Applewhites

The side-splittingly funny Newbery Honor Book about a rebellious boy who is sent to a home-schooling program run by one family-the creative, kooky, loud, and loving Applewhites! Jake Semple is notorious. Rumor has it he managed to get kicked out of every school in Rhode Island, and actually burned the last one down to the ground. Only one place will take him now, and that's a home school run by the Applewhites, a chaotic and hilarious family of artists: poet Lucille, theater director Randolph, dancer Cordelia, and dreamy Destiny. The only one who doesn't fit the Applewhite mold is E.D.-a smart, sensible girl who immediately clashes with the defiant Jake. Jake thinks surviving this new school will be a breeze . . . but is he really as tough or as bad as he seems?

Jack Semple and E. D. Applewhite are back, in this middle-grade sequel to Stephanie S. Tolan's Newbery Honor Book Surviving the Applewhites. Teenager E. D., the not so artistic, not at all eccentric member of the unconventional Applewhite clan, can't believe the plan her father has hatched to save the family from financial disaster. He's decided to transform their rural North Carolina farm into a summer camp for creative children. Soon the farm is packed with temperamental artists, out-of-control campers, and an even more out-of-control goat. It's all a little too much for structure-loving E. D., even before threatening notes begin appearing in the family mailbox. Together with Jake Semple--the boy who survived his first year in the Applewhites' home school-she's determined to save the camp and the family from disaster. Like Carl Hiassan's Chomp, Applewhites at Wit's End combines outrageous humor and the frustrations and joys of being part of a family.

This third story about the madcap family introduced in Stephanie Tolan's Newbery Honor Book Surviving the Applewhites features even more outlandish adventures and will appeal to fans of the Applewhites and those meeting them for the first time. E.D. and Jake are doing their best to forget their bewildering kiss-after all, they're practically family-and get back to "normal" life with the decidedly abnormal, highly creative Applewhites. When the family's biggest fan, Jeremy Bernstein, pulls up to Wit's End in an "Art Bus," he brings with him a proposal for an Education Expedition: a cross-country road trip, educational quest, and video-documented competition for a big cash prize. Jeremy also drags along his troubled but beautiful niece, Melody. She'll be joining the expedition with her own rebellious flair, much to Jake's delight ... and E.D.'s exasperation. With characteristic Applewhite enthusiasm, the artists face disastrous performances, fainting goats, and some very bad ideas-but can they make it through the road trip in one piece?