Now the key to any realistic school story, no matter how wacky, is likable characters. It’s like a little diamond on your bookshelf. The kind of book a kid would pick up willingly on their own in the first place.

And let me tell you now that the only thing rarer than a children’s book starring a Latino boy is finding a children’s book starring a Latino boy that’s hilarious and fun. Pickle, I am pleased to report, stars a Hispanic kid who is featured on the cover front and center, no hiding his race or getting all namby pamby on who he is. They exist, but are so few and far between when compared to other ethnicities that one has a hard time figuring out who precisely is to blame. There’s been a lot of talk in the press and the general public about the fact that when it comes to Latino characters in children’s books you may as well be asking for the moon. Okay… technically the school thinks that he’s started a pickle club, but that shouldn’t be a problem, right? Trouble is, once you’ve started something as silly as a prank club, it’s hard to know when you’ve crossed a line and gone a little too far. Next thing you know he’s started a prank club with school funds. It’s an auspicious beginning for an up-and-coming prankster, and once Ben gets a taste of the havoc (and admiration) his act garners, there’s no stopping him. You make several trips with the balls to your elementary school, dump the lot in your classroom window, and then sit back and enjoy the show. What would you do if you found out your favorite pizza joint was getting rid of all the balls in their ball pit for free? If you’re Ben Diaz, the answer is simple. That is the task Kim Baker gave herself and the end result is a book that I simply cannot keep on my library shelves.

Imagine how much more difficult it is to think up a whole roster of pranks for a fictional elementary school. Now it’s hard enough to think up a prank for a liberal arts college in eastern Indiana. And pranks, the really good ones, are almost impossible to think up. It does not destroy school property, causing only joy for those innocents who witness it. A good prank, a true prank, does no harm aside from a minor inconvenience for the poor schmuck who has to clean it up. It was a fun piece to write and instilled in me not a love of reporting but rather a love of pranking and all it entails. Ultimately I decided to write a piece on the history of pranks at my alma mater. I had no real desire to report the news in any way, shape, or form so when the time came to write an article for the paper I had to find something that would be in my wheelhouse. When I was in college I took a course in journalism to fulfill an English credit.

Roaring Brook Press (a division of Macmillan) Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School

Pickle by kim baker