History DethroningMoment / Literature

*** Tropers/{{bfunc}}: It deserves to be pointed out that this was Tolkien's own reproof of Creator/WilliamShakespeare for his own[= DMoS=]. In [[Theatre/{{Macbeth}} The Scottish Play]] there's a prophesy that Macbeth will not be defeated until Great Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill, and also that he may not be slain by a man of woman born. His disappointment in how the former was handled prompted the Ents' siege of Orthanc, and having the defeat be at the hands of a woman is much more satisfying than Macduff's "ripped untimely from my mother's womb" (i.e. "a Caesarean birth is not a ''real'' birth").

* Tropers/InsanityPrelude: Gregory Maguire's thing for gratuitous sexual/scatological/just plain squicky details. The "menstrual fountain" scene in ''Literature/MirrorMirror'' wasn't what put me off of his books for good (although it pretty much put me off of finishing reading that book)- it was when I tried to read ''A Lion Among Men'' and wham, gratuitous shit and equally-gratuitous masturbation (thankfully, this wasn't in the same scene.) That's when I realized it was really a pattern with his books.

* Tropers/{{Bguy}}: In the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' Chronicles novel, "Dragons of Spring Dawning", when Laurana falls for her ArchEnemy Kitiara's ObviousTrap. Much of the Chronicles is about Laurana's personal growth as she evolves from a naive and self-absorbed child to a dedicated and intelligent heroine capable of successfully leading armies. This incident completely destroys all that CharacterDevelopment and turns the [[RedBaron Golden General]] into a [[LoveMakesYouDumb love-sick ninny]]. She is so irresponsible as to abandon her army at the height of a war and so stupid as to blindly trust enemy general and romantic rival Kitiara, even though Kitiara has obvious motives to want to harm Laurana, provides no proof for the claims she is making, and insists on Laurana coming in person to a meeting site without bringing any guards or telling anyone. And as if turning Laurana into a [[DumbBlonde complete idiot]] who can not see a trap that is obvious even to {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Tasslehoff Burrfoot is not bad enough, the reason Laurana does all of this, leaving her troops in the lurch and putting her own life in great jeopardy, is for a man who has already rejected her and who she believes is willingly serving the [[TheEmpire Dragonarmies]]. The end result is [[spoiler: Laurana is kidnapped, [[AttemptedRape nearly raped]], and spends the rest of the novel as a DistressedDamsel.]]

** Tropers/savagegenius: Let’s flip the script and punish both Mr. Krupp and Melvin despite being reasonable, shall we? The moment in question, of course, is within the second book, where Mr. Krupp bans the two from attending the invention convention and forced them to stay in study hall all day (justified, since they stuck everyone else in the school to their seats the year prior using their own homemade glue). What do they do next? Sneak into the school the night before the convention and sabotage everyone’s inventions-that is, everyone except Melvin’s, whose invention they promise to not tamper with in exchange for his silence. Melvin, who is legitimately concerned for the other students along with his own invention, promises out of desperation and lets the two do their dirty work. During the convention, the boys’ pranks result in the entire audience-and possibly the auditorium itself (technically vandalism)-getting extremely messy, the students’ hard work being all for naught, and the entire event ending prematurely. Keep in mind that nobody has done anything to the duo out of pure spite that warranted any of their actions. This causes Melvin to break his promise out of annoyance, and Mr. Krupp to use this as proof to give the duo detention for the rest of the year. Now the actual dethroning moment is how we’re supposed to hate both Mr. Krupp and Melvin and see them as Jerkasses despite being completely in the right. Say what you will about Mr. Krupp being a little too happy about the punishment, but he had a point due to them pissing him off that much. It just makes it all the less satisfying when George and Harold get away with everything as usual.

** Let’s flip the script and punish both Mr. Krupp and Melvin despite being reasonable, shall we? The moment in question, of course, is within the second book, where Mr. Krupp bans the two from attending the invention convention and forced them to stay in study hall all day (justified, since they stuck everyone else in the school to their seats the year prior using their own homemade glue). What do they do next? Sneak into the school the night before the convention and sabotage everyone’s inventions-that is, everyone except Melvin’s, whose invention they promise to not tamper with in exchange for his silence. Melvin, who is legitimately concerned for the other students along with his own invention, promises out of desperation and lets the two do their dirty work. During the convention, the boys’ pranks result in the entire audience-and possibly the auditorium itself (technically vandalism)-getting extremely messy, the students’ hard work being all for naught, and the entire event ending prematurely. Keep in mind that nobody has done anything to the duo out of pure spite that warranted any of their actions. This causes Melvin to break his promise out of annoyance, and Mr. Krupp to use this as proof to give the duo detention for the rest of the year. Now the actual dethroning moment is how we’re supposed to hate both Mr. Krupp and Melvin and see them as Jerkasses despite being completely in the right. Say what you will about Mr. Krupp being a little too happy about the punishment, but he had a point due to them pissing him off that much. It just makes it all the less satisfying when George and Harold get away with everything as usual.

* Tropers/{{falcon2484}}: As a kid, I was addicted to movie tie-in novelizations (the best of which may have been Alan Dean Foster’s adaptation of ''Film/TheLastStarfighter''). One that I never got my hands on until recently was William Kotzwinkle’s novelization of ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''. And once I got my hands on it, I threw it away less than 100 pages in. Never mind all the superfluous, tedious garbage about the alien’s every single thought on being accidentally left behind by his shipmates; my breaking point was the passage where Kotzwinkle describes Mary’s feelings about her sons, Elliott and Michael. He comes very close to saying outright that Mary hates them and wishes they were either dead or had never been born. Saying I rolled my eyes at this would be a huge understatement; I was disgusted. To crib a line from Dorothy Parker: “This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”

* Tropers/falcon2484: As a kid, I was addicted to movie tie-in novelizations (the best of which may have been Alan Dean Foster’s adaptation of ''Film/TheLastStarfighter''). One that I never got my hands on until recently was William Kotzwinkle’s novelization of ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''. And once I got my hands on it, I threw it away less than 100 pages in. Never mind all the superfluous, tedious garbage about the alien’s every single thought on being accidentally left behind by his shipmates; my breaking point was the passage where Kotzwinkle describes Mary’s feelings about her sons, Elliott and Michael. He comes very close to saying outright that Mary hates them and wishes they were either dead or had never been born. Saying I rolled my eyes at this would be a huge understatement; I was disgusted. To crib a line from Dorothy Parker: “This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”

* falcon2484: As a kid, I was addicted to movie tie-in novelizations (the best of which may have been Alan Dean Foster’s adaptation of ''Film/TheLastStatfighter''). One that I never got my hands on until recently was William Kotzwinkle’s novelization of ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''. And once I got my hands on it, I threw it away less than 100 pages in. Never mind all the superfluous, tedious garbage about the alien’s every single thought on being accidentally left behind by his shipmates; my breaking point was the passage where Kotzwinkle describes Mary’s feelings about her sons, Elliott and Michael. He comes very close to saying outright that Mary hates them and wishes they were either dead or had never been born. Saying I rolled my eyes at this would be a huge understatement; I was disgusted. To crib a line from Dorothy Parker: “This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”

** Grotadmorv: I think Greg went through steady CharacterDevelopment from books 5-8. However, this seems to have been reverted, especially since ''The Getaway'' (book 12): case in point, ''Wrecking Ball'' (book 14). In ''Hard Luck'' (book 8), Greg finds his Meemaw's ring and hides it in his closet because he fears that his other family members will sell it for money. In ''Double Down'' (book 11), Greg recalls his deceased Nana and hopes that she's happy in Heaven and says that she deserves to relax because she had a hard job as a waitress. He even regrets having not been nice to her and says that he understands if Nana doesn't like him. In ''Wrecking Ball'' (book 14), he celebrates the death of his aunt and instantly thinks about what he wants to use his inheritance money for. When his mother tells him that nobody in the family except her was nice to the aunt, Greg doesn't care. Greg went through CharacterDerailment, particularly in ''Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid'' (a spin-off), but this scene confirmed it.

* Tropers/KenyaStarflight: I absolutely adore ''[[Literature/TheGirlWhoCircumnavigatedFairylandInAShipOfHerOwnMaking The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making]]'' (yes, [[LongTitle that's the title]]), but the series hits its lowest point at the end of book three, ''The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two.'' While the first two books have excellent resolutions that end the story while leaving a door open for future adventures, the third book ends on a cliffhanger. This irritates me when it comes up in a series, as it feels like a cheap ploy to force the reader into buying the next book instead of relying on things like making us love the characters and story. The rest of the series is excellent and the DMOS wasn't enough to make me stop reading, but it certainly stuck in my craw.

* Tropers/{{Tiggerific}}: For Tolkien's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', something that's always bothered me about this book is the second and third kinslaying. You'd think that after the first, the elves would know better than to keep the Silmarils from the sons of Feanor, but no, it takes two more kinslayings for them to realize that getting in between the sons and their shining gems is a bad idea. Seriously, why didn't the elves just hand them over instead of risking countless lives? I've heard some excuses, but they don't really make sense. With Dior, he didn't hand it over because it meant a lot to his family (in that it was the jewel that his parents stole from Morgoth) but put it this way: if people you knew were dangerous demanded a family heirloom or they'd murder your entire family, you'd do the smart thing and hand it over, wouldn't you? Instead, Dior loses his life and his entire family (except his daughter Elwing) loses their lives, along with a good chunk of the populace of Doriath. (Added to that, the Kingdom were already aware of the first kinslaying, so they knew that the sons of Feanor would kill their own kind to get the Silmarils back). The fact that this happens adds an extra amount of stupid to the third kinslaying, because the Havens of Sirion were filled with many survivors from various conflicts - including the survivors from Doriath, who should definitely know by now the colossal stupidity of keeping these darn things away from Feanor's sons. And the person who actually ''had'' the jewel was Elwing, who lost her entire family in the sacking. The excuse here is that the Silmaril gave hope to the people of Sirion and they didn't want to lose it - only to lose it anyway when a good number of the people there are killed. The ''only'' explanation that makes sense is that the Silmarils caused a similar affect to gold sickness in dwarves, but still, you'd think at least one person would see reason and realize that the lives of everyone around them are worth more than a single pretty jewel. For me, it was two WhatAnIdiot moments for the price of one.

* Tropers/{{JojiMC}}: I have made it no secret that I absolutely despise the ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' book series ([[HypeBacklash which I'll never get why is so popular]]) but because someone already listed two of my most hated scenes from the series, let's talk about the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' ''Literature/RevengeRUs'', shall we? During the third act of the book, protagonist Wade's parents are going out for the night which means that Wade's older brother, Micah, will have to watch over her. That'd be fine except Micah is a ''huge'' BigBrotherBully towards Wade, so, naturally, it only makes sense for him to be a [[BabysitterFromHell horrible babysitter]]. Anywho, as soon as the parents leave, Micah demands that Wade do all his chores for him, which Wade refuses to do. But then Micah - I kid you not - pulls out a photo of Wade sleeping while wearing nothing but her underwear. He then threatens to send this picture to her crush, Steve, unless she does his chores for him. Wow. Just... Just wow. Look, I get that ''Goosebumps'' can have a few mean-spirted moments at times but this isn't just bullying. This is borderline sexual harassment! I mean, we've got Micah - a seventeen year old teenage boy who's only a year away from becoming an adult - taking pictures of his underage twelve year old sister. That's just wrong on so many levels. Not to mention that Wade was in her underwear while he was taking this photo, technically making this child pornography. Was this story ghost-written by a pedophile who has a fetish for seeing little kids in their underwear? If it was, then [[{{Squick}} gross!]] Overall, if you're looking for a good book to read, skip ''Revenge R Us''. It's disgusting, obnoxious and has unfortunate implications. No. Read ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' or ''Literature/HarryPotter'' instead.

* Tropers/{{JojiMC}}: I have made it no secret that I absolutely ''despise'' the ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' book series ([[HypeBacklash which I'll never get why is so popular]]) but because someone already listed two of my most hated scenes from the series, let's talk about the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' ''Literature/RevengeRUs'', shall we? During the third act of the book, protagonist Wade's parents are going out for the night which means that Wade's older brother, Micah, will have to watch over her. That'd be fine except Micah is a ''huge'' BigBrotherBully towards Wade, so, naturally, it only makes sense for him to be a [[BabysitterFromHell horrible babysitter]]. Anywho, as soon as the parents leave, Micah demands that Wade do all his chores for him, which Wade refuses to do. But then Micah - I kid you not - pulls out a photo of Wade sleeping while wearing nothing but her underwear. He then threatens to send this picture to her crush, Steve, unless she does his chores for him. Wow. Just... Just wow. Look, I get that ''Goosebumps'' can have a few mean-spirted moments at times but this isn't just bullying. This is borderline sexual harassment! I mean, we've got Micah - a seventeen year old teenage boy who's only a year away from becoming an adult - taking pictures of his underage twelve year old sister. That's just wrong on so many levels. Not to mention that Wade was in her underwear while he was taking this photo, technically making this child pornography. Was this story ghost-written by a pedophile who has a fetish for seeing little kids in their underwear? If it was, then [[{{Squick}} gross!]] Overall, if you're looking for a good book to read, skip ''Revenge R Us''. It's disgusting, obnoxious and has unfortunate implications. No. Read ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' or ''Literature/HarryPotter'' instead.

** Tropers/{{Snowsky}}: Speaking of ''Mapleshade's Vengeance,'' even if the writing weren't a travesty in itself, nearly every character in that book turns into a completely horrible person (well, cat) and grabs the JerkassBall, IdiotBall, or both, seemingly for the ''sole purpose'' of making Mapleshade's life hell until she snaps. To start with, [=StarClan=] sends a message to Ravenwing that Mapleshade's kits are half-[=RiverClan=] because...why? What purpose does this serve besides starting the DisasterDominoes, especially since they have never done this to any other queen whose kits are secretly half-Clan? (Bluestar, Graypool, Silverstream and [[spoiler:Leafpool]] say hi.) So Ravenwing knows now, and he figures out specifically that they were fathered by Appledusk, who (accidentally?) killed Birchface, Oakstar's son. Okay, this is bad, but surely Ravenwing can take two seconds to calm down and think about ''what's going to happen'' if he spills the beans?[[note]][[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Unless]] he was so much of an asshole that he didn't care that he was about to get four of his Clanmates, three of them innocent children, kicked out of their home, but him being a jerk is not any better than him being an idiot.[[/note]] No, he goes and publicly blabs the secret to all of [=ThunderClan=]. Every cat is enraged, with Frecklewish being especially furious because Mapleshade lied to her about the kits' father being Birchface, her dead brother, which is understandable. What is not understandable is Frecklewish turning on not just Mapleshade but the kits, calling them "half-Clan creatures" and shouting for them to be driven out, when before she had loved them and promised to help care for them when she thought they were her brother's kits. And we're still supposed to sympathize with her after this? (Nettlebreeze even refers to her as "poor helpless Frecklewish" in a later book.) Oakstar kicks Mapleshade and her kits out of [=ThunderClan=] and they prepare to head to [=RiverClan=], but the kits drown when they try to cross the river as it suddenly floods. [=RiverClan=] shows up and brings Mapleshade and the dead kits to their leader, Darkstar. Appledusk is there, and he blames Mapleshade 100% for the kits' deaths, calls their relationship a mistake in front of his Clan (which comes across as him throwing her under the bus to get back in their good graces). They welcome him back with open paws after Reedshine (his other mate) gives them a speech about how brave and loyal he is, while Mapleshade is refused shelter in [=RiverClan=] and told by Reedshine to [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown "go away, because she's caused enough trouble tonight."]] And then Mapleshade begins her revenge murder spree, became the most feared villain in the Dark Forest, blah, blah, blah. The point is, ''Mapleshade's Vengeance'' is a complete IdiotPlot because the whole chain of events could possibly have been avoided or gone in a different direction, had anybody been able to act rationally or let go of the JerkassBall for 3 seconds. But do you know what one of the worst parts is? Absolutely none of these characters besides Mapleshade herself have any significance to the overall plot of the series outside of this book, even though there were plenty of opportunities for them to appear as [=StarClanners=] in ''Omen of the Stars,'' which is a massive waste of potential. Partly because of that, post-mortem Mapleshade is a borderline GenericDoomsdayVillain whose only motivation is "manipulate events to make the Clan cats' lives suck, rally the Dark Forest, start a war, destroy the Clans, and [[spoiler:fixate on Sandstorm and kill her because she had the life I feel like I deserved, providing a convenient excuse for Spottedleaf to save her with a HeroicSacrifice and become DeaderThanDead so Firestar doesn't have to choose between them when he goes to [=StarClan=]]]".

** Tropers/{{Snowsky}}: Speaking of ''Mapleshade's Vengeance,'' even if the writing weren't a travesty in itself, nearly every character in that book turns into a completely horrible person (well, cat) and grabs the JerkassBall, IdiotBall, or both, seemingly for the ''sole purpose'' of making Mapleshade's life hell until she snaps. To start with, [=StarClan=] sends a message to Ravenwing that Mapleshade's kits are half-[=RiverClan=] because...why? What purpose does this serve besides starting the DisasterDominoes, especially since they have never done this to any other queen whose kits are secretly half-Clan? (Bluestar, Graypool, Silverstream and [[spoiler:Leafpool]] say hi.) So Ravenwing knows now, and he figures out specifically that they were fathered by Appledusk, who (accidentally?) killed Birchface, Oakstar's son. Okay, this is bad, but surely Ravenwing can take two seconds to calm down and think about ''what's going to happen'' if he spills the beans?[[note]][[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Unless]] he was so much of an asshole that he didn't care that he was about to get four of his Clanmates, three of them innocent children, kicked out of their home, but him being a jerk is not any better than him being an idiot.[[/note]] No, he goes and publicly blabs the secret to all of [=ThunderClan=]. Every cat is enraged, with Frecklewish being especially furious because Mapleshade lied to her about the kits' father being Birchface, her dead brother, which is understandable. What is not understandable is Frecklewish turning on not just Mapleshade but the kits, calling them "half-Clan creatures" and shouting for them to be driven out, when before she had loved them and promised to help care for them when she thought they were her brother's kits. And we're still supposed to sympathize with her after this? (Nettlebreeze even refers to her as "poor helpless Frecklewish" in a later book.) Oakstar kicks Mapleshade and her kits out of [=ThunderClan=] and they prepare to head to [=RiverClan=], but the kits drown when they try to cross the river as it suddenly floods. [=RiverClan=] shows up and brings Mapleshade and the dead kits to their leader, Darkstar. Appledusk is there, and he blames Mapleshade 100% for the kits' deaths, calls their relationship a mistake in front of his Clan (which comes across as him throwing her under the bus to get back in their good graces). They welcome him back with open paws after Reedshine (his other mate) gives them a speech about how brave and loyal he is, while Mapleshade is refused shelter in [=RiverClan=] and told by Reedshine to [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown "go away, because she's caused enough trouble tonight."]] And then Mapleshade begins her revenge murder spree, became the most feared villain in the Dark Forest, blah, blah, blah. The point is, ''Mapleshade's Vengeance'' is a complete IdiotPlot because the whole chain of events could possibly have been avoided or gone in a different direction, had anybody been able to act rationally or let go of the JerkassBall for 3 seconds. But do you know what one of the worst parts is? Absolutely none of these characters besides Mapleshade herself have any significance to the overall plot of the series outside of this book, even though there were plenty of opportunities for them to appear as [=StarClanners=] in ''Omen of the Stars,'' which is a massive waste of potential. Partly because of that, post-mortem Mapleshade is a borderline GenericDoomsdayVillain whose only motivation is "manipulate events to make the Clan cats' lives suck, rally the Dark Forest, start a war, destroy the Clans, and [[spoiler:fixate on Sandstorm and kill her because she had the life I feel like I deserved, providing a convenient excuse for Spottedleaf to save her with a HeroicSacrifice and become DeaderThanDead so Firestar doesn't have to choose between then when he goes to [=StarClan=]]]".

** Tropers/{{Snowsky}}: Speaking of ''Mapleshade's Vengeance,'' even if the writing weren't a travesty in itself, nearly every character in that book turns into a completely horrible person (well, cat) and grabs the JerkassBall, IdiotBall, or both, seemingly for the ''sole purpose'' of making Mapleshade's life hell until she snaps. To start with, [=StarClan=] sends a message to Ravenwing that Mapleshade's kits are half-[=RiverClan=] because...why? What purpose does this serve besides starting the DisasterDominoes, especially since they have never done this to any other queen whose kits are secretly half-Clan? (Bluestar, Graypool, Silverstream and [[spoiler:Leafpool]] say hi.) So Ravenwing knows now, and he figures out specifically that they were fathered by Appledusk, who (accidentally?) killed Birchface, Oakstar's son. Okay, this is bad, but surely Ravenwing can take two seconds to calm down and ''think about what's going to happen'' if he decides to spill the beans?[[note]][[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Unless]] he was so much of an asshole that he didn't care that he was about to get four of his Clanmates, three of them innocent children, kicked out of their home, but him being a jerk is not any better than him being an idiot.[[/note]] No, he goes and publicly blabs the secret to all of [=ThunderClan=]. Now every cat is upset, with Frecklewish being especially furious because Mapleshade had lied to her about the kits' father being Birchface, her dead brother, which is understandable. What is not understandable is Frecklewish turning on not just Mapleshade but the kits, calling them "half-Clan creatures" and shouting for them to be driven out, when before she had loved them and promised to help care for them when she thought they were her brother's kits. And we're still supposed to sympathize with her after this? (Nettlebreeze even refers to her as "poor helpless Frecklewish" in a later book.) Oakstar kicks Mapleshade and her kits out of [=ThunderClan=] and they prepare to head to [=RiverClan=], but her kits drown when they try to cross the river as it suddenly floods. [=RiverClan=] shows up and brings Mapleshade and the dead kits to their leader, Darkstar. Appledusk is there, too, is he going to understand? No, he blames Mapleshade 100% for the kits' deaths, calls their relationship a mistake in front of his Clan (which comes across as him throwing her under the bus to get back in their good graces), and they welcome him back after Reedshine (his other mate) gives them a speech about how brave and loyal he is, while Mapleshade is refused shelter in [=RiverClan=] and told by Reedshine to [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown "go away, because she's caused enough trouble tonight."]] And then Mapleshade begins her revenge murder spree, became the most feared villain in the Dark Forest, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The point is, ''Mapleshade's Vengeance'' is a complete IdiotPlot because the whole chain of events could possibly have been avoided or gone in a different direction, had anybody been able to act rationally or let go of the JerkassBall for 3 seconds. But do you know what one of the worst parts is? Absolutely none of these characters besides Mapleshade herself have any significance to the overall plot of the series outside of this book, even though there were plenty of opportunities for them to appear as [=StarClanners=] in ''Omen of the Stars,'' which is a ''HUGE'' waste of potential. Partly because of that, post-mortem Mapleshade is a borderline GenericDoomsdayVillain whose only motivation is "manipulate events to make the Clan cats' lives suck, rally the Dark Forest, start a war, and destroy the Clans...oh, and also [[spoiler:fixate on Sandstorm and kill her because she had the life I feel like I deserved]]".

* Tropers/{{Kenyastarflight}}: I had high hopes for Karen Russell's ''Literature/{{Swamplandia}}'', and was enchanted with her writing style and the setting of the novel -- less so with the characters, but I kept reading anyhow. But then, out of nowhere, our protagonist Ava -- a thirteen-year-old girl, mind you -- is [[GratuitousRape Gratituitously Raped]] clear out of the blue by the Bird Man. It sickens me to see rape used as a a cheap means to [[RapeAsDrama inject drama into a story]] or [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil vilify a character]], especially child rape. And worse, not only does the rapist [[KarmaHoudini get away scott-free]], but [[AngstWhatAngst the book makes no effort to show Ava suffering any ill effects from the assault]]. If you're going to include rape in a novel, you had damn well better treat it seriously and not as a cheap plot device, and you had better show just what kind of devastating effects it can have on the victim, not gloss over them and/or pretend it never happened. Ugh... why was this novel nominated for a Pulitzer again?

** Let’s flip the script and punish both Mr. Krupp and Melvin despite being reasonable, shall we? The moment in question, of course, is within the second book, where Mr. Krupp bans the two from attending the invention convention and forced them to stay in study hall all day (justified, since they stuck everyone else in the school to their seats the year prior using their own homemade glue). What do they do next? Sneak into the school the night before the convention and sabotage everyone’s inventions-that is, everyone except Melvin’s, whose invention they promise to not tamper with in exchange for his silence. Melvin, who is legitimately concerned for the other students along with his own invention, promises out of desperation and lets the two do their dirty work. During the convention, the boys’ pranks result in the entire audience-and possibly the auditorium itself (technically vandalism)-getting extremely messy, the students’ hard work being all for naught, and the entire event ending prematurely. Keep in mind that nobody has done anything to the duo out of pure spite that warranted any of their actions. This causes Melvin to break his promise out of annoyance, and Mr. Krupp to use this as proof to give the duo detention for the rest of the year. Now the actual dethroning moment is how we’re supposed to hate both Mr. Krupp and Melvin and see them as Jerkasses despite being completely in the right. Say what you will about Mr. Krupp being a little too happy about the punishment, but he had a point due to them pissing him off that much. It just makes it all the less satisfying when George and Harold get away with everything as usual.