The Worst Class Trip Ever

The Worst Class Trip Ever
by Dave Barry
Disney Hyperion, 2015. Fiction. 214 p.

Wyatt's 8th grade class is going on a major field trip from Miami to Washington DC to see historical sites. While he is on the airplane with this class, Wyatt notices that the two men with foreign accents sitting behind him are acting suspiciously and are looking at aerial photographs of the White House. Thinking that the men are terrorists, Wyatt and his friend, Matt, confront the two men, but the only succeed in attracting the attention of the air marshal. During the scuffle that follows Matt takes something from one of the foreigners' bags. Thus begins an amazingly wild ride that involves being chased by the two men all over Washington, kidnapping, super top secret military equipment, the cutest girl in the 8th grade, and an obscure ancient hunting implement.

Dave Barry is a master of humor. He has a clever way of starting out with events that are probable, moving slowly to the improbable, to the nearly impossible, and ending up at the utterly ridiculous, but he does it so smoothly that the reader is carried along in a state of delightfully suspended disbelief.  The final sequence which brings everything to a climax is brilliant. This is a great choice for reluctant readers or anyone who is looking for laugh-out-loud humor. It is available in print, or as a recorded book.