The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry

Wyatt's 8th grade class is going on a major field trip to Washington DC to see historical sites. While he is on the airplane with this class, his best friend, Matt, notices that the two men with foreign accents sitting behind them are very possessive of their carry-on bags, and are looking at aerial photographs of the White House.  Matt, who is not too bright, jumps to the conclusion that they are terrorists and convinces Wyatt to try to get their bags away from them to prove it. The only thing they accomplish, is that they capture the attention of air marshal. What Wyatt doesn't know is that during the scuffle, Matt takes something from one of the bags. Thus begins the amazingly wild ride that involves being chased by the two men all over Washington, kidnapping, super top secret military equipment, the cutest girl in the 8th grade, and obscure ancient hunting implements.

Dave Barry is a master of humor. This is the funniest book I have read since I read his book, Science Fair a couple of years ago.  He has this clever way of starting out with events that are probable, then moving slowly to the improbable, to the nearly impossible, and ending up at the utterly ridiculous.  But he does it so smoothly that your are carried along and laugh out loud at each new outrageous turn. I was listening to the recording in the car on my way to and from work, and I had to be careful not to get distracted from my driving because I was laughing too hard.  As with the Science Fair, the final sequence which brought everything to a climax is brilliant.  So, so, so, good.  Plus the reader on the recorded book is great.  So check this one out, for sure, on your next road trip to listen to with your family. (214 p)