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Rotten School Books in Order

Part ofRL Stine Books in Order

Find the Rotten School books by R.L. Stine in order, with short summaries and series background on Bernie Bridges, his rivals, and his latest schemes.

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Rotten School books in publication order

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16 books

1

Lose, Team, Lose!

by R.L. Stine

2005

Jennifer Ecch joins the boys' football team and makes it almost impossible to lose. Bernie Bridges realizes that winning means facing the terrifying Bone Breakers, so he starts looking for a way to stop his team's success.

2

Bernie Bridges wants spoiled Sherman Oaks's remarkable watch and thinks a pie-eating contest will help him get it. Rotten House faces Nyce House over piles of blueberry pies, with victory depending on some very queasy stomachs.

3

Bernie Bridges promises to behave for a whole week if April-May June will attend the dance with him. Keeping that promise proves difficult when an irresistible, forbidden slug race threatens to spoil his chance at romance.

4

The Great Smelling Bee

by R.L. Stine

2005

Bernie Bridges keeps his dog Gassy in his room, despite Rotten School's ban on pets. Sherman Oaks knows his secret, and the dog's terrible smell makes hiding him increasingly difficult as Bernie tries to avoid trouble.

5

Bully Joe Sweety targets Chipmunk after a disastrous class trip. Bernie Bridges learns that Joe fears ghosts and plans a fake haunting, hoping spooky messages and slime will make him stop tormenting his friend.

6

Party Poopers

by R.L. Stine

2006

Bernie expects April-May June to invite him to the school dance, but Jennifer Ecch asks instead. Desperate to escape her devotion, he devises increasingly disgusting ways to convince her that he would make a terrible date.

7

Shake, Rattle, and Hurl!

by R.L. Stine

2006

Bernie Bridges needs shy guitarist Chipmunk to help Rotten House win the school's talent contest. Determined to beat Sherman Oaks and Nyce House, Bernie pushes his friend toward the stage despite Chipmunk's fear of performing in public.

8

The Heinie Prize

by R.L. Stine

2006

Belzer's parents want to withdraw him from Rotten School, so Bernie tries to make him win the prize for most outstanding fourth-grader. Rival Sherman Oaks wants the same award, turning Bernie's rescue plan into a difficult competition.

9

The Rottenest Angel

by R.L. Stine

2006

Bernie is forced to share his room with Angel Goodeboy, whose innocent appearance wins over the adults. When Angel takes over Bernie's space, friends, and girlfriend, Bernie must find a way to expose his supposedly perfect roommate.

10

The Teacher from Heck

by R.L. Stine

2006

Mrs Heinie gives up on Bernie's misbehaving classmates and is replaced by the strict Mr Skruloose. With excessive homework interfering in the school's annual Water War, Bernie devises a scheme to remove him and bring their old teacher back.

11

Battle of the Dum Diddys

by R.L. Stine

2007

Bernie discovers that his friends are paying Sherman Oaks to play characters in a video game. Hoping to outsmart his rival, he plans to bring the imaginary warriors to life, risking a battle that could close Rotten School.

12

Calling All Birdbrains

by R.L. Stine

2007

Bernie's parrot Lippy seems to bring extraordinary luck until his friends touch the bird and everything goes wrong. Giving Lippy to Sherman Oaks appears to solve the problem, but Bernie's rival suddenly enjoys the success Bernie has lost.

13

Got Cake?

by R.L. Stine

2007

Bernie wants to be named Rotten School's most popular student, but arranging photographs of his popularity fails. He decides a huge birthday party will prove his case, creating an occasion that may bring surprises beyond the recognition he expects.

14

Students across Rotten School make horror movies for a chance to appear in a famous director's next film. Bernie wants to produce the scariest entry, but his filmmaking schemes turn Halloween into an increasingly alarming competition.

15

Punk'd and Skunked

by R.L. Stine

2007

An invention contest gives Bernie and his friends a chance to visit the wealthy Preppy Prep Prep school. After winning their preliminary round, they need another creation and discover that their rich competitors are even sneakier than they are.

16

Dumb Clucks

by R.L. Stine

2008

Bernie tries to profit by selling shirts featuring the cartoon hero Stupid Chicken. His plan becomes troublesome when half the school prefers rival character Drastic Duck, placing him in the middle of a battle between competing fans.

Series background & context

Rotten School follows Bernie Bridges, a fourth-grader at a boarding school whose main talent is coming up with schemes. R.L. Stine gives him an everyday setting full of dormitory friends, rivals, school rules, and opportunities to get into trouble. The stories use those ingredients for comedy, with Bernie constantly looking for a way to get what he wants and discovering that a clever plan can become much messier than he expected.

Bernie lives in Rotten House with a collection of other pupils, including Belzer, Feenman and Crench, Beast, and Billy the Brain. Their rivals include wealthy Sherman Oaks and his friends in Nyce House, so the school becomes a place where competing groups watch for chances to outdo each other. Bernie also has a crush on April-May June, adding another reason for him to care about the impression he makes on the people around him.

In The Big Blueberry Barf-Off!, Bernie wants Sherman's elaborate watch and has to find a way to persuade his rival to part with it. The solution he imagines involves a contest and an alarming quantity of blueberry pie, setting the tone for a series in which an ordinary desire can grow into a very unpleasant spectacle. Bernie's confidence is part of the joke because he tends to see a possible advantage before giving much thought to the consequences.

At Rotten School, winning an argument or a bet can matter far more to Bernie than following a rule.

The Great Smelling Bee gives him a problem that is harder to hide: he has a dog named Gassy in his room, even though pets aren't allowed at school. Sherman knows about the dog, and the animal's smell makes secrecy an unreliable strategy. The story brings the dormitory rivalry and the school rules together, with Bernie's attachment to his pet creating another situation in which he needs a plan quickly and can't count on his enemy to overlook a mistake.

Sports create a different difficulty in Lose, Team, Lose!, when Jennifer Ecch joins the boys' football team and makes winning seem possible, but victory would mean facing the intimidating Bone Breakers. Across the books, competitions and friendships supply the pressure while gross jokes and exaggerated school life supply the laughs. Trip Park's illustrations accompany the adventures, and the recurring cast makes returning to the school part of the fun. Publication order begins with the blueberry contest, though each later book gives Bernie a new immediate challenge. The series suits readers who enjoy a narrator whose ambitions are often bigger than his judgment and a school where a simple attempt to get ahead can turn into something everybody else wants to watch.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shape MRB and its growth.

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