Middle School Comic Crime Novel Wins 2012 Sid Fleischman Award

The winner of the 2012 Sid Fleischman Award for exemplary writing for children in the genre of humor has gone to Chris Rylander for his comic middle school crime novel The Fourth Stall. The announcement was made together with the winners of the annual Golden Kite Awards by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

In The Fourth Stall, middle school just got a lot more criminal.

Do you need something? Mac can get it for you. It's what he does. He and his best friend and business manager, Vince. Their methods might sometimes run afoul of the law, or at least the school code of conduct, but if you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can pay him, Mac is on your side. His office is located in the East Wing boy's bathroom, fourth stall from the high window. And business is booming.

Or at least it was, until one particular Monday. It starts with a third grader in need of protection. And before this ordeal is over, it's going to involve a legendary high school crime boss named Staples, an intramural gambling ring, a graffiti ninja, the nine most dangerous bullies in school, and the first Chicago Cubs World Series game in almost seventy years. And that's just the beginning. Mac and Vince soon realize that the trouble with solving everyone else's problems is that there's no one left to solve yours.

A sequel to the book, The Fouth Stall Part II, was published last month.

(Source: Press release.)