Class Action

"Twenty-five math problems, an endangered species report, and a language arts packet-action verbs versus linking, can you feel the joy?" To Sam Warren, doing homework is a Sisyphean task: "We come to school, we work all day, we go home, we work all night. Then we wake up and do it all over again." He has no time for things he wants to do-have fun, play with friends, build a tree house with his father. What would any angry sixth grader do in such a situation? Take a case to the Supreme Court! With the help of his elderly retired-lawyer neighbor, Sam and his classmates put together a case that becomes Warren v. Board of Education. It is granted class-action status, and they're off (in a very quick route) to the Supreme Court, where Sam's older sister Sadie ends up arguing the case. Though hardly credible, it's entertaining, and readers will learn much about constitutional law and specific cases having to do with the legal rights of students. There's even a hint at a possible next volume in which the constitutionality of standardized testing will be challenged. Back matter includes a glossary of legal terms and a lengthy appendix listing the Supreme Court cases mentioned in the book. dean Schneider