“They are too fast!”

From Jason Platt’s Middle School Misadventures: Operation: Hat Heist.

When Newell learns that the star of his favorite television show–The Captain–is going to be at the upcoming Monster Con and that his dad got him tickets, he is thrilled.  Newell cannot wait to attend the convention while wearing the Captain hat that his dad gave him, so Newell decides that he’s not going to let the hat out of his sight.  Despite his school’s no hat-wearing rule and Principal Todd’s strict enforcement of that rule, Newell takes the hat to school with him but after showing his friends at lunch, he keeps the hat in his backpack.  The day goes well until someone steals Newell’s hat out of his bag and wears it past Mr. Todd, which ends with Newell’s hat been confiscated.  Newell is crushed and desperate to get his hat back before the convention, but when Mr. Todd doesn’t believe his recounting of the truth, so Newell is hopeless about getting the hat back.  However, when an eighth grader named Ethan–whose mom lost a favorite hat years ago–offers to help Newell and his friends get his the back, they begin to plan the greatest hat heist in middle school history.

The second installment in Platt’s Middle School Misadventures series is hilarious and fast-paced.  Platt’s illustrations are fun and engaging for readers of many ages through both the action-packed heist portion of the book and the overarching mystery that drives the second half of the book.  The struggles and successes of the main character are relatable, humorous, and hectic, which makes Operation: Hat Heist impossible to put down.