Elementary School

True or False?

Fifth grader Nora Rose Rowley is really a genius.

True.

But don't tell anyone.

Nora always gets average grades so she can forgo the pressure-cooker gifted program or Brainiac Academy.

But when Nora gets one hundred percent fed up over testing and the fuss everyone makes about grades, she brings home a terrible report card just to prove a point.

Only the person who gave us Tuesday could have devised this fantastic tale, which begins with a school trip to the Empire State Building. There a boy makes friends with a mischievous little cloud, who whisks him away to the Cloud Dispatch Center for Sector 7 (the region that includes New York City). The clouds are bored with their everyday shapes, so the boy obligingly starts to sketch some new ones...

The wordless yet eloquent account of this unparalleled adventure is a funny, touching story about art, friendship, and the weather, as well as a visual tour de force.

Lucas Cott is one of the smartest kids in Mrs. Hockaday's third grade—but he's always in trouble. He races pencils, cracks jokes, and calls out in class without raising his hand.

Lucas doesn't mean to be the class clown. He even decides to become the perfect student. But when he tries to change his ways, the most unexpected things happen....