EllRay Jakes is tired of being bullied by fellow classmate Jared Matthews. But when EllRay tries to defend himself, he winds up in trouble. Then his dad offers him a deal: If he stays out of trouble for one week, they'll go to Disneyland! EllRay says he can do it. But saying it and doing it are two very different things.

Ellray is tasked with making it through the week of school without getting into a fight with the school bully who is not making things easy for him, he does however, have a giant carrot as the end of a string. If he can do it a trip to disneyland is in his future, can he do it?

This is a fantastic contemporary realistic fiction. This early chapter book follows a week in the life of EllRay Jakes, a smaller than average 8-year-old. EllRay is being bullied at school by some bigger boys. This bullying causes EllRay to act out and not pay as much attention in class. In order to better control his behavior, EllRay's dad promises him a trip to Disneyland if he can make it through an entire week without a single call home from his teacher. We see that EllRay does earn his trip to Disney. His parents surprised him by asking his bully (Jared) to come with them to Disney. In the end, the two boys become "temporary" friends. This story is fairly familiar to most children. I mean, a lot of children experience bullying. This is a great book to use in a unit about bullying and accepting one another. I would use this book in a critical literacy unit.
Media: Digital

This book is about EllRay Jakes, who is unsure about how to deal with a bully at his school. Although he tries to outsmart the bully, EllRay always seems to find himself in trouble. However, when his dad offers a fun vacation, but makes the condition that EllRay must have good behavior, EllRay is forced to think outside of the box and find more solutions to overcome his bully.

This is another great example of how students can think outside of the box to overcome being bullied. Although EllRay is aware of how to stop the bully from bothering him, he must find the best solution that doesn’t affect him either. Although he is having to use different methods, the author made EllRay’s character be bold and stand up for himself.

Realistic Fiction chapter book
Reading Level: 5.5

The protagonist of the EllRay Jakes series is African-American, but his race is not the focus of the book. Instead, this transitional chapter book series takes issues any kid may experience and approaches them with sensitivity and humor. In this first book, EllRay is being bullied in school and as a result his behavior in class is slipping. He must go a full week without getting in trouble, and in return his father will take the family to Disneyland. The results are quite clever, including his mother's reaction to his father's bribery. The resolution isn't perfect, but is unique and a surprise to both protagonist and bully.