Adam Canfield, the Last Reporter Book

Grade Level: 5-8 Age Level: 10-14 Listening Level: Grades 5-8

A dirty school election, suspicious state test scores — Adam Canfield and his middle-grade star reporters are chasing some red-hot leads. There’s only one glitch: the school board has shut down the Slash for exposing the town’s most powerful family, and now the staff has to find a way to publish it themselves. Enter the Ameche brothers, two goofy kid entrepreneurs with a knack for refurbishing junk and a talent for selling ads, but a shaky command of journalistic ethics. What’s worse, Adam hasn’t a clue why coeditor Jennifer is acting weird. With kid-friendly humor and a touch of budding romance, this new adventure revisits a winning cast of characters — and the excitement that comes from uncovering a really great story.

In this, the third Adam Canfield book, Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times reporter Michael Winerip delights listeners yet again with an action-packed story about always-on-the-run Adam. Like Adam Canfield of the Slash and Adam Canfield, Watch Your Back! this audiobook gets the story — and gets it right.

VOYA

Adam Canfield, coeditor of his school's newspaper, the Slash, has a big problem. The school board has shut down the newspaper for investigating the town's most influential family, and Adam and the staff must find a way to publish the expose themselves. Adam and coeditor Jennifer approach the Ameche brothers for help but find the young businessmen lacking in journalistic ethics. While trying to raise money, Adam and Jennifer pursue some hot leads: the school election is being bought in exchange for free iPod downloads and the latest state test scores may be too good to be true. Adam must also decode the strange signals he is receiving from Jennifer and supervise the Slash's outspoken third-grade reporter, Phoebe. Winerip's characters are quirky, funny, and undeniably likeable, particularly Shadow, a special education student who takes his job as "official fact-checker and proofreader" very seriously. The author's humorous style will appeal to middle grade readers searching for an entertaining read. At the same time, Winerip's writing will encourage readers to think about topics relevant to their own lives such as ethical behavior, the importance and elusiveness of truth, and the educational system. In addition, Winerip should be commended for creating a novel where the adults are depicted as being approachable resources. A little "something smoochy" between coeditors Adam and Jennifer adds the crowning touch to this winning effort. This book can be read independently of the first two Adam Canfield novels. Reviewer: David Goodale