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Macdonald Hall/Bruno & Boots #5
The Zucchini Warriors
Macdonald Hall's ivy-covered buildings have housed and educated many fine young Canadians. But Bruno Walton and Boots O'Neal are far from being fine young Canadians. The roommates and best friends are nothing but trouble! Together they've snuck out after lights-out, swapped flags, kidnapped mascots . . . and that's only the beginning.Roommates Bruno and Boots find obstacles in their way as they attempt to lead the Macdonald Hall Zucchini Warriors to a victorious football season and earn the reward of a new recreation center.Join two of Gordon Korman's most memorable characters in seven side-splitting, rip-roaring adventures! Macdonald Hall is the series that started it all.
209 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
13 people are currently reading
394 people want to read
About the author
Gordon Korman
249 books4,411 followersGordon Korman is a Canadian author of children's and young adult fiction books. Korman's books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide over a career spanning four decades and have appeared at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
August 24, 2018
While especially the first and the third novels of Gordon Korman's MacDonald Hall series of boarding school stories (which I originally read in the early 1980s, when I was myself a teenager) rank as absolute personal favourites (and even the fourth instalment, which I read for the first time just a couple of days ago, was definitely still enjoyable enough albeit with rather grating and much too stereotypically depicted dictatorial bad teacher types), I am (upon now in the process of reading the entire seven novels in one sitting) sadly becoming increasingly annoyed amd frustrated with the series as it progresses, and indeed, the fifth MacDonald Hall novel, The Zucchini Warriors, I really can only grudgingly consider barely readable (and certainly and truthfully not all that personally entertaining).
Of course, not ever having been in any way a fan of football as a sport (and thus also not really all that much into novels and stories that deal with, that have football as a main theme) has probably already kind of prejudiced me against The Zucchini Warriors right from the onset. But no, it is definitely not really (not just) that which has taken most of the potential reading pleasure shine off of this Bruno and Boots story for me. For honestly (and at least in my humble opinion), Gordon Korman seems to not only be running out of ideas, but he also seems to be simply writing a standardly repeating script. And when the script of The Zucchini Warriors then becomes massively overly inundated with both stereotypical characters, stock-like scenarios, repetitive behavioural patterns and actually also seems to in some ways with the police involvement regarding Kevin Klapper kind of but in a very pale and sadly lifeless manner mirror at least some of the scenes of my favourite series instalment, Beware the Fish!, well, my initial mild amusement and actually also my albeit a bit hesitant appreciation that the funds donating former football hero (who was actually an erstwhile MacDonald Hall student) in fact turned out not to be as groan worthy an individual as I had first expected but a pretty decent, and albeit of course a trifle too much football-crazed for my tastes still a very humanistic and likeable person, this quickly turned to impatience and more than a bit of annoyance and frustration (especially with regard to science genius's Elmer Drimsdale's transformation and also that he, even thought he is supposed to be so very intelligent, does not realise that trying to raise non endemic to Canada rodents in his school dormitory room could be a huge and problematic issue and could inundate surrounding areas with his Manchurian Bush Hamsters, with a non native to Canada species of animal). Not to mention that while I have actually and indeed much appreciated that the star quarterback for the MacDonald Hall Zucchini Warriors ends up being Mis Scrimmage's Cathy Burton, from a feminism perspective and point of view, I certainly would have much preferred to have had her openly function as the bona fide official quarterback and not pretending to be Elmer Drimsdale, as that does kind of send the wrong message (for it in my opinion seems to indicate that according to Gordon Korman, girls might indeed be capable of playing football on a boys' team, but only if they are sneaky about it and pretend not to be female).
Not a terrible, horrible or in any way inappropriate story by any means, and I can certainly understand that some if not even many especially younger readers might still consider The Zucchini Warriors as fun and as engaging as the earlier MacDonald Hall series instalments. However, I have personally found The Zucchini Warriors only very very mildly amusing at best, and pretty annoying and aggravating in far far too many places (and indeed, although I have only read this novel now as an older adult and not like the first three MacDonald Hall novels as a teenager, I still pretty much and strongly believe that even if I had actually read The Zucchini Warriors as a child or as a teenager, I would not have liked the storylines, the focus on football, the way that Elmer changes, that Cathy pretends to be the latter in order to be the MacDonald Hall quarterback all that much if at all).
Of course, not ever having been in any way a fan of football as a sport (and thus also not really all that much into novels and stories that deal with, that have football as a main theme) has probably already kind of prejudiced me against The Zucchini Warriors right from the onset. But no, it is definitely not really (not just) that which has taken most of the potential reading pleasure shine off of this Bruno and Boots story for me. For honestly (and at least in my humble opinion), Gordon Korman seems to not only be running out of ideas, but he also seems to be simply writing a standardly repeating script. And when the script of The Zucchini Warriors then becomes massively overly inundated with both stereotypical characters, stock-like scenarios, repetitive behavioural patterns and actually also seems to in some ways with the police involvement regarding Kevin Klapper kind of but in a very pale and sadly lifeless manner mirror at least some of the scenes of my favourite series instalment, Beware the Fish!, well, my initial mild amusement and actually also my albeit a bit hesitant appreciation that the funds donating former football hero (who was actually an erstwhile MacDonald Hall student) in fact turned out not to be as groan worthy an individual as I had first expected but a pretty decent, and albeit of course a trifle too much football-crazed for my tastes still a very humanistic and likeable person, this quickly turned to impatience and more than a bit of annoyance and frustration (especially with regard to science genius's Elmer Drimsdale's transformation and also that he, even thought he is supposed to be so very intelligent, does not realise that trying to raise non endemic to Canada rodents in his school dormitory room could be a huge and problematic issue and could inundate surrounding areas with his Manchurian Bush Hamsters, with a non native to Canada species of animal). Not to mention that while I have actually and indeed much appreciated that the star quarterback for the MacDonald Hall Zucchini Warriors ends up being Mis Scrimmage's Cathy Burton, from a feminism perspective and point of view, I certainly would have much preferred to have had her openly function as the bona fide official quarterback and not pretending to be Elmer Drimsdale, as that does kind of send the wrong message (for it in my opinion seems to indicate that according to Gordon Korman, girls might indeed be capable of playing football on a boys' team, but only if they are sneaky about it and pretend not to be female).
Not a terrible, horrible or in any way inappropriate story by any means, and I can certainly understand that some if not even many especially younger readers might still consider The Zucchini Warriors as fun and as engaging as the earlier MacDonald Hall series instalments. However, I have personally found The Zucchini Warriors only very very mildly amusing at best, and pretty annoying and aggravating in far far too many places (and indeed, although I have only read this novel now as an older adult and not like the first three MacDonald Hall novels as a teenager, I still pretty much and strongly believe that even if I had actually read The Zucchini Warriors as a child or as a teenager, I would not have liked the storylines, the focus on football, the way that Elmer changes, that Cathy pretends to be the latter in order to be the MacDonald Hall quarterback all that much if at all).
July 9, 2018
The first three books were funny, and fun to read. Book four was still funny, but the quality of the writing had declined (some very flat characters, unrealistic motivations). Which brings us to the current book, number five:
The first few chapters were really weak; the characters were being absurd *without* it being funny, which made it seem as if Korman was trying to keep us laughing after he's run out of ideas for jokes, and was just throwing random ideas at the page.
In chapter 4 it finally picked up again - the kids' zany plans were funny again, instead of just being an exercise in "what's the most oddball thing I can think of today?" - and from that point, the rest of the book was about on par with book 4. So, not great, but still amusing enough to be entertaining.
Two of my favorite parts:
"I didn't mean to let those bush hamsters loose," said Sidney, who had felt horribly guilty ever since the incident. "It was an accident."
"No one's blaming you, Sidney," said Larry soothingly. "Any damage you cause goes down as an act of nature, like an earthquake, or a tidal wave."
and
"As to the participation of Miss Burton," the Headmaster went on, "we will say nothing, as we all know Miss Burton. One neither coerces nor stops that young woman. She is a law unto herself."
Hah! That's accurate. Somewhat off topic, I see Cathy someday taking over running Scrimmage's. I know Miss Scrimmage is getting on in years, and might want to retire eventually, and Cathy is probably the only person capable of managing a school full of hooligans. She already has tons of experience running that school... *grins*
The first few chapters were really weak; the characters were being absurd *without* it being funny, which made it seem as if Korman was trying to keep us laughing after he's run out of ideas for jokes, and was just throwing random ideas at the page.
In chapter 4 it finally picked up again - the kids' zany plans were funny again, instead of just being an exercise in "what's the most oddball thing I can think of today?" - and from that point, the rest of the book was about on par with book 4. So, not great, but still amusing enough to be entertaining.
Two of my favorite parts:
"I didn't mean to let those bush hamsters loose," said Sidney, who had felt horribly guilty ever since the incident. "It was an accident."
"No one's blaming you, Sidney," said Larry soothingly. "Any damage you cause goes down as an act of nature, like an earthquake, or a tidal wave."
and
"As to the participation of Miss Burton," the Headmaster went on, "we will say nothing, as we all know Miss Burton. One neither coerces nor stops that young woman. She is a law unto herself."
Hah! That's accurate. Somewhat off topic, I see Cathy someday taking over running Scrimmage's. I know Miss Scrimmage is getting on in years, and might want to retire eventually, and Cathy is probably the only person capable of managing a school full of hooligans. She already has tons of experience running that school... *grins*
December 14, 2012
I chose this book, because of the author, Gordan Korman, he's one of my favorite authors and I thought it would be interesting to read another book of his, because they are always funny and interesting. The Zucchini Warriors is about two boys named Bruno and Boots, and a couple of their friends, they all go to a school together called,"McDonald Hall." During their year there, they both experience many wacky problems and difficulties, such as a girl joining their football team, the Zucchini Warriors. My favorite quote from this book was when Elmer, the school nerd says,"They're Manchurian bush hamsters, sir,an endangered species. I'm attempting to make them reproduce." I like that quote, because it shows the silliness of the book itself, and how many wild things happen in that one year alone. Gordan Korman's writing style has always been one of my favorites, his writing style makes you feel like you're a hidden camera and you're experiencing everything that's happening to these unfortunate characters. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a hilarious book to read, with many bizzare and absurd things that happen to Bruno and Boots, this book is for sure to get a laugh out of even the most stingiest of people.
April 4, 2016
I legitimately remember owning this particular MacDonald Hall book, and enjoying the whole girls can play football too, dumb society plotline. Good series for the younger crowd to sink their teeth into, and Canadian to boot!
October 4, 2017
Canadian children's author Gordon Korman has had a long career as the prolific writer of humorous, exciting, and easy-to-read novels geared toward grades 4 to 9. He started writing at age 12, when he wrote This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! for a seventh grade English class. Over the course of nearly 20 years after the publication of this first MacDonald Hall book, Korman published a total of 7 titles about the boarding school exploits of best friends Bruno and Boots.This month, I read them all:
This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! (1977)
Go Jump in the Pool! (1979)
Beware the Fish! (1980)
The War with Mr. Wizzle (1982)
The Zucchini Warriors (1988)
MacDonald Hall Goes Hollywood (1991)
Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall (1995)
The series stars best friends and roommates Bruno Walton and Melvin "Boots" O'Neal, who are known pranksters on the MacDonald Hall campus. Though the two boys often butt heads with their headmaster, the long-suffering yet fair-minded Mr. Sturgeon, whom they call "The Fish," they also have a fond affection for their school. The boys and their classmates also have many associations with students at Miss Scrimmage's Finishing School for Young Ladies, which is located across the road from MacDonald Hall, and whose high-strung Headmistress frequently overreacts to late-night visits from MacDonald Hall students by wildly wielding a shotgun.
Each book of the series focuses on a different major scheme involving Bruno and Boots. Sometimes, they seek to make a particular improvement to their school, such as a pool or a recreation center. Other times, they go to war with a particular teacher who is making their lives difficult, or with an outside force that threatens to close the school. In the final two books, they even befriend a Hollywood celebrity and uncover a phantom prankster.
What I love about these books is their sense of humor. Last spring, I attended a talk by two children's illustrators who insisted that the key to humor in children's books is underwear and toilet jokes. I found this to be a disappointing underestimation of what kids are capable of finding funny, but I was also hard-pressed to think of many examples of funny books, especially funny books targeted at boys, that could make kids laugh without resorting to crude humor. Thankfully, I have been reminded that this series fits that bill exactly. Perhaps because Korman started writing these when he was himself an adolescent, he completely understands what middle school boys find funny, and he delivers it in every single book. Pranks, schemes, disasters, explosions, science experiments, sporting events - these are the backdrops for Korman's jokes, and most of the time, they are clever, respectful and well-executed. Even when the characters disobey their teachers, they often do so in the name of a noble cause that helps their school or their friends.
Also refreshing is the complete lack of serious dating in these books. There are some storylines involving long-distance and unrequited crushes, but none of the preoccupation with having exclusive girlfriends and boyfriends that seems prevalent in more contemporary books. The girls of Miss Scrimmage's (particularly Cathy and Diane) are not presented as potential romantic partners for Bruno, Boots, and their friends, but as partners in crime, good friends, and pranksters in their own right. All the female characters are actually very well-done, including Mrs. Sturgeon, the headmaster's wife, whose affection for Bruno and Boots often keeps her husband from acting rashly in his punishment of them.
Are the MacDonald Hall books great literature? Probably not. But neither are they to be completely dismissed as "fluff" or 'twaddle." For boys who like funny books, but whose parents would prefer not to promote toilet humor (or worse, crude jokes with a sexual basis), they are the perfect escapist read. Interestingly, these books have also recently been turned into a series of films, which are all available to stream on Netflix. I watched half of the first one, Go Jump in the Pool!, and noted some differences, mainly in the age of the characters (MacDonald Hall seems to be a high school in the movie world) and in the character of Miss Scrimmage (who is now a peace-loving hippie and not an unhinged woman with a shotgun), but overall, I didn't think it was terrible. I would definitely recommend reading the books first, but fans of the series will probably enjoy the film adaptations.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! (1977)
Go Jump in the Pool! (1979)
Beware the Fish! (1980)
The War with Mr. Wizzle (1982)
The Zucchini Warriors (1988)
MacDonald Hall Goes Hollywood (1991)
Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall (1995)
The series stars best friends and roommates Bruno Walton and Melvin "Boots" O'Neal, who are known pranksters on the MacDonald Hall campus. Though the two boys often butt heads with their headmaster, the long-suffering yet fair-minded Mr. Sturgeon, whom they call "The Fish," they also have a fond affection for their school. The boys and their classmates also have many associations with students at Miss Scrimmage's Finishing School for Young Ladies, which is located across the road from MacDonald Hall, and whose high-strung Headmistress frequently overreacts to late-night visits from MacDonald Hall students by wildly wielding a shotgun.
Each book of the series focuses on a different major scheme involving Bruno and Boots. Sometimes, they seek to make a particular improvement to their school, such as a pool or a recreation center. Other times, they go to war with a particular teacher who is making their lives difficult, or with an outside force that threatens to close the school. In the final two books, they even befriend a Hollywood celebrity and uncover a phantom prankster.
What I love about these books is their sense of humor. Last spring, I attended a talk by two children's illustrators who insisted that the key to humor in children's books is underwear and toilet jokes. I found this to be a disappointing underestimation of what kids are capable of finding funny, but I was also hard-pressed to think of many examples of funny books, especially funny books targeted at boys, that could make kids laugh without resorting to crude humor. Thankfully, I have been reminded that this series fits that bill exactly. Perhaps because Korman started writing these when he was himself an adolescent, he completely understands what middle school boys find funny, and he delivers it in every single book. Pranks, schemes, disasters, explosions, science experiments, sporting events - these are the backdrops for Korman's jokes, and most of the time, they are clever, respectful and well-executed. Even when the characters disobey their teachers, they often do so in the name of a noble cause that helps their school or their friends.
Also refreshing is the complete lack of serious dating in these books. There are some storylines involving long-distance and unrequited crushes, but none of the preoccupation with having exclusive girlfriends and boyfriends that seems prevalent in more contemporary books. The girls of Miss Scrimmage's (particularly Cathy and Diane) are not presented as potential romantic partners for Bruno, Boots, and their friends, but as partners in crime, good friends, and pranksters in their own right. All the female characters are actually very well-done, including Mrs. Sturgeon, the headmaster's wife, whose affection for Bruno and Boots often keeps her husband from acting rashly in his punishment of them.
Are the MacDonald Hall books great literature? Probably not. But neither are they to be completely dismissed as "fluff" or 'twaddle." For boys who like funny books, but whose parents would prefer not to promote toilet humor (or worse, crude jokes with a sexual basis), they are the perfect escapist read. Interestingly, these books have also recently been turned into a series of films, which are all available to stream on Netflix. I watched half of the first one, Go Jump in the Pool!, and noted some differences, mainly in the age of the characters (MacDonald Hall seems to be a high school in the movie world) and in the character of Miss Scrimmage (who is now a peace-loving hippie and not an unhinged woman with a shotgun), but overall, I didn't think it was terrible. I would definitely recommend reading the books first, but fans of the series will probably enjoy the film adaptations.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
August 22, 2022
4.5 rounded up. Not my favourite of this series but still great.overall.
March 9, 2025
This book was the thirteenth story published by Gordon Korman. Midyear, in 2022, Korman published his 100th book. Yes you read that correctly, his hundredth book. My introduction to Korman’s works was the 39 Clues back in 2009. Since then, I have read 60 of his books, starting to make a dent in the bucket, being a little over halfway there now, but Korman is still publishing on average 2 new stories a year. With each one I am often challenged and always entertained. My son often reads these books to me or with me. I picked up this to read on my own to continue where it all began. At the time of the original publication of this book he had published a first other series, the Buggs Potter book, beginning with Who is Bugs Potter? and 6 stand-alone stories. The story is the past the midpoint in the MacDonald Hall series with four volumes before and 2 following it. I am currently bouncing around several of his series and from his most recent to oldest books.
My son and I started reading Gordon Korman books together a few years ago, when he was given one as an end of year gift by his teacher. She gave the whole class the same Scholastic edition and wrote a note to each student in their copy of the book. Prior to that I had a read a few of his contributions to the 39 Clues series and had enjoyed them. After reading book 1 in the Bruno and Boots or MacDonald Hall series I was hooked and know I will be reading all the volumes that Korman has written. And maybe trying to track down some of the older editions before they were updated, for the original experienced of this series. The series consists of:
This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall
Go Jump in the Pool
Beware the Fish!
The Wizzle War
(formerly The War With Mr. Wizzle )
The Zucchini Warriors
Light’s Camera, Disaster
(aka Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood)
The Jokes on Us
(formerly Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall)
Book 6 was renamed in 2003 the stories were originally published between 1978 and 1995, though some have been rewritten to be more up to date. Three of the original 7 have been renamed at some point over the years. It should also be noted that the series was originally called Bruno & Boots and later rebranded MacDonald Hall. But back to the volume at hand. The current description of this volume is:
“Macdonald Hall's ivy-covered buildings have housed and educated many fine young Canadians. But Bruno Walton and Boots O'Neal are far from being fine young Canadians. The roommates and best friends are nothing but trouble! Together they've snuck out after lights-out, swapped flags, kidnapped mascots . . . and that's only the beginning.
Roommates Bruno and Boots find obstacles in their way as they attempt to lead the Macdonald Hall Zucchini Warriors to a victorious football season and earn the reward of a new recreation center.
Join two of Gordon Korman's most memorable characters in seven side-splitting, rip-roaring adventures! Macdonald Hall is the series that started it all, and thirty-five years later it remains a must-read for old fans and new, the young ― and the young at heart.”
The chapters in this volume are:
Dedication
1: Hank the Tank
2: An Endangered Species
3: The Zucchini Disposal Squad
4: The Greenhouse Effect
5: Quarterback Sneak
6: Welcome to Macdonald Hill
7: A Pale Flush
8: Wrong-Way Rampulsky
9: Under Contract
10: The Glory and the Pizza
11: Arnold the Stuffed Hyena
12: The Return of The Beast
13: The Final Touchdown
14: Zucchini Kitchen
Appendix
This is followed by a preview of the next volume, and highlights for each of the 7 in the series. This was the only volume published by Korman in 1988, which happened to be the year I graduated High School. Yes the story has been updated some over the years but the whole story and series is masterfully written. Korman is truly a master of the Middle Grade and even Young Adult genres, his books are amazing for kids, tweens and teens. And even some of us older readers. C.S. Lewis in On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature stated:
“It is very rarely that a middle-aged man finds an author who gives him, what he knew so often in his teens and twenties, the sense of having opened a new door.”
I said in a previous review that Korman accomplishes that in this and all of his other books I have read. This was another excellent read! I believe this one would have been published just after Korman graduated university. This one is very funny. It is a great fun clean read. And unlike most in the series the conflict between Bruno and Books and The fish is almost minimal, it is all about the new Football team and they sponsor and his fleet of Zucchini trucks and where the kids can hide all the uneaten deep fried food.
Bruno and Boots have a knack for creating trouble, and for not getting caught, or not until a very critical point. This time they are working on having a winning football team no matter how many zucchini stick they have to pretend to eat, nor hiding a friend from the girl’s school across the street as the Quarterback. Oh ane let’s not forget the missing endangered species. It’s a final game never to be forgotten! And why are they doing it all? Because they want a recreation room to hang out in.
Can they pull it off? Or will in all come tumbling down around their necks! Their pads might not even be enough to protect them by the end of this story. But to find out you need to read this volume! A story with great characters that are wonderfully written; it is a very fun story guaranteed to entertain the young and the young at heart! It is another fantastic read from Korman’s masterful pen! And one of his earliest, much of Korman’s cannon came after this volume but it is well worth reading! A great read, I can easily recommend this book and series!
My son and I started reading Gordon Korman books together a few years ago, when he was given one as an end of year gift by his teacher. She gave the whole class the same Scholastic edition and wrote a note to each student in their copy of the book. Prior to that I had a read a few of his contributions to the 39 Clues series and had enjoyed them. After reading book 1 in the Bruno and Boots or MacDonald Hall series I was hooked and know I will be reading all the volumes that Korman has written. And maybe trying to track down some of the older editions before they were updated, for the original experienced of this series. The series consists of:
This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall
Go Jump in the Pool
Beware the Fish!
The Wizzle War
(formerly The War With Mr. Wizzle )
The Zucchini Warriors
Light’s Camera, Disaster
(aka Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood)
The Jokes on Us
(formerly Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall)
Book 6 was renamed in 2003 the stories were originally published between 1978 and 1995, though some have been rewritten to be more up to date. Three of the original 7 have been renamed at some point over the years. It should also be noted that the series was originally called Bruno & Boots and later rebranded MacDonald Hall. But back to the volume at hand. The current description of this volume is:
“Macdonald Hall's ivy-covered buildings have housed and educated many fine young Canadians. But Bruno Walton and Boots O'Neal are far from being fine young Canadians. The roommates and best friends are nothing but trouble! Together they've snuck out after lights-out, swapped flags, kidnapped mascots . . . and that's only the beginning.
Roommates Bruno and Boots find obstacles in their way as they attempt to lead the Macdonald Hall Zucchini Warriors to a victorious football season and earn the reward of a new recreation center.
Join two of Gordon Korman's most memorable characters in seven side-splitting, rip-roaring adventures! Macdonald Hall is the series that started it all, and thirty-five years later it remains a must-read for old fans and new, the young ― and the young at heart.”
The chapters in this volume are:
Dedication
1: Hank the Tank
2: An Endangered Species
3: The Zucchini Disposal Squad
4: The Greenhouse Effect
5: Quarterback Sneak
6: Welcome to Macdonald Hill
7: A Pale Flush
8: Wrong-Way Rampulsky
9: Under Contract
10: The Glory and the Pizza
11: Arnold the Stuffed Hyena
12: The Return of The Beast
13: The Final Touchdown
14: Zucchini Kitchen
Appendix
This is followed by a preview of the next volume, and highlights for each of the 7 in the series. This was the only volume published by Korman in 1988, which happened to be the year I graduated High School. Yes the story has been updated some over the years but the whole story and series is masterfully written. Korman is truly a master of the Middle Grade and even Young Adult genres, his books are amazing for kids, tweens and teens. And even some of us older readers. C.S. Lewis in On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature stated:
“It is very rarely that a middle-aged man finds an author who gives him, what he knew so often in his teens and twenties, the sense of having opened a new door.”
I said in a previous review that Korman accomplishes that in this and all of his other books I have read. This was another excellent read! I believe this one would have been published just after Korman graduated university. This one is very funny. It is a great fun clean read. And unlike most in the series the conflict between Bruno and Books and The fish is almost minimal, it is all about the new Football team and they sponsor and his fleet of Zucchini trucks and where the kids can hide all the uneaten deep fried food.
Bruno and Boots have a knack for creating trouble, and for not getting caught, or not until a very critical point. This time they are working on having a winning football team no matter how many zucchini stick they have to pretend to eat, nor hiding a friend from the girl’s school across the street as the Quarterback. Oh ane let’s not forget the missing endangered species. It’s a final game never to be forgotten! And why are they doing it all? Because they want a recreation room to hang out in.
Can they pull it off? Or will in all come tumbling down around their necks! Their pads might not even be enough to protect them by the end of this story. But to find out you need to read this volume! A story with great characters that are wonderfully written; it is a very fun story guaranteed to entertain the young and the young at heart! It is another fantastic read from Korman’s masterful pen! And one of his earliest, much of Korman’s cannon came after this volume but it is well worth reading! A great read, I can easily recommend this book and series!
July 5, 2016
Fun story. A little dated (it's from 1988); I took some exception to how the girls' school is portrayed as pearl clutching, gasping weanies. Other than that, there is ample comedy in the story, and the boys show a great deal of loyalty to one another, even if they don't particularly like everyone. There is a fun, movie-like climactic ending with mayhem that will make readers chuckle!
June 28, 2007
My biggest triumph with this book: I got my 6th grade teacher to read it to the WHOLE CLASS on my recommendation!
June 22, 2024
4.5 rounded up. Not my favourite of this series but still great.overall.
July 24, 2025
This title in the Macdonald Hall series is far too absurd to be realistic, with fried zucchini (they do actually taste good in my opinion), bush hamsters and football all balled up into one. Former football player and now zucchini snack tycoon Hank Carson donates money to the school to build a new football field, with an advanced screen and everything. Bruno is disgusted, though, frankly because he wanted a rec hall. Carson gives a compromise: if they can win a game, they get it. Now the campus is buzzing about with football on everyone's lips. Will the team, named the Zucchini Warriors, be better than their name insists? Or will they fail spectacularly? Luckily they got an advantage: Cathy Burton, from Miss Scrimmage's Finishing School for Young Ladies. (3 stars as the book was mostly about football, which isn't really my bag, and the added absurdity of it all. But it IS supposed to be humorous fiction.)
May 12, 2018
There are definitely good things about this novel. I really felt the determination from the whole gang to do anything they could to win and their devotion to the cause. It's also fun seeing them get into trouble with the Fish. The Cathy twist was nice but there was no real reason given as to why she was so good. I felt the story had different layers, the Manchurian Bush Hamsters, but it failed to keep me happy as to how the book was concluded and how it just dealt with them. It's a nice story however this isn't the best of the MacDonald Hall series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2022
This is my fourth Bruno and Boots book and my favorite so far. I’m not much of a football person, but I am of fan of male friendship and endangered animal species. There just happened to be plenty of friendship and, surprisingly, a subplot about endangered hamsters in this book. The story of Kevin Klapper was also interesting.
January 19, 2018
While it was an older-school book, it was just abut as interesting as some modern-day books in my opinion. While it started out a little slow, once you got into the action the book was hard to put down. No spoilers
October 31, 2018
I feel like this inspired the 'Slapshoys' series.
May 5, 2020
cute a classic
February 19, 2021
Great series for kids!
December 7, 2021
I read this to my granddaughter via Messenger, over a few weeks. It's not great literature but it is fun
December 30, 2023
Great book, yet I’m still reeling from the foxhole court and my enjoyment was greatly impacted
January 1, 2025
Fourth grade novel study
July 11, 2016
Gordon Korman at his best is a very funny guy (though for the most part he has not been at his best in the past 15 or 20 years, and for some reason the man who wrote some of the funniest books of the ’80s has spent much of that time wasting his talent on sports or adventure books): unfortunately, that talent is only sporadically visible in the Macdonald Hall series. The problem is that he wrote the first book, “This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall”, while he was the same age as its characters, 12 years old. Certainly it’s an amazing accomplishment to have written a perfectly decent, readable, and amusing book in the 7th grade, but the book suffers somewhat from limitations which are likely due to the fact that its author was a 7th grader, and these limitations are passed on to the sequels as well. Mostly they are due to a certain lack of imagination when it comes to characters. Supporting characters in funny books are often limited, driven by a single trait and not explored much beyond that: however, the traits that the 12-year-old Korman chose tend to be things like “eats too much” or “is accident-prone”, and the older Korman naturally has some difficulty in turning these to good account. The dynamic between the main characters, Bruno and Boots, is similarly simplistic: Bruno proposes a crazy scheme and Boots goes along with it after some protest. Crazy schemes are of course essential to the Macdonald Hall stories, but this is a strong constraint on the structure of the books. The result is that when a more mature Korman returned to the series — “The Zucchini Warriors” was published six years after the preceding Macdonald Hall book, and ten years after the first one — he is boxed in by his younger self. The fat guy and the klutz are still there (he even adds a new character whose defining trait is being American, Macdonald Hall of course being in Canada), and Bruno and Boots are the same as they ever were. The new Korman is visible mostly in the new characters: Hank the Tank Carson, former NFL player, current zucchini-stick king, and Macdonald Hall alum; Kevin Klapper, Ontario Ministry of Education inspector and secret football addict; and Calvin “The Beast” Fihzgart, the most fearsome junior-high football player ever to succumb to a phantom compound fracture after a single play. Korman also manages to successfully repurpose a couple of older characters: Cathy Burton, from the neighboring Miss Scrimmage’s Finishing School for Young Ladies, is removed from her usual role (born, one fears, from the 12-year-old Korman's inability to handle female characters) as a super-Bruno (i.e., a whirlwind of unprincipled destruction) and turned into the quarterback of the Macdonald Hall football team (since my edition features a picture of Cathy in uniform on its cover, I don’t think this qualifies as a spoiler); and since Cathy of course can’t officially be a member of the team, Elmer Drimsdale, the school nerd, is pressed into pretending to be the quarterback, only to have the resulting celebrity go straight to his head. The new and modified characters are pretty successful, and there are some very funny scenes — Klapper’s attempts to keep the Ministry in the dark about what exactly he’s doing are especially hilarious, and the Manchurian bush hamsters deserve a mention — but the new Korman can’t quite overwhelm the old Korman: the constraints on what a Macdonald Hall story can be are challenged but not overcome. “The Zucchini Warriors” isn’t bad, but (to name a few) “No Coins Please”, “I Want to Go Home”, “The Twinkie Squad”, and “The Toilet Paper Tigers” are much better.
February 23, 2016
Here is a book to tickle your funny bone. Bruno and Boots are back again and this time their aim is a new recreation room at MacDonald Hall. If they can assemble a winning football team they have a donor who will pay for the rec room. Henry (Hank the Tank) Carson is an alum and former Green Bay Packer (!) who has made his fortune selling zucchini sticks. So he underwrites the football team and treats everyone to free zucchini sticks all the time. Unfortunately, no one likes them. Crazy ways emerge to off-load them! Many other eccentric and hilarious characters sprout in this book. Elmer Drimsdale is the school genius and science experimenter who is posing as the quarterback. Suddenly, his personality changes to fit his "star status". Kevin Klapper is the school inspector who never leaves because his addiction to football is ignited. Turns out, he is a very handy coach. Calvin Fihzgart fancies himself "the Beast" in football and where will that get him? Blankenship/"The Blabbermouth" cannot restrain himself from sharing trivia about everyone TO everyone. But the best nonsense of all, that I love (!), is that the real quarterback is Cathy Burton from Mrs. Scrimmage's School for Girls, across the street! (Read the book to find out what role bush hamsters play, yikes!)
March 19, 2009
Bruno and Boots are disappointed when they return to Macdonald Hall at the start of a new year; they were supposed to get a new recreation hall at their school, but instead a football stadium has been built. Former student/football player and zucchini entrepreneur Hank Carson makes them a deal, a winning football team will get them a rec hall, but unfortunately, Macdonald Hall’s team is horrible. But soon Bruno and Boots have a secret weapon that will ensure their wins: a girl!
As a young reader, Gordon Korman was MY author. I loved his books then, and I love them now. Yes, the premise is a little tired, a girl saving the football team while incognito. But the story is made up (as another reviewer pointed out) like a Greek comedy, with lots of funny bits and pieces all coming together in the end.
As a young reader, Gordon Korman was MY author. I loved his books then, and I love them now. Yes, the premise is a little tired, a girl saving the football team while incognito. But the story is made up (as another reviewer pointed out) like a Greek comedy, with lots of funny bits and pieces all coming together in the end.
April 2, 2008
YA. Macdonald Hall gets a football team and their quarterback's a girl. Literally. This book is pretty one-note. Usually Bruno and Boots have a goal (Save Macdonald Hall!) and then have to overcome a series of obstacles by way of hair-brained schemes (Collect Pop Cans! Get Someone To Go On A Date! Steal Computer Paper!) in order to achieve that goal. Here they play football. A lot. Plus Elmer's weirdly out of character (purposely, yes; realistically? no). But this book did one thing for me. I can finally tell the difference between Cathy and Diane. (Hint: Cathy's the one who's like Bruno.)
April 20, 2013
A Quickie Review
Gordon Korman was my favorite author as a kid, even more so than Roald Dahl and Judy Blume, though I did enjoy their works, too. Though I never have been a sports fan, I read The Zucchini Warriors in fifth grade, and liked it. However, reading it now made it feel slightly lackluster. It does combine elements of a Disney Channel Original Movie and a Nickelodeon sitcom, and deserves praise for that...but it still feels a little generic. Nonetheless, fans of kiddie literature, no matter their age, could do much worse.
Score: 3/5
Gordon Korman was my favorite author as a kid, even more so than Roald Dahl and Judy Blume, though I did enjoy their works, too. Though I never have been a sports fan, I read The Zucchini Warriors in fifth grade, and liked it. However, reading it now made it feel slightly lackluster. It does combine elements of a Disney Channel Original Movie and a Nickelodeon sitcom, and deserves praise for that...but it still feels a little generic. Nonetheless, fans of kiddie literature, no matter their age, could do much worse.
Score: 3/5
May 23, 2016
This isn't quite as funny or creative as the other Bruno and Boots books, but it's still a lot of fun! The characters are as fun as ever and the deadpan humor is ever-present. I especially like the spelling errors on the scoreboard(**ZICTORY!**)and the misunderstanding that almost leads to Mr. Sturgeon being arrested. I also love that Cathy Burton was given such a significant role in this book, since she's such a great character! "The Zucchini Warriors" is not my favorite of the series(the earlier ones were more creative), but it's still a highly entertaining book.
November 6, 2010
This was one of Gordon Korman's first series that he started at the age of 12 -- pretty impressive! However, there was nothing special about it and it is dated, although our library still has it. His picture in the back is quite different from today, as well! But I wanted to read it to see what his early works were like as compared to his later series like Swindle and Zoobreak which were much better.
February 18, 2015
Over the Summer, Henry Carson bought a new football stadium. Bruno and Boots were not pleased because instead they wanted a recreation hall. So Bruno and Boots decided to make a deal with Mr.Carson. If kids join the football team and win they're games, they will get a recreation hall.
I picked this book up because I like the MacDonald Hall series so far.
I finished this book because I wanted to see what would happen next.
I would recommend this book to Katie, because she likes humor.
I picked this book up because I like the MacDonald Hall series so far.
I finished this book because I wanted to see what would happen next.
I would recommend this book to Katie, because she likes humor.
March 5, 2008
As good the 254th time as it was the first, enduringly funny and very, very sweet. Korman has a great way of setting you up for the downward spiral, like classical Greek comedy only you know, with Manchurian bush hamsters.
January 18, 2011
What would you think if a girl wanted to play football? This is a book about 'soft' discrimination about girls. And strange hampsters, principals, yucky zukinni sticks and much more.
Overall a good book.
Overall a good book.
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