This is an excellent choice for fans of series like Captain Underpants or Diary of a Wimpy Kid due to Bernice’s hilarious (and sometimes incredibly gross) commentary. Lenz has written a truly touching and humorous story about what it means to be a good person, as well as what it means to be a family. Her redemption arc comes to a head when Bernice learns that the abbey will close if they cannot raise $2,500, the exact amount she had been trying to raise for herself at the beginning of the story. After some hiccups involving New Bernice trying to overcome the instincts of Old Bernice, New Bernice seems to be discovering the “model citizen” inside her and has come to love the community at Halfway.

In Halfway, Bernice almost immediately makes a rival of the school’s goody two-shoes, Imogen, but also befriends Francie, an energetic but friendly girl in her class, as well as the other nuns at her aunt’s abbey. At the suggestion of the town librarian, her only friend, Bernice chooses to accept the move to a new town and school as an opportunity to change for the better, or become the “New Bernice.” After finding out Bernice raised over $1,000 by setting up a fake charity, her momma takes the money and uses it to move to Los Angeles, leaving Bernice with her Aunt Josephine, a nun at a small abbey in Halfway, Missouri. With four older brothers who only care about making mischief and a momma who only cares about getting rich and famous, Bernice has learned to take care of herself the only way she knows how: bullying others and lying. A heartwarming story with plenty of gross-out humor to hook readers.Bernice Buttman, Model Citizen By Niki Lenz centers its story around the titular character, Bernice Buttman, the youngest child in a family of troublemakers living in a trailer park in Kansas City, Missouri. Though she slips here and there, her heart is in the right place, and this is a careful examination of how tough circumstances can lead to bad behavior-in the right situation, Bernice flourishes. Her constant battle to do the right thing is charming. In the abbey, Bernice is surprised that she gets her own room, and maybe a chance at friendship. But rather than make her apologize, Bernice’s mom steals the money herself, drops Bernice off with her aunt, who’s a nun, and takes off for California to become a star. A money-making scheme-mostly consisting of lies-is going great, until her mom finds out. Bernice, who dreams of becoming a Hollywood stuntwoman, thinks that the only way she can escape her sad situation is to raise money for stunt camp. The school bully, Bernice is not liked by her schoolmates, but still secretly longs for a friend. Bernice Buttman sleeps on a moldy mattress in a tiny mobile home crowded with six other people.

Bernice buttman model citizen book