The Misadventures of Max Crumbly 1: Locker Hero



Last updated Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Author: Rachel Renée Russell
Date of Publication: 2016
ISBN: 1481460013
Grade Level: 5th    (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Jan. 2024

Synopsis: Max Crumbly is about to face the scariest place he’s ever been: South Ridge Middle School.

There's a lot that's great about his new school, but there's also one big problem - Doug, the school bully whose hobby is stuffing Max in his locker. If only Max could be like the hero in his favorite comics. Unfortunately, Max's uncanny, almost superhuman ability to smell pizza from a block away won't exactly save any lives or foil bad guys.

But that doesn't mean Max won't do his best to be the hero his school needs!

Note to readers:
•  Even though we usually do "picture walks" with the earlier grade books, you may want to do a picture walk or take picture walk "breaks" while you read this graphic novel to the kids.
•  Misadventures of Max Crumbly is a "graphic novel." Since people learn in different ways, visual learners are able to connect with graphic novels in a way that they cannot with text-only books. Graphic novels require readers to be active participants in the rading process, using their imaginations to fill in the blanks between panels.
•  Visual literacy is defined as the ability to view and then interpret, or make meaning, from what you are viewing. To be visually literate, a person must be able to process both words and pictures, or “read” images by decoding and comprehending meaning from pictures and words together. Critical literacy is the role of the reader when it comes to the transaction between the reader and the text. To be critically literate, a reader must be an active consumer of the story. This is more than just sitting down and reading a book full of words. Critical literacy is about having an actual interaction with the text and therefore being actively engaged in the reading process. Young readers who are active consumers of the story are more likely to be actively engaged.

Discussion topics for before reading:
•  Who is your favorite superhero? Why?
•  If you could be a superhero, what would your superpower(s) be?
•  Have you ever kept a diary or journal? Would you like to? What kinds of things do you/would you put in it?
•  What do you know about school lockers?
•  Do you wish you had lockers at school?
•  Do you think it's funny when kids get stuffed into lockers in tv shows, etc.?

Vocabulary:

•  misadventures - unfortunate incidents; mishaps.
•  journal - a daily record of news and events of a personal nature; a diary
•  liquids - substances that flows freely but is of constant volume, having a consistency like that of water or oil
•  prank - a practical joke
•  numb - deprived of the power of sensation, when your feet (for example) go to sleep
•  ingenious - clever, original, and inventive
•  stench - a strong and very unpleasant smell
•  skepticism - doubt as to the truth of something
•  ox - any domesticated bovine animal kept for milk or meat; a cow or bull. Known for their strength and large size.

Discussion topics for during/after reading:
•  What do you know about school lockers?
•  Do you wish you had lockers at school?
•  Do you think it's funny when kids get stuffed into lockers in tv shows, etc.?
•  Have you ever felt different/out of place? What did you do about it? Did someone help you feel welcome?
•  Dealing with bullies (about page 47): What do you think about the solution Max came up with (peeing on his tormentor)? What would you do instead? Does it make a difference whether you are the one being bullied, or whether you see someone else being bullied? Do you handle those two situations differently?

Craft ideas:
•  Make a journal by cutting paper in half, then folding the remaining half sheets in have, booklet style. Decorate the cover with a picture you draw of yourself as a superhero.
•  Make a superhero mask for yourself. Are you like Darth Vader?

Special activities:
•  Play a rhyming game. "Doug" rhymes with "Thug." What else does it rhyme with? Does your name rhyme with anything?
•  Do the word search.

*Note: These craft ideas are just suggestions. You can use them, but you don't have to use them. You can expand upon them, or add your own twist. Remember, though, that the focus of your time should not be on the development and execution of a craft; the focus should be on the read-aloud and the enjoyment of the book!