Review Detail

Tom Gates: Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff) (Brilliant World of Tom Gates #2)

Middle Grade Fiction 226

If Greg Heffley were British...

June 01, 2015 (Updated: June 29, 2026)

Overall rating

4.5

Plot

4.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

In this sequel to The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, Tom is back annoying his sister Delia, getting into trouble at school for skiving off almost all of his work, trying to get Norman to be a good drummer in his band, Dogzombie, and dealing with a toothache. In his inimitable fashion, he manages to get sucked into playing in the school band (which doesn't use instruments, but instead performs on makeshift ones created from garbage) but then can't play in a school assembly because his arm is "injured", learns some classic rock from band mate Derek's father, and plays Wild Thing and Smoke on the Water to much acclaim at the Leafy Green Old Folks Home where his grandparents live. Along the way, he does a lot of drawing, eats as many caramel wafers as his sore tooth will permit, and foils the obnoxious Marcus in his plan to win the award for the most gold stars during the term.

Good Points

This notebook novel has a lot of fun moments like Tom having to wear teddy bear swim trunks because he has forgotten his own. Rings very true when it comes to the distracted sorts of things that middle grade students do. Love the family dynamic, the scenes at school, and the quirky grandparents.

While this book comes in at over 325 pages, there are about five sentences per page. Perfect for students who don't want to read and are told they MUST read 20 pages a day. I find the rebus-type text difficult to follow, but readers who are fans of Tommy Greenwald's Charlie Joe Jackson, Lincoln Peirce, Watson's Stick Dog, Obert Skye's Pottwerwookie series and Tashjian's My Life as A Book series will love all of the pictures and word art.

I liked this one better than the first, and love the glossary at the back with the Britishisms. If my students must read notebook novels, at least they can read ones that are the British equivalent of Charlie Joe Jackson!