Crown Me! [Hardcover]

Kathryn Lay (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

How would you like to be royalty? As part of a special history class project, Andrea Garey and Justin Davies will have two wonderful weeks to be king and queen of the fifth grade at Payton Intermediate School. During this time their classmates must obey them and, if they don't, it's into the dungeon for them. Plus, with school elections coming up, Justin figures that as king he'll be a shoe-in for class president. Could life be better? Andrea and Justin are about to find out. Fifth grade has never been qute as outrageous a it becomes in this hilarious send-up of political ambitions.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–Justin Davies is determined to be the next president of the fifth-grade student council. Inspired by a study of the French Revolution, his history teacher appoints a king and queen of Payton Middle School, based on essays the students were asked to write. Justin and equally competitive Andrea are the winners. Told to select a knight, he picks nerdy Willie rather than choosing between his two best friends. Carlos and Lester are both furious and humiliate him at every opportunity, while the remaining classmates resent King Justin and Queen Andrea's abuses of power. The more the monarchs try to set themselves up to win votes for the upcoming election, the more they learn that being a ruler can alienate friends and make enemies. With Willie's sound political strategies, Justin realizes that making wild promises is harming his cause and, instead, comes up with a realistic plan that will benefit the school. By working with his classmates rather than against them, he learns a lesson in teamwork and leadership. Crown Me is funny, with on-the-mark dialogue and characterizations. It's also a telling look at what happens when power is misused.–Alison Grant, West Bloomfield Township Public Library, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. As part of a role-playing project, ambitious Justin and prissy Andrea have been appointed king and queen of their history class. Justin plans to use his absolute power to launch his campaign for the fifth-grade presidency, step one in becoming "the best politician there ever had been." But it proves more difficult than he imagined to install foosball in the library and establish quiz-free Mondays . . and the peasants are growing restless, especially as the classroom's makeshift dungeon gains more and more occupants. After Justin's brief stint as royalty, how will he convince his voters that he deserves to run the student council? The broadly drawn characters, slapstick situations, and humor that relies on a jaded adult's perspective on politics make this a less than authentic reflection of the middle-grade experience. Nonetheless, kids will enjoy the high comedy that Lay packs into her first novel, which is well timed to follow this year's election hullabaloo. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; 1st edition (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823418456
• ISBN-13: 978-0823418459
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,432,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathryn Lay is the author of CROWN ME!, a humor novel for agest 8-12. It won the 2005 Texas State Reading Association's Golden Spur Award and the 2005 Trophy Award for best children's book of 2004 at the Oklahoma Writer's Federation conference. The book was republished in paperback with Scholastic as HOW TO RULE THE SCHOOL. My picture book, JOSH'S HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN is a sweet Fall story of a brother and sister on their grandfather's farm and how a giant pumpkin helps Josh rescue his sister. Katy Bratun did an incredible job with the illustrations, full of Fall and bright colors.

Kathryn has been writing for many years and has had over 1600 articles, essays and stories in magazines and anthologies for children and adults. Her short story, "The Healing Truth" was included in Bruce Coville's anthology, A GLORY OF UNICORNS.

In September of 2010 her 6 book chapter book series from ABDO publishing will be out. WENDY'S WEATHER WARRIORS focuses on kids who love to learn about weather. In each book a different weather topic is approached through an exciting story including: Tornadoes, hail, lightning, snow, flash floods and hurricanes. Each book will also include experiments and facts on these topics.

Come on over to www.kathrynlay.com to learn more about Kathryn and her writing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crown Me!- King of the books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, April 6, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Crown Me! (Hardcover)

I LOVED the book! I picked up the book because it looked good and it WAS good. It was funny and serious at the same time. It was funny because of what happened with the characters. The fifth grade class really got into the idea that Justin and Andrea were King and Queen. It was serious because Justin really finds out what it is like to be a leader.
Buy it! It's the best book I ever read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever and fun!, January 20, 2005

By 

Shauna (Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crown Me! (Hardcover)

Justin is a confident, smart, and ambitious 5th grader with great political aspirations. When he and his academic rival are selected to be the king and queen for a class history project, the royal couple's delusions of grandeur threaten both of their campaigns for class president.

Kathryn Lay's delightful middle-grade novel is quite funny, with a charming mix of characters who aren't always what they seem. Cleverly titled chapters add to the fun.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Laugh a page--Sometimes more!, September 17, 2004

By 

Diane D. Roberts "Diane Roberts" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crown Me! (Hardcover)

Laughter will make you want to read this wonderful middle-grade reader again and again. Who among us would not have enjoyed being King or Queen of our fifth grade class, where we would have been "in charge" of our fifth grade subjects? Andrea Carey and Justin Davies think it would be the coolest thing to rule their subjects and they set their caps to become 'royal,' while they take part in a special history class project. The outrageous and hilarious antics of these two adorable characters makes this book a must read for anyone who enjoys a story, with strong characters and an engaging plot, one that will make you realize that running for an office, even if its in the fifth grade, is not for sissies. Crown Me is great fun!