For Hart Evans, being the most popular kid in sixth grade has its advantages. Kids look up to him, and all the teachers let him get away with anything -- all the teachers except the chorus director, Mr. Meinert. When Hart's errant rubber band hits Mr. Meinert on the neck during chorus practice, it's the last straw for the chorus director, who's just learned he's about to lose his job due to budget cuts. So he tells the class they can produce the big holiday concert on their own. Or not. It's all up to them. And who gets elected to run the show? The popular Mr. Hart Evans.

Hart soon discovers there's a big difference between popularity and leadership, and to his surprise, discovers something else as well -- it's really important to him that this be the best holiday concert ever, and even more important, that it not be the last.

My daughter loved the book. She thought the holiday concert was so cool. I personally found both Mr. Meinart and Hart annoying and the concert pretentious lol The hardest part of having a concert program come together was the part near the end, when they finished the initial brainstorming and actually set out to work. But the author skimmed over that part. And I'm confused why sixth graders would sign themselves up for sixth grade chorus if they were not interested in singing in the first place. ( )

00009621

I'm so very sad to hear of Andrew Clements passing. He is such a wonderful author. This one is delightful. As my friend Jim Perry says, "It made my face wet." A touching story with very real characters learning and growing. I love that the adults learn and grow as well as the children. A wonderful Christmas story that works any time of year. A quick read but one you will not want to put down. ( )

Goodness. ?áI do love Clements' school stories. ?áThe kids, and the adults, face relatively minor challenges, make some relatively minor mistakes/ bad choices, but the end is triumphant, though not implausibly HEA.

Lisa Morton's dad had decided not to spend twelve thousand dollars on wiring and harnesses so his little girl [6th grade] could fly like an angel, but he and Lisa had come up with something almost as dramatic. ?áAnd on that last Saturday afternoon they were both hard at work in the old gym."" ( )