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A.J. is so excited to have a school break and get to go with his friends to see Santa at the mall. Their day at the mall takes some interesting turns when they run into classmates, teachers, and even a famous rapper!

This book series is wildly popular but I had not previously read any of them. Personally, I found titles like Miss Daisy is Crazy! and Mr. Klutz is Nutz! a little insulting as "Crazy" and "nuts" are essentially slurs for people with mental illness. This book had a rapper named "Cray-Z" so it continues in that vein.

On the whole I could see why this book would popular with young readers -- the chapters are short, the characters are quirky, everything is made to see like a big adventure (even when it isn't anything all that exciting), and there's some humor, although a lot of it is based on things like A.J. misunderstanding common phrases and metaphors like "the grass is always greener on the other side."

While I could see why kids would enjoy this book, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I found everything being "the most ______ in the world" (the blank being amazing, exciting, etc.) a little bit tedious, and the characters were completely one-note. One nice touch was that all the mall Santa helpers are actually teachers trying to make a little extra money at the holidays, which I think is important for kids to learn.

For this edition, the audiobook narrator was okay, but definitely sounded too adult to be narrating as a elementary school-age child. ( )

for classroom

Book #2 of #3 in my WEIRD SCHOOL SPECIALS FLASHBACKS!
I have one more to go! Then My Weird School reviews will be here!

This book was slow at first, then built up to being the book it was mean to be by the wonderful author- Dan Gutman. I enjoyed reading all of his books as a child, and I am glad that I could come back, read them , and then read all of the new books since I have stopped reading them! This was a really good special edition of the stories, and I really enjoyed it! ( )

It's Christmas! And even better Santa is at the mall! A.J. and the gang are off to see him; what can possibly go wrong? All until A.J. accidentally rips off Santa"s beard and creates an angry mob of parents! Will he escape? Find out in "Deck the Halls' we're off the walls!"
Super funny! Every second of this book is laugh out loud hilarious! It grabs my attention and I am always sitting on the edge of my seat. ( )