The Worst Class Trip Ever

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-26

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Themes

The Adventurous Setting of School Trips in Middle Grade Fiction

School life and school trips are a recurring theme in literature aimed at middle grade readers, especially since these settings exemplify the key conflicts and issues that middle grade readers are navigating. Likewise, the prospect of school field trips introduces the possibility of breaking out of the established scholastic routine and having new experiences. Prominent examples of this narrative structure can be found in works like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief or Jeff Kinney’s Diaries of a Wimpy Kid series. In both instances, the hero’s planned class trip paves the way to an action-packed adventure. In this context, school trips serve as a narrative pretext to launch the classic structure of the hero’s journey.

In The Worst Class Trip Ever, Wyatt’s adventures take place far from the comfort and familiarity of his home or the supervision of his parents, but the class’s stated aim of exploring museums and historical monuments also gives the narrative a concrete framework. Wyatt first encounters Woltar and Lemi on the plane to Washington, DC, and he returns to his everyday life at the end of the novel, just as the hero of the archetypal hero’s journey embraces new challenges and ultimately returns home. Significantly, the protagonist’s adventures take place in a liminal, temporary space that enables the story to take liberties with realism while still maintaining some vestiges of credibility. In support of this framework, it is no accident that the most fantastical events in the story occur after Wyatt declares, “We were off the class trip now. Outlaws” (121). In other words, this declaration further removes Wyatt and his friends from reality and heightens the narrative tension as their adventures take them into uncharted territory, even with their own past experiences of rule-breaking.

Additionally, the novel invokes the tradition of American school trips in order to create relatable experiences for middle grade readers. As a result, the excitement and dread that school trips often evoke creates a sense of realism while simultaneously reinforcing the story’s suspense. The trip is also a particularly conducive setting for exploring the shifting parameters of school friendships, and Barry crafts a barrage of whimsical situations to challenge the characters and showcase their interactions, thereby creating a humorous twist on the adventure genre.

The Humorous Effects of Misdirection and Misunderstandings

The plot of The Worst Class Trip Ever relies heavily on the characters’ various misunderstandings, which lead them to make wild conjectures and take drastic actions as they venture beyond the aegis of adult supervision and approval. The protagonists’ mistaken assumptions act as the inciting incident, triggering the novel’s primary plotline, and their miscommunications simultaneously create comedic situations and heighten narrative tension. As Wyatt ominously states at the very beginning of the story: “None of this stuff would have happened if I hadn’t been sitting next to Matthew Diaz. [...] If I’d been sitting anywhere else, I would have had a normal class trip, and none of this insane mess would have happened” (7-8). Thus, even in the most basic moments of exposition, Barry uses humor to create a sense of anticipation over the antics yet to come.

To this end, the major misunderstandings in the story are prompted by Matt’s conspiracy theories and Wyatt’s willingness to follow his friend even when Matt’s suggestions are less than logical. For example, they rely on stereotypical movie tropes to guide their thinking and mistake Woltar and Lemi for potential terrorists. As a result of their assumptions, they do their best to thwart what they believe to be the men’s plan to harm the president. However, Woltar and Lemi are eventually revealed to be well-intentioned, for they are trying to save the US president despite the recurring interference of Wyatt and his friends. Clues about Woltar and Lemi’s motive are strewn throughout the novel and include details such as the aerial photographs of the White House, the sculpture of the dragon head, the missile jammer, and Victor’s research on Gadakistan. However, Wyatt and his friends misinterpret these clues as proof of the men’s evil intentions.

Significantly, the narrative frames the various clues as red herrings, or misleading narrative devices. Wyatt and his friends’ theory, which is based on the little information they have, is ostensibly plausible. However, the children repeatedly decide to take action on their own and avoid alerting authorities, and they are often led by their own biases and prejudices. For example, when Wyatt suggests that they give the missile jammer back to Woltar and Lemi, Matt replies: “No. Those are not good guys. Whatever they want it for, it’s probably bad” (49). The characters’ misunderstandings are reinforced by their conspiracy theories, as well as their tendency to convince themselves that their perceptions are correct.

This dynamic often results in comedic situations that portray the protagonists inferring overly dramatic meanings from little to no concrete information. As their far-fetched suppositions escalate, Wyatt and his friends stagger from one fantastical situation to the next, and throughout the novel, Barry’s use of red herrings heightens suspense as each scene reveals a new realization about the true nature of the situation. This element is emphasized by Woltar and Lemi’s deliberate mischaracterization as grotesque villains and their later shift into the more innocuous role of comical secondary characters.

The Dynamics of Friendship

In The Worst Class Trip Ever, the dynamics between Wyatt and his friends depict the complex and sometimes conflicting relationships between teenagers as they struggle to navigate a period of intense emotional development and identity construction. At the very beginning of the novel, for example, Wyatt describes his friendship with Matt by saying, “[W]hen we were in kindergarten, pretty much all the boys were idiots, so he didn’t stand out so much, and we became best friends. So now, even though […] he’s sometimes unbelievably annoying, I’m kind of stuck with him (7-8). Although Wyatt speaks of Matt in somewhat negative terms, his characteristically sarcastic tone makes it clear that the two of them are very close. Wyatt’s warm feelings for Matt are further evidenced by his deep worry about his friend’s safety and his willingness to undertake a dangerous mission to rescue him from the kidnappers.

Wyatt’s relationship with Cameron follows a similar path to his friendship with Matt, implying that in Matt’s absence, Cameron acts as an effective replacement for this aspect of the characters’ dynamics. At the beginning of the story, Wyatt is annoyed by Cameron’s antics, but Cameron later proves to be a brave and helpful addition to their mission to thwart Woltar and Lemi’s plan. This development leads Wyatt to admit that Cameron is “taking over for Matt in the role of idiot” (68), suggesting that Cameron has now been fully inducted into the group’s informal hierarchy.

Suzana also joins the group of friends and immediately takes charge of the operation once she learns that Wyatt and Matt are being pursued by suspicious men. Throughout their adventures, the boys in the group come to rely on her strategic mind and wide skill set, which Wyatt often praises. Although Wyatt first paints Suzana as an idealized, popular, and unattainable love interest, their relationship becomes more nuanced over the course of the story. His initial crush transforms into real admiration as he gets to know her, and at the end of the story, Wyatt and Suzana eventually kiss, highlighting the ways in which the dynamics of friendship can serve as a precursor to a closer relationship. However, Suzana’s interactions with the other boys reveal that she is fully a part of the friend group rather than merely the protagonist’s romantic interest. For instance, she is occasionally depicted rolling her eyes at Cameron and Matt’s antics or exchanging sarcastic banter with the other boys.

In short, the novel illustrates the complex, changing dynamics of adolescent friendships in a humorous light. Wyatt navigates nuanced feelings for his sometimes annoying best friend Matt, develops new relationships with Cameron and Victor, and shows his endless admiration for Suzana. His sarcastic narrative tone is belied by his actions, for Wyatt is characterized as loyal, caring, and brave. Despite his fears, he does not hesitate to try and rescue Matt and Cameron. He also openly praises Suzana and Victor’s intellect and reluctantly admits Matt’s good qualities as well. Although the events depicted in the story are somewhat fantastical, the narrative’s emotional dimension provides relatability and a sense of realism.