Sixth-graders Mac and Vince have been running an advice and assistance service for fellow grade-school students since they were in kindergarten. Mac is a problem solver, Vince is a whiz at keeping track of the money and favors they earn, and both boys are avid Chicago Cubs fans. Their �office� is located in an underused school bathroom, hence this first novel�s title. The business takes a beating�and then so does the boys� friendship�when an older kid applies muscle to the threats he has made to grade-schoolers who owe gambling debts. Rylander has created a cast of memorable and varied characters, replete with emotional as well as social lives. Mac narrates the convoluted tale with the arch flatness of a 1940s satire of the noir detective genre, so swallowing even the more preposterous coincidences is easy for the sake of the story�s fun. An excellent boy book that would do well in a father-son book discussion. Grades 4-7. --Francisca Goldsmith
Review
"Here is an original - a story that really gets how guys are pals.... Do yourself a favor. Read it. Now." _ - Jon Scieszka (__NYT Best-Selling author_)
"The Fourth Stall makes good use of non sequitur humor and a healthy dose of schoolyard violence to draw in even the most apprehensive young reader... a robust story rich in action, adventure, humor, and friendship."__ --VOYA
"Rylander has created a cast of memorable and varied characters, replete with emotional as well as social lives... An excellent boy book that would do well in a father-son book discussion._"_
--Booklist
"Boys and girls alike will be biting their nails, laughing out loud and begging for the next installment. Fans of Jeff Kinney, Gordon Kormon and Jon Scieszka will find a new hero in Rylander." --Sioux Falls Argus Leader
"Sometimes middle-school readers just wanna have fun. And Rylander, thankfully, steers well clear of made-for-TV life lessons."__ --The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Description:
From
Sixth-graders Mac and Vince have been running an advice and assistance service for fellow grade-school students since they were in kindergarten. Mac is a problem solver, Vince is a whiz at keeping track of the money and favors they earn, and both boys are avid Chicago Cubs fans. Their �office� is located in an underused school bathroom, hence this first novel�s title. The business takes a beating�and then so does the boys� friendship�when an older kid applies muscle to the threats he has made to grade-schoolers who owe gambling debts. Rylander has created a cast of memorable and varied characters, replete with emotional as well as social lives. Mac narrates the convoluted tale with the arch flatness of a 1940s satire of the noir detective genre, so swallowing even the more preposterous coincidences is easy for the sake of the story�s fun. An excellent boy book that would do well in a father-son book discussion. Grades 4-7. --Francisca Goldsmith
Review
"Here is an original - a story that really gets how guys are pals.... Do yourself a favor. Read it. Now." _ - Jon Scieszka (__NYT Best-Selling author_)
"The Fourth Stall makes good use of non sequitur humor and a healthy dose of schoolyard violence to draw in even the most apprehensive young reader... a robust story rich in action, adventure, humor, and friendship."__
--VOYA
"Rylander has created a cast of memorable and varied characters, replete with emotional as well as social lives... An excellent boy book that would do well in a father-son book discussion._"_
--Booklist
"Boys and girls alike will be biting their nails, laughing out loud and begging for the next installment. Fans of Jeff Kinney, Gordon Kormon and Jon Scieszka will find a new hero in Rylander." --Sioux Falls Argus Leader
"Sometimes middle-school readers just wanna have fun. And Rylander, thankfully, steers well clear of made-for-TV life lessons."__ --The Cleveland Plain Dealer