by Megan McDonald
The irascible and short second grader, Stink Moody, is outraged when he
learns that Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Friend of all
things small (like James Madison, the shortest and best president),
Stink takes up the cause for Pluto. Stink gets into a feud over this
issue with a classroom rival, Riley, who has been to space camp and so
comes off as a know-it-all, until his teacher suggests a debate. Stink
wins the debate but learns a bit about not judging people until you get
to know them, and sees Riley in a new light. This book contains the
usual cheerful silliness of the series, and I enjoyed the real-life
moral of looking to other people’s motives. There isn’t exactly a
healthy respect for scientific opinion, though, which is a minus. It
doesn’t matter how Stink and his pals feel about Pluto. The teacher
should have given them the facts of how Pluto no longer fits the
scientific consensus of the definition of planet. It’s just a kid’s
book, but it’s rather dangerous to venerate popular sentiment over
science. We’re all entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts.
four stars
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