The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Junior Edition
By David Borgenicht and Robin Epstein; illus. by Chuck Gonzales
Chronicle Books; $9.95
128 pp.; ISBN-13: 978-0811860659

Review by Amy Brozio-Andrews

From the folks who developed the popular Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series for adults comes a junior edition aimed at helping tween readers navigate the minefields of early adolescence with their dignity and their self-esteem intact. Oh, and have some fun while they're at it.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Junior Edition is organized into four broad chapters devoted to all the things that can go wrong in a kid's home, school, and social life, plus the great (or not-so-great) outdoors. From cleaning your room to renegotiating a grounding, concealing a zipper that's given up the ghost in the middle of English class or a host of other potentially hazardous situations, the book offers readers short chapters with bulleted and numbered lists (top tens and top fives are popular) that make for effortless reading, either cover to cover or picking and choosing chapters as needed, and quick memorization (because to run into the same bully you're trying to steer clear of while reading "How to Get Beyond a Bully" probably won't help much).

Co-authors David Borgenicht (who also co-authored the other Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series titles) and Robin Epstein always keep their audience in mind, acknowledging the challenges of being stuck between being a kid and being an adult. They never talk down to their readers; kids' problems are as serious as adults' problems. The writers' tone is generally conversational, irreverent, and kid-to-kid in the approach but all kidding aside when it comes to serious subjects like bee stings, getting lost on a hike or getting sent to the principal's office.

Illustrator Chuck Gonzales' artwork depicts the do's and don'ts throughout the book with an eye for humor. A well-organized and detailed table of contents makes it easy to find what you're looking for (there's no index). The book includes and appendix with a list of snappy comebacks and missing homework excuses plus two "contracts," one for dealing with nosy brothers and sisters and one for "hang time" with the sibs that includes a clause denying that any precedent has been set as far as future arrangements for spending time together. Boxed and shaded "Be Aware" warnings clue readers in to special circumstances or caveats for using the proffered advice (for example, while it's important to choose your seat on the bus carefully, it's most important on the first day of school, especially if your bus driver is the kind that assigns seats based on the first day's trip).

The book's blend of the really useful and really funny keeps it from getting mired in too much seriousness. While most kids might not be able to make full use of the homework excuses in the appendix unless you're the kind of kid with enough charisma to pull it off (and I can say that because I'm totally not), they're pretty funny. The book scores big with giving kids the confidence to face up to challenges, think creatively for solutions and problem-solving, and maintain a good sense of humor while they're at it.