The Terrible Two

Miles Murphy, the protagonist of the story, is the newest resident of Yawnee Valley. When the novel opens, the authors depict Miles as morose over leaving his old town and anxious over how he will assimilate into the social hierarchy of his new school. Lying awake in bed, anxiously anticipating the next day, Miles dreads being the stereotypical new kid. His anxiety festers as he reflects, thinking, “He didn’t want to be a new kind of kid at all. Miles wanted to be the same kind of kid he was at his old school: the prankster” (13). Miles identifies himself as a gifted prankster and desires to claim his place in the new school before anyone can judge him otherwise. Through Miles’s trusty prankster notebook, the reader sees that Miles is intelligent and clever and executes his pranks with precision and creativity. He has a keen sense of humor, and his pranks are playful, not malicious. He prides himself on his strategic thinking as he plans pranks considering timing, location, and potential roadblocks. However, when he arrives at his new school on the first day and sees someone has pulled an impressive prank, Miles worries that someone may already hold the title of a top prankster in Yawnee Valley.