roxie and the hooligans

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds (2006). roxie and the hooligans. New York:Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
In this Bluebonnet Book Roxie is a 4th grader that lives in England. She has big ears, no friends and is bullied by four hooligans. Her uncle is a world famous explorer along with another explorer who published a book about surviving in rough spots. While being chased in the playground by the hooligans, Roxie and the hooligans fall into a dumpster, the dumpster is poured onto a garbage barge and then dumped into the sea. The five children swim to an island where they discover it is inhabited by tow ruthless bank robbers. The children try to stay out of sight and work on being rescued. At first the hooligans continue to harass Roxie, but they come to respect her survival skills. Roxie's uncle arrives and saves the five children who are now friends.
One strong literary element in this book was the pacing. This was a very fast paced book. The story moved along and continued to entertain the reader. The plot was somewhat silly, but it had so many twists and turns that the reader was glad to be along for the ride.