The bad news: Except for his spiteful great-grandmother, Newton Starker is the last of his line because of a strange curse - everyone in Newton's family has been struck by lightning and killed.The good news: Newton has plans to ensure that he does not meet the same fate. He enrolls in in the Jerry Potts Academy of Survival, a school where the curriculum is focused around learning to take care of oneself and survive under harsh circumstances. Newton is sure that this school will be able to teach him what he needs to know to stay alive.
Between constantly checking the weather reports, making sure his kilt (the school uniform) is buckled correctly, and trying to make new friends, Newton certainly has his hands full. But will he really be able to break his family's generations-long string of bad luck? Will survival training really help, or will he need a little help from another source instead? And what does a little pig named Joséphine have to do with any of it?
The premise of this book and some of the characters are a little wonky, but it's really a lot of fun. The chapters are only a few pages long at most, making this a real page-turner as you absorb this story is short, satisfying chunks. Intermingled in this story are also sections from the Jerry Potts Survival Handbook, e-mails from Headmaster Dumont, and Newton's own list of survival rules. While I do wish that the survival school itself would have been played up more and greater descriptions of the classes included in the story by author Arthur Slade, Newton's own growth and the way he learns to accept love and friendship remain a touching focus to the narrative. And sweet little Joséphine, Newton's pet pig, will find probably find a very soft place to nestle in your heart.
Overall Grade: B+
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