Author(s): Susan Berran

Young Readers

Mum reckons the locals have been here so many generations that they're all probably cousins anyway and that's why they're a bit "lower" than me. But I know what she really means by "low"--she means dumb, pillock, unintelligent, stupid, anserine, not all there, dimwit, nerf, lunkhead, dense, thick, dolt, dopey, blockhead, muttonhead, fool, goose, bonehead, pud-denhead, numbat, dumbass, simpleton, nitwit, half-wit, doofas, dunce, dunderhead, numskull, yokokel, clod, bonehead, knuckle-headà There you are--32 different terms for "low." Now you can tell Mum and Dad this book is very educational. The sixth grade boys all stick together. We call them The Seven Dimwits. There's Toffee, Wheezy, Booga and Ratty, the twins Dufas and Dorky, and worst of all, Itchy. And I reckon the teachers were sent out here for punishment. Miss Croonarc doesn't look much older than us and she's straight out of Teachers' College. She must have failed her course really badly to get stuck way out here.