Amie Rose Rotruck (Children's Literature)
Every year the Basic Education Evaluation tests (BEE) stress students and teachers out at Geyser Creek Middle School. This year is even worse because if the seventh graders fail their bees, they have to repeat ALL of middle school, going back to grade five. This year the seventh grade is taught long-distance by a substitute teacher who sends them, along with their lesson plans, a honey bee that can spell. While the seventh graders worry about the BEEs and also an upcoming spelling bee against their rival school, the grown-ups in the school have their own problems. All of these adventures are detailed entirely in letters to and from the various characters, as well as pages from The Geyser Creek Gazette, the school newspaper. While the plot at times dwells too much on the adult characters rather than the children (the children seem to blend together, while the letters from the adults tend to be funnier and show more character), the story is particularly funny, especially the parody of standardized testing and the lengths teachers and students will go to prepare for it. Filled with puns and the amusing illustrations by M. Sarah Klise, this book is sure to amuse children and adults alike. 2007, Harcourt, $15.00. Ages 8 to 12.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2007 (Vol. 75, No. 13))
Showing no signs of fatigue, the Regarding series hums into its fifth episode amid the usual bustle of angst-ridden subplots, crossed purposes, shady goings-on and painless pedagogy. The busy seventh graders of Geyser Creek Middle School face two sticky challenges before first semester break: the statewide, Show-Me Spelling Bee and the Basic Education Evaluation test (BEE), failure in which entails demotion to fifth grade. Fortunately, their teacher is none other than queen bee Florence Waters. Unfortunately, she's teaching in absentia, mailing in assignments, advice and the occasional buzzing box as she flits around the world. This premise suits the epistolary format (supplemented by pen-and-ink vignettes, a sign-language alphabet and teacher's desk tableaus) bee-utifully, while making for plenty of misunderstandings and comical complications. Meanwhile, waxy buildup has come between substitute Principal Sam N. and his expecting wife Goldie Fish-N., the traditional seventh-grade New Year's Eve Dance may be cancelled and is there some c-h-e-a-t-i-n-g going on with the reigning spelling champs of rival teacher Polly Nader? Yes, as it turns out, but the Klises ultimately dish out just deserts all round, along with sweet dollops of bee lore and life coaching. 2007, Harcourt, 144p, $15.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 8 to 10. © 2007 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.