Review – Laggan Lard Butts by Eric Walters
Losing Students Become Motivated by a Team Name Change
Oct 21, 2009
This hilarious romp – one of the Orca Currents series of high-interest/low vocab books for reluctant readers – is a cross between Gordon Korman's This Can't be Happening at MacDonald High series and the old TV show Welcome Back Kotter.
- In the place of the Sweathogs, there are middle school losers, the Laggan Lairds. This book focuses on the basketball team, which is so bad that an opposing player jokes, "You guys should be called the Laggan Lard Butts".
- MacDonald High has the popular Bruno, always in trouble with principal Mr. Sturgeon. Laggan Middle School has basketball captain Sam Campbell, also a popular student but always in trouble with the principal, Mr. McGregor.
- Bruno has his faithful sidekick Boots, another popular guy always ready to assist Bruno in his schemes. Sam has faithful sidekick twins Tanner and Taylor, always ready to aid in whatever mischief Sam may foment.
Plot Summary of Laggan Lard Butts by Eric Walters
Sam, Taylor, and Tanner are in their last year of middle school. They're tired of being the Laggan Lairds and they're tired of losing. Volleyball, basketball, baseball, soccer, whatever. The Lairds are losers.
"What the heck is a Laird, anyway?" he demands. Turns out it's Scottish for "Lord" as in "Lord of the manner".
Sam decides that a change of name may bring a change of fortune. So he challenges his teacher and coach, Mr. Davidson, to a democratic process where students will nominate and vote for a new team name. To his surprise, Mr. Davidson accepts. Principal McGregor also agrees, subject to certain rules:
- The name "Laggan Lairds" must be one of the choices
- Common practices of democratic elections will be followed (nominations with seconds, polling booths, secret ballots, set campaign period, no threats or bribes)
- Every student gets a vote, even those in kindergarten
As a joke, Sam nominates "Laggan Lard Butts", arguing successfully that the name meets all the rules and conditions set by the faculty. The Tanners gleefully form a committee to campaign for the name.
Also in the election are the Laggan Lynxes, the Laggan Dragons, and the Laggan Leprechauns. But the chief rival emerges as another popular favorite, the Laggan Leopards led by Sam's former girlfriend turned best enemy, Sarah.
When a fluke case of food poisoning weakens their chief rivals, the Lairds finally win a big game on the basketball court, and find themselves in the zone finals just as the election comes up. Go, Lard Butts! becomes the team's new cheer.
Is it possible that the losing Lairds could actually become winners – as the Laggan Lard Butts?
Comments on Style and Plotting in Laggan Lard Butts
The witty exchanges between the characters, especially the back-and-forth between Sam and Sarah, contribute to humor in the book, as do the numerous butt jokes (beloved of middle school boys).
The food poisoning of the number one team, which permits the Lairds to win and enter the finals, is a deus ex machina but perfectly acceptable for the age level and nature of the story. Otherwise, the plot builds well with the twin story lines of the election and the basketball series rising to a joint climax.
The expression, "You'll laugh, you'll cry" is perfectly apt for this book, when Walters closes off with a touching surprise move from Principal McGregor. Darned good book!
Walters, Eric, Laggan Lard Butts. Victoria, BC: Orca Book Publishers, 2006. pp 108. ISBN 1-55143-531-4
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