Book Review: F for Effort!

Title: F For Effort!: More of the Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers
Author: Richard Benson

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Publication Date: July 11, 2012
Source: Purchased

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From the author of the national bestseller F in Exams comes a brand new compendium of hilarious and inventive wrong test answers and homework hiccups. Featuring gems from elementary school ("two halves make a whale"), middle grades (Q: What does "germinate" mean? A: To become a German citizen), and high school (Q: Fossil fuels are usually associated with which major type of rock? A: Classic rock), these 250 examples of creative invention are sure to charm anyone who has had to bluff or blunder their way through a test.

My Review

It's been a while since I've read F in Exams, but I remember literally laughing so hard that I cried. That's why I was stoked when I found all three F books in the clearance section of TJ Maxx last year (Don't you dare judge me... I actually find a lot of cool books there!) I immediately scooped all three up and put them in my cart, thinking that I'd read them right away. Wrong! It's taken me about a year, but I'm finally getting to them!

F for Effort! is broken up into different sections, beginning with an elementary school section, and frankly, I didn't get the importance or inclusion of this section in relation to the rest of the book. It's just answers without any context or clues as to what these kids are answering. Yes, sometimes the question is obvious from their answers, but I find it funnier to know just what they are answering incorrectly. 

Benson skips middle school, and then readers find themselves in high school. There are a few different sub-sections in this section, one for each of the main areas of study - biology, chemistry, English, history and geography, math, and physics. There's also an extra credit section, with some bonus answers. This part of the book is so much funnier because the reader is able to see the question and answer format and because high school students tend to be wittier. They also can be smart alecks, so some of the purposefully crafted answers really cracked me up. I really enjoyed the answers in the English and social studies sections because some of them are just freaking hysterical. 

All in all, F for Effort! proves to be a funny book. It's not as funny as its predecessor, but it's pretty close. If you're a teacher and you can appreciate the humor of wrong answers, I'd definitely recommend picking up this book (or any of them) in this little series. If you aren't a teacher, but you're just looking for something to read, you might wan to check out this book for a few good chuckles.