claire w. horowitz

On the worst day of his life, sixth-grader Arnie Waxman ends up hanging from the school wall by his underwear. When his attempt to climb the lunch-losing heights of The Wall of Doom is an epic fail, he hits bottom (literally). He is branded with an inescapable nickname, and no one will let him forget the “Tighty-whitey Incident.”
In an attempt to restore his reputation, Arnie wins The Bill Gates Golden Achievement Award, and gets free ice cream for the entire sixth grade. Which is great, except for the fact that Arnie made up the award. Winning a fake prize turns out to be more complicated than Arnie realizes. His teachers actually expect award-winning work from him. He's drafted into the Mathletes. He loses his best friend. Principal Boverman pays attention to him, which is never a good thing, and his fifteen minutes of fame only last ten minutes.
Arnie comes up with a audacious plan that will solve all his problems. But can he pull it off? If he can get his best friend back on his side, and if his sister's skills as a hypnotist are not overrated, he just may conquer The Wall of Doom.