conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is a description for a book titled The Fourth Stall about Mac, Vince, Sixth-graders with the genre: Children's Books, Growing Up & Facts of Life? End with the sentence ' --Francisca Goldsmith'.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: 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 novels title. The business takes a beatingand then so does the boys friendshipwhen an older kid applies muscle to the threats he has made to grade-schoolers who owe gambling debts. the author 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 storys fun. An excellent boy book that would do well in a father-son book discussion. Grades 4-7. --Francisca Goldsmith