Don't Tap-Dance on Your Teacher
(Roscoe Riley Rules #5)

Gr 13In this installment, Roscoe decides that he'd really like to take tap because he loves the sounds that his friend Emma's shoes make when she dances. Some of the boys warn him that tap dancing is for girls, but Roscoe's teacher shows the class a video of a famous male tap dancer, and so he is undeterred. He enjoys his first lesson, but notices that he is indeed the only boy in the class and begins to feel uncertain. Then Emma asks him to join her in the talent show. To get out of it, he fakes a leg injury. In the end, though, he learns another rule of life. The sentence structure in this early chapter book is simple, and the vocabulary has few challenging words. The print is large and set off with lots of white space. Black-and-white drawings, some full page, provide graphic support. Although the story is predictable, inexperienced chapter book readers will find it suspenseful and funny. This book could be paired with Tomie dePaola's "Here We All Are" (Putnam, 2000), in which the author takes tap dancing lessons and becomes quite the performer. Purchase where beginning chapter books are needed."Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR" Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.