The Power of Positive Pranking by Nat Amoore

Title: The Power of Positive Pranking

Author: Nat Amoore

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Puffin

Published: 2^nd June 2020

Format: Paperback

Pages: 368

Price: $14.99

Synopsis: Green Peas is our name and pranking’s our game!

A symphony of alarm clocks at assembly? Yep, that was us. A stampede of fluffy guinea pigs? That’s next on our agenda.

But for me, Cookie and Zeke, it’s about more than just fun. We’re determined to make a difference. And when the adults won’t listen, us kids will find a way to be heard – as long as we can stay out of detention!
No activist is too small, no prank too big… and things are about to get personal.

~*~

Casey, Cookie and Zeke are Watterson Primary School’s best prankers. And so far, they haven’t been caught. Yet they only use their pranks for good – to help people and alert everyone to important issues that the adults in their lives don’t seem to be worried about. It’s all about making sure everyone knows what’s really going on in the world and sometimes, a good prank is what works.

When Casey and her friends find out what Mayor Lupholl has planned for their town at a school assembly, they are catapulted into action to save the park, a beloved tree and the Lego house built in Nat’s previous book, Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire. Yep, Nat has cleverly tied the events and characters, and location of her first book into this one, and both are filled with the same humour and wonderful diversity. Whether it is disability, race, interests, ethics or family make up – Nat has managed to show a diverse world, and one that everyone can relate to in some way. In each book she has had a character or two with an invisible disability – and this is exciting for people who never see themselves represented. In acknowledging invisible disabilities and that disabled people are not to be pitied, Nat has opened the door for more of this representation to follow.

Similarly, with her relationships and the characters races – they just are who they are and this is beautiful to see in a novel for kids so they can see just how diverse the world is.

And we finally learn what positive pranking is and how it works – it mustn’t hurt anyone, but it must send a message – and when Casey needs to pull off the biggest positive prank ever, she has to find a way to get the entire school and her family onside so they can make sure that they don’t lose their beloved town to corrupt forces.

Nat takes issues that might seem complex – politics, the environment, activism – and makes them easy to understand, accessible and of course, fun and humorous. These are issues that affect everyone, as does good representation and it is something that we should all be caring about – which is the message of Nat’s book – to take action where you can and diversity is a good thing! I loved Tess and Toby coming back in – it really tied the two books together nicely, and this is a great way to do so. It’s not really a series based around a concept, plot or characters, as each book can be read on its own, or together. But it could work as a potential series set in the same town and primary school, where you can read any or all of the books – it just makes it more fun to read them together to appreciate all the little nods and hints.

I loved this book, and its predecessor. It took a serious topic, made it fun as well as serious at the same time, and was a nice, engaging read – which also made it a quick read for me. Sometimes there are engaging books like this that can be gobbled up and enjoyed, and then revisited. This is one of those books, and it is one that I think lots of kids will enjoy, and hopefully, relate to and learn something from.

You can read my accompanying interview with Nat here – we agreed to publish the interview and review side by side for publication day.