The Recess Queen

Awards & Honors

Junior Library Guild Selection 2002

Los Angeles Times Children’s Bestsellers List, Spring 2002 (Twice)

Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books, Recommended Book, March 2002

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2002

Bank Street College, Best Books of 2002

Children’s Choice Nominations & Awards

WINNER
Maryland Children’s Book Award, 2004

Virginia Young Readers, 2003-2004

NOMINATIONS
Abilene (Texas) I.S.D.'S Mockingbird Book Award, 2002-2003

Arizona Young Reader Award, 2005

Georgia Picture Story Book Award,2006-2007

Kentucky Bluegrass Award, 2003-04

Nevada Young Readers Award

Nebraska - The Golden Sower Award, 2004-2005

North Carolina Children’s Book Award, 2003-2004

South Carolina Picture Book Award, 2005-2006

Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award, 2004

Wyoming Buckaroo Book Award, 2003-2004

Community Distinction
One Community, One Book award, Clark County, Nevada, 2011

THE RECESS QUEEN

Written by Alexis O'Neill
Illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith
Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 0439206375
ISBN-13: 978-0439206372
Grades K-3

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Summary

A schoolyard bully is enlightened by the new kid in class in this lively story about the power of kindness and friendship. "Mean Jean was Recess Queen/ and nobody said any different," the tale begins. Each day at recess, Mean Jean blasts through the playground . . . No one dares cross her path: "She'd push 'em and smoosh 'em, lollapaloosh 'em." But when tiny Katie Sue, a new student, arrives, all bets are off. . . Her role usurped, Mean Jean moves toward a meltdown, until Katie Sue makes her an offer she finds difficult to refuse: an invitation to play together.

Reviews

Told in a rollicking rhyme, the story offers a lighthearted look at a serious topic in schools and on playgrounds everywhere - the bully. Katie Sue puts Mean Jean in her place in a surprisingly easy way - simply by being too new to know any better. In a nice twist, when confronted by Mean Jean, instead of backing away, the newcomer invites her to play. Both the text and the art are smart, sassy, and energetic. The text effectively dips, swirls, and slants around the action of the art, further marrying the two.
— School Library Journal

A schoolyard bully is enlightened by the new kid in class in this lively story about the power of kindness and friendship. O'Neill's text brims with fun-to-say phrases that fit a rollicking rhythm, and her assessment of recess dynamics feels authentic.
— Publisher’s Weekly

O'Neill puts seemingly meek, new classmate Katie Sue up against aggressive Mean Jean, swaggering boss of the playground. But Katie Sue stands up to her with a cheeky, "How DID you get to be so bossy?" and pulls out a jump rope, inviting Mean Jean to jump along. Presto change-o, a friendship is born. Huliska-Beith's rubbery-limbed figures, rolling perspectives, and neon-bright colors reflect the text's informality as well as its frenzied energy. Young readers will be caught up by Katie Sue's engaging, fizzy exuberance.
— Kirkus Reviews

The ability to offhandedly deflate a bully, with neither animosity nor remorse, is my idea of heaven — and is high on my wish list for my daughters. This snappily told story of unwavering self-worth and the power of cheerful assertion gives us hope — and lots of laughs.
— Just One More Book