
Reach for this book when your child is struggling with the urge to strike back after a classmate has been unkind. It is an excellent resource for children who experience big feelings of injustice and need help navigating the line between standing up for a friend and escalating a conflict. When Sidney ruins Song Lee's delicate origami project, Harry is determined to get even. Through the lens of third-grade friendships, the story explores themes of loyalty, the consequences of anger, and how to find a more constructive path toward accountability. It is perfectly pitched for elementary-aged readers who are beginning to navigate more complex social dynamics at school. Parents will appreciate how the story validates the child's anger while ultimately steering them toward a resolution that doesn't rely on being 'horrible' back.





















Your experience helps other parents find the right book.
Sign in to write a reviewUses words like 'horrible' and 'stupid' in a playground context.
The book deals with schoolyard bullying and social exclusion in a secular, direct way. The resolution is realistic: the characters learn to coexist and set boundaries without necessarily becoming best friends.
An active 7 or 8-year-old who has a strong sense of 'right and wrong' but sometimes struggles to control their temper when they feel a peer has been treated unfairly.
This can be read cold. Parents may want to pause when Harry's revenge plans seem to go too far to ask the child what they think might happen next. A parent might see their child brooding over a playground incident or expressing a desire to do something mean back to a 'bully' at school.
Younger readers (6-7) will focus on the humor and the 'cool' bugs, while older readers (8-9) will better grasp the social nuances of why Harry's revenge might be problematic despite Sidney's initial bad behavior.
Unlike many books that preach immediate forgiveness, Suzy Kline allows the protagonist to feel genuine, hot anger, making the eventual lesson about self-control feel earned rather than forced.
In the third-grade classroom of Ms. Mackle, Sidney purposely destroys a paper praying mantis that Song Lee worked hard to create. Harry, Song Lee's loyal friend, is outraged and vows to get 'triple revenge' on Sidney. The plot follows Harry's escalating schemes to pay Sidney back, culminating in a birthday party setting where the tension between justice and retaliation comes to a head.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.