How has your summer been, bookwyrms? Have you had any exciting adventures? Are any of you moving to a new school? If you are, are you excited or nervous…or down right mad?

One of my favorite reading adventures this summer was a story that was just about that: starting over in a new town and a new school. If you’ve followed my Instagram posts, you’ll have seen pictures of The Next Great Paulie Fink by Ali Benjamin when it arrived in one of my Owl Crate Jr. boxes.

The New Girl

Caitlyn Breen was looking forward to seventh grade. Until her mom took a new job and dragged to a new town in a new state and enrolled her in a new school where she knew absolutely no one. Now she has to figure out where she fits in a class with ten completely different students in a school that isn’t anything like any school she’s ever attended. And to make matter worse, she arrives on her first day to find the Mitchel School seventh grade class in complete chaos because the famed student Paulie Fink was missing!

Just who is this Paulie Fink everyone keeps talking about? Some say he was the ultimate prankster. Some would say he was the school’s greatest menace. Some might even call him an evil genius. But one thing’s for sure, no matter who Caitlyn talks to, Paulie Fink is a legend.

So where did he disappear to? 

Old Legends and New Contenders

As the newest member of Mitchel School, the task falls to Caitlyn to learn who Paulie was (Alien? Greek god in disguise? Class clown?) and who will rise to take his place as the Next Great Paulie Fink. To pull that off, she’ll have to conduct a series of interviews and come up with several reality show worthy trials that will leave readers holding their breath and laughing their heads off when one thing after another goes catawampus!

If discovering the next great Paulie Fink isn’t enough of a stretch for poor Caitlyn, she’s also assigned to keep an eye on a timid kindergartener at lunch, help feed the goats that maintain the soccer field, and try to find a way to stay in touch with the friends she left back home—all while getting ready for the big soccer meet with the rival school from the next town over.

In the process, Caitlyn learns more than what makes someone like Paulie Fink a legend, she discovers what real friendship looks like, how to move beyond perceived differences, and what it means to have a truly good day. (Bonus: the kids also learn a bit about democracy and philosophy without it feeling old and boring!)

The Perfect Back-to-School Adventure

The Next Great Paulie Fink is the perfect book to read as elementary and middle grade students start heading back to the classroom. If it’s not in your class or school library, it should be! I give this mischievous tale five (5) spicy dark chocolate eggs and have made my human companion Jen promise that we’ll add this book to our reading stack for any classroom visits we have in the upcoming school year.

Note: The opinions expressed in this post belong to the reviewer alone. No goods or services were exchanged for this fair and honest review.