Fantastic and fun little story that really reminds you over middle school and then quickly reminds you of middle school in the late 1980s/1990s, when it seemed was perfectly normal for the young teenage kid to be making adult decisions and being responsible for the mental health of their teacher.

As with all the books I've been reading recently from my childhood -- 1980s and 1990s -- this is another one that just leaves you scratching your head and going, "And this was considered normal!"

Bingo was, more or less, a perfectly normal teenage boy, just starting to recognize girls and "falling in love with them" and then ... bam! Reality strikes and his teacher tries to commit suicide and he's told about it by his principal, during class, with the rest of the class. It's just amazing.

Adrianne ( )

00008756

Maybe not quite as rich as Lowry's Anastasia Krupnik, but in a similar vein. Byars is a wonderful author who has not gotten enough credit. Funny, heartwarming, and sympathetic.

(This review copied to other Bingo Brown I read this day.) ( )

"Bingo Brown fell in love three times during English Class." When I read this first sentence, I knew I was in for a treat. Of course, I was the same age as Bingo at the time, sixth grade, and over the course of the next several weeks, I fell in love with Bingo, myself. I devoured everything Byars wrote about him. I was somewhat apprehensive about picking these back up almost twenty years later, because I didn't want to be disappointed. Fortunately, this book held up pretty well. Although I think Bingo might be a bit advanced and erudite for a sixth grader, his preoccupations and motivations seemed very realistic. I also still found him humorous. This is not the typical juvenile humor that mostly focuses on bodily functions and precociousness. While Bingo could certainly be described as precocious, this is not an extended episode of Kids Say the Darndest Things. The issues Bingo deals with, such as **SPOILER** his teacher's possible suicide attempt **/SPOILER** and how to express yourself creatively in the face of bureaucracy are decidedly not trivial and some youngsters may need guidance in understanding and dealing with the subject matter.
Recommended for juveniles, those who read with their children after the age of 10, and me. ( )

By sixth-grade, Bingo Brown realizes that life is not all black and white and that he will be making more tough decisions as he grows. With characteristic flair and inventiveness, he decides to attempt to make sense of life's uncertainties by recording all of his Burning Questions in his school journal. ( )