Each year on the third week of April, the whole fifth grade of Hardy Elementary School piles into three buses and heads off for a week in the woods with Mr. Maxwell and the other fifth grade teachers. This year, a new student joins the fifth grade and is expected to come along on the trip: Mark Robert Chelmsley, son of millionaire parents who have just bought an estate in New Hampshire. Mark's parents are often gone away on business and he is left with caretakers Leon and Anya. Mark hates leaving his New York home and friends and at first has a bad attitude toward his new home and school, but gradually things begin to change. He loves the woods surrounding his new home, and Leon teaches him to snowshoe and camp in the woods. He begins to look forward to his school's camping trip, but things don't turn out quite like he expects.
I liked this book; Andrew Clements, author of
Frindle, understands fifth graders and school life, and he writes with a sense of humor that kids really enjoy. I loved the emphasis on nature, and how Mark changes from a spoiled rich kid to a boy who can't wait to spend the afternoon exploring the woods surrounding his house.
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