Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix-Up

by Melissa Thomson

Overview

Keena Ford is so excited to go on a field trip to the United States Capitol with her second-grade class! At school, she is running for a spot on the student council, and on the field trip she's going to meet a real live U.S. representative. The only trouble is, mean Tiffany Harris keeps teasing Keena and taking the best place in line. Keena doesn't mean to get into trouble, but trouble seems to find her anyway!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142415726
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	08/12/2010
Series:	Keena Ford , #2
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	208,780
Product dimensions:	4.80(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Melissa Thomson is an elementary school teacher in New York City where she lives with her husband, Pete, and their three plants. Melissa began her teaching career at Emery Elementary School in Washington, DC. Her students at Emery inspired her to write about Keena Ford.

Editorial Reviews

Keena Ford is a likable new addition to the grade-school class of characters that includes Ramona Quimby and Junie B. Jones…Readers will be happy to accompany Keena on more outings.
—The New York Times

Julie Just

Gr 1-2–Spirited Keena Ford, who lives in Washington, DC, goes on a field trip with her second-grade class to the Capitol. During the outing, Tiffany pulls Keena’s scarf off, revealing an accident the child had in a snipping-the-air-with-scissors session. Representative Thomas shows Keena that he has a toupee so she’ll know she’s not the only one with hair trouble. As the class is walking down the steps, Keena is determined to get to the back of the line, the most fun position, and stomps on a foot in her way. It belongs to Representative Thomas. Keena writes an apology to him and learns a few lessons, including an effective approach in dealing with Tiffany. Keena tells her story in journal format, and includes information about the Capitol, senators, and representatives in an entertaining manner. Distinctive illustrations depict a quirky African-American girl and her episodes. A solid series for early chapter-book readers.–Debbie S. Hoskins, Grand Rapids Public Library, MI

School Library Journal

Keena Ford's second-grade class is taking a field trip to the United States Capitol. This good-hearted girl works hard to behave, but her impulsive decisions have a way of backfiring, no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing. In this second book in a series, Keena cuts off one of her braids and later causes a congressman to fall down the stairs. The first-person journal format is a stretch-most second graders can barely write, let alone tell every detail of three days of her life. Children will wonder how Keena can cut one of her "two thick braids" all the way off by pretend-snipping in the air. They will be further confused because the cover art clearly shows Keena with a completely different hairdo on the field trip than the one described. Though a strong African-American heroine is most welcome in chapter books and Keena and her family are likable and realistic, this series needs more polish before Keena writes about her next month in school. (Fiction. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews