The Best of Iggy

The Best of Iggy is a middle grade novel written by Annie Barrows and illustrated by Sam Ricks, published in 2020.

The story follows the adventures of Iggy Frangi, a mischievous fourth grader who constantly finds himself in trouble. Through a series of humorous and sometimes regrettable escapades, Iggy learns valuable lessons about friendship, responsibility, and the consequences of his actions.

The Best of Iggy is the first in a series of five books about Iggy’s adventures: Iggy Is Better Than Ever (2020), Iggy Is the Hero of Everything (2021), Iggy the Legend (2022), and Iggy Rules the Animal Kingdom (2023).

This guide uses the e-book version published in 2020 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Plot Summary

The Best of Iggy is narrated in the third person by an omniscient narrator who directly addresses the readers and openly comments on the book’s format. The novel centers around nine-year-old Iggy Frangi, a mischievous fourth grader, and three incidents he regrets. The narrator categorizes regrets into three types: things people wish they hadn’t done only because they got caught, things people wish they hadn’t done quite as much of, and things people truly regret doing. The first incident falls into the first category: things people wish they hadn’t done only because they got caught.

One morning, Jeremy Greerson and his mom come to Iggy’s house for brunch. Jeremy’s mom is friends with Iggy’s mom, Laurel, but Iggy doesn’t want to be friends with Jeremy. Jeremy is considered a perfect kid: He plays the cello, reads, and has good manners. Both of Iggy’s sisters, Maribel and Molly, seem to like Jeremy. During brunch, Iggy starts laughing over a pancake his mom calls a Dutch Baby, and his dad asks him to leave the room. Upset, he starts jumping on the trampoline in the backyard. When Jeremy reaches him, Iggy wants to impress him and decides to skateboard off the roof of the shed to land on the trampoline. Jeremy wants to try it too, but Iggy is afraid he will injure himself. He tries to stop him and takes the ladder away. Jeremy kicks and insults Iggy and climbs up the ladder. Infuriated, Iggy chases Jeremy, and Jeremy jumps just as all three parents come outside. The narrator explains that Iggy can be somewhat justified in his actions because he was taunted by Jeremy. However, the parents only saw Iggy climbing the ladder so only he is punished: He has to stay in his room until dinnertime, won’t get dessert for a week, loses his allowance for a month, and must write an apology letter. Despite the punishment, Iggy finds the situation hilarious.

In the second incident, Iggy’s older sister, Maribel, is tasked with looking after him after school because their mom is busy. Iggy initially doesn’t like the idea of his sister having authority over him. However, when Maribel ends up not paying attention to him at all, he gets upset. He locks himself in the bathroom and makes a mess with his dad’s shaving cream and his mom’s makeup, drawing fake wrinkles and blood on himself. Maribel worries he might be injured. Iggy bursts out of the bathroom yelling just as Laurel comes home, which scares both her and Maribel. As a consequence of his actions, Iggy has to buy his mom a new lipstick, as he ruined the old one. Iggy wishes he hadn’t taken it so far. While there are no excuses for what Iggy did, the mistake doesn’t have significant consequences.

In the final episode, Iggy makes a graver mistake. Iggy has a favorite fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Schulberger, whom he and his friends call Puttzi because of her small car. Ms. Schulberger is young, fun, and always tries to make learning enjoyable. One day, the two-kid tables in Iggy’s class are replaced with individual desks that have a chair connected to the table. Iggy discovers that by leaning back in his seat, he can walk forward and drive the desk like a car. Iggy and his troublemaker friends—Arch, Skyler, Diego, and Owen—decide to have a desk race when Ms. Schulberger is not looking. During class, as Ms. Schulberger is looking at the whiteboard, the boys take off and race toward the teacher. Iggy accidentally runs into her and injures her knee. Ms. Schulberger falls to the ground and cries. Iggy is sent to the principal and suspended, and Ms. Schulberger is away from school for a few days as she needs to rest her knee.

This time, Iggy is genuinely sorry for his mistake. He apologizes profusely to the principal and to Ms. Schulberger when she’s back at school, presenting her with gifts to show his remorse. When Ms. Schulberger asks Iggy why he did it, Iggy says he thought it would be funny and never meant to hit her. Ms. Schulberger forgives Iggy. The narrator explains that there are no excuses for what Iggy did—the desk racing was his idea. However, how sorry he feels can be considered an extenuating circumstance. Even years later, Iggy still feels sorry for this incident.