Author: Janice Levy

ISBN: 0-972-92254-7

Genre: Children’s Books

The following review was contributed by:  Andrea Wren

 & CLICK TO VIEW  Andrea Wren's Reviews

From the first two pages and onwards Alley Oops is straight to the point – it’s about bullying - and the main character is the perpetrator. The book begins with Jonathan Jax (‘JJ’, a great name!) being scolded by his dad for teasing a new boy at school because he is over-weight. JJ sees nothing wrong, until dad bores him with one of his stories and JJ has no choice but to listen.

Dad talks to JJ about his own experience of being a bully at school, and how it came to revisit him as a grown up when his victim came knocking, he was a very large man indeed compared to him, and Mr Jax was a little worried. It taught him a lesson, which he imparts on his son. 

Invariably, Mr Jax convinces JJ of his wrong-doings, who goes on to befriend Patrick, the new boy. Through chatting JJ finds out that Patrick’s uncle is Muscle Max, a cool arm wrestler. Greatly impressed, JJ also discovers that Patrick himself has some talent in that area. He decides that he can become his manager and they can host big competitions.

I can appreciate the sentiment and direction of this book, but I found it too unconvincing (bad kid turns good kid in the space of a page) for such a sensitive subject, and too moralistic to be a ‘good read’ in itself. Kids are pretty clued up, and I’m not sure any would-be bully would be persuaded that change is a good thing from reading this. The reasons for change depicted - that the victim may come back as bigger and badder – I don’t think would stir much concern.   

Dealing with the issue of bullying on the side of the offender is a difficult one, and it’s a tough call to tackle it subtly enough in children’s writing so that the story can be accessible to all, and an enjoyable read, without preaching or being overly obvious. I don’t think this one manages it.

The illustrations, by C.B. Decker, are crisp and have a lot of energy, and I think both in terms of the drawings, and in terms of the story, the main appeal of this book would be to boys.