The Fourth Stall

The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander

Summary: If you’ve got a problem, Mac is your guy.  Need the answers to a test?  Tickets to an R rated movie?  A loan to rent the newest video game?  For a small fee and a favor, Mac can get it for you.  But taking down an infamous bully whose more legend than reality?  That’s going to be Mac’s toughest challenge – if he survives.

My Impressions: I thought this was a cute Godfather meets middle school story.  In fact, the main character, Mac, likes to quote the Godfather movie, including Marlon Brando’s famous “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse”.  The story builds quickly, and it’s written in a very simple manner that reminds me of some high/low books (high interest/low reading level).  It’s also written in much the same way that many middle school students speak.  The character will be describing the current situation when all of a sudden there’s a break in the action, and the character, usually Mac, says something along the lines of “Now might be a good time to explain about …” and the story veers into a flashback.  While the ending may be predictable to those of us familiar with the “mobster” genre, the book will interest students.  The Fourth Stall (taken from the location where Mac has his office and runs his business), is definitely aimed at younger boys (3^rd grade and up), but several of my 7^th grade boys read the book for a project and they really enjoyed it. 

Review: Sixth-graders Mac and Vince have been running an advice and assistance service for fellow grade-school students since they were in kindergarten. Mac is a problem solver, Vince is a whiz at keeping track of the money and favors they earn, and both boys are avid Chicago Cubs fans. Their “office” is located in an underused school bathroom, hence this first novel’s title. The business takes a beating - and then so does the boys’ friendship - when an older kid applies muscle to the threats he has made to grade-schoolers who owe gambling debts. Rylander has created a cast of memorable and varied characters, replete with emotional as well as social lives. Mac narrates the convoluted tale with the arch flatness of a 1940s satire of the noir detective genre, so swallowing even the more preposterous coincidences is easy for the sake of the story’s fun. An excellent boy book that would do well in a father-son book discussion. Grades 4-7. --Francisca Goldsmith, Booklist (2/15/11)

Library Use: While The Godfather isn’t age appropriate, it would be fun to hold a “detective” challenge.  Mac solves other peoples’ problems, and it would be neat to let the student’s get to solve challenges as well.  All the students who participate in reading The Fourth Stall would get a mystery to solve involving something at school; it could be as simple as “Who stole all the pencils from the office?”  Teachers and staff could be “in” on the game, and the library would operate as the headquarters.  The more detective books you’ve read in a set period of time, the more clues the students earn to help them solve the mystery.

Rylander, C. (2011) The fourth stall. New York, NY: HarperCollins

[Book review of The Fourth Stall by C. Rylander] (2011). Amazon.com