Reviewed by 
   Kathleen Schwartz

Reviewer Rating: ***** Stars
Title: Elrod McBugle On The Loose
Category: Children through to Adult's Fiction
Author: Jeff Strand
Publisher: DiskUs Publishing
ISBN: 1-58495-716-6
Release date: October, 2000

Elrod McBugle, Jeff Strand’s main character, is in many ways your normal junior high student. He has difficulty memorizing his locker combination numbers, gets in trouble for drawing in class instead of listening, is starting to like girls, and gets picked on by the class bullies. What makes him exceptional is the trouble he gets into almost on a daily basis. He never tries to be bad, but, somehow, bad things happen to him with great regularity, thereby putting him on a first name basis with the principal.

Jeff Strand has created a charming character with a keen sense of humor and a lively imagination. Elrod tells his story in a wickedly funny, but often accurate look at junior high life. Although every problem Elrod gets into is wildly exaggerated, there is a basic reality underlying many of the incidences.

Both main and secondary characters are finely drawn. Each chapter leaves you laughing, and, by the end of the book, you feel you have met Elrod personally. And, while dreading his next misadventure, you know you would enjoy being in class with him. Students will howl at his antics while adults will recognize a little of themselves in Elrod and his friends. Teachers should especially recognize Elrod and, perhaps, see themselves as portrayed through adolescent eyes. Elrod even adds quizzes at the end of each chapter which are funny to read, but don’t distract from the action of the book.

Copyright © 2001 by  Kathleen Schwartz