Arrive at Rotten School with Bernie
Start with The Big Blueberry Barf-Off! to meet Bernie, his friends, and his rival Sherman Oaks before their running competitions and grudges pile up.
Book Series · 16 Books
Rotten School Books
In order from The Big Blueberry Barf-Off! to Dumb Clucks.
Sixteen short comic novels follow fast-talking fourth-grader Bernie Bridges through schemes, rivalries, contests, and gross-out disasters at a very strange boarding school.
Reviewed by the Bookroo Editors Updated
Reading order
How to Read the Rotten School Books
Read from The Big Blueberry Barf-Off! through Dumb Clucks to follow Bernie's recurring friends, rivals, teachers, and increasingly elaborate schemes. Each school disaster has its own resolution, so an experienced reader can still pick up an individual volume.
The official R. L. Stine checklist numbers sixteen books. Similar school stories and Goosebumps titles are separate series, not missing Rotten School volumes.
Sources: R. L. Stine's official series checklist.
For parents
What Parents Should Know
Bernie is a deliberately unreliable troublemaker who lies, cheats, boasts, makes bets, and tries to outsmart classmates and adults. The comedy includes bullying, insults, bathroom and vomit jokes, food fights, pranks, and cartoonish scares. His plans usually backfire, but the books invite readers to laugh at the chaos more than to treat him as a behavior model.
Where to start
Where Should My Child Start?
Where the story begins
First Book in the Series
Sale price
$574
Book #1 · Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2005
The Big Blueberry Barf-Off!
By Trip Park (Illustrator)
A pie-eating contest at Rotten School could win Bernie a coveted watch.
128 pages
$6.99Save 18%
Paperback
In reading order
Rotten School Series
16 books · Published 2005–2008
#1
Sale price
$574
The Big Blueberry Barf-Off!
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2005
A pie-eating contest at Rotten School could win Bernie a coveted watch.
#2
Sale price
$574
The Great Smelling Bee
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2005
Bernie must hide his stinky dog from a spoiled rival in a no-pets-allowed school.
#3
Sale price
$958
The Good, the Bad and the Very Slimy
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2005
Can a troublemaker stay out of mischief for a dance date?
#4
Sale price
$574
Lose, Team, Lose!
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2005
A tough girl joins the boys' football team, risking everything for love and victory.
#5
Sale price
$958
Shake, Rattle, and Hurl!
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2006
A shy guitarist must overcome stage fright to win a crucial talent contest.
#6
Sale price
$2707
The Heinie Prize
Chapter Book · Ages 8–11 · 2006
Can Bernie help Belzer win the Heinie Prize and stay at Rotten School?
#7
Sale price
$2979
Dudes, the School Is Haunted!
Chapter Book · Ages 7–11 · 2006
A bullied kid's friend plans a ghostly revenge to scare the bully into being nice.
#8
Sale price
$699
The Teacher from Heck
Chapter Book · Ages 8–10 · 2006
Can Bernie outsmart a strict teacher to bring back their beloved Mrs. Heinie?
#9
Sale price
$2979
Party Poopers
Chapter Book · Ages 7–11 · 2006
Bernie must escape a dance date with the unshakable Jennifer. Can his gross-out plan succeed?
#10
Sale price
$2979
The Rottenest Angel
Chapter Book · Ages 7–11 · 2006
Bernie must outsmart a mischievous rival to reclaim his life at school.
#11
Sale price
$674
Punk'd and Skunked
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2007
Bernie must outsmart rich rivals with a clever invention to win a contest.
#12
Sale price
$2979
Battle of the Dum Diddys
Chapter Book · Ages 7–11 · 2007
Bernie must stop a video game battle from becoming real and save his school.
#13
Sale price
$1299
Got Cake?
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2007
Bernie aims for popularity but faces unexpected birthday surprises.
#14
Sale price
$699
Night of the Creepy Things
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2007
Campus horror film contest turns terrifying on Halloween night.
#15
Sale price
$699
Calling All Birdbrains
Chapter Book · Ages 8–10 · 2007
A boy's luck depends on a parrot, but sharing it turns fortune into chaos. Can he reclaim his luck?
#16
Sale price
$699
Dumb Clucks
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2008
Caught between Clucks and Quacks, Bernie must navigate a school divided by cartoon loyalties.
Good to know
Common Questions
How many books are in the Rotten School series?
There are 16 books in the Rotten School series. It began with The Big Blueberry Barf-Off! in 2005, and the newest book, Dumb Clucks, was published in 2008.
What order should you read the Rotten School books in?
Start with The Big Blueberry Barf-Off! and follow the series order — the books above are numbered #1 through #16.
What ages are the Rotten School books best for?
The series is best for ages 7–12, based on the age ranges of the individual books.
The people
The Creatives Behind the Books
The people who bring Rotten School to life.
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