, great or small, are described in a fast-paced, breezy style and kids will be sure to identify with his befuddlement and concerns. Fortunately, Andy's best friend is on hand to supply some funny one-liners. The black-and-white illustrations capture the humor of the story, although readers may be somewhat unsettled by the 180 degree swivel of snotty Stacy Ann's head on one of the pages. This is the first in a series of books about Andy and his friends, a fact that will undoubtedly be good news to many young readers.
Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL
