The Terrible Two

The Terrible Two is a kid's novel by Jory John, Mac Barnett, and Kevin Cornell. It was published in 2015. It is the first in a series.

Miles Murphy has just moved to the boring town of Yawnee Valley, known for its many cows. As his old school's most infamous prankster, he looks forward to continuing his pranking at his new school. The problem is, there's already a prankster there.

It was followed by The Terrible Two Get Worse in 2016. A third book came out in 2017, titled The Terrible Two Go Wild. The fourth and final book, The Terrible Two's Last Laugh, was published in the same year.

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Tropes:

• Alliterative Name: Miles Murphy, along with Bertrand Barkin and his sons Barry and Bob Barkin.
• Author Catchphrase: A few lines are used many times across the series.
  • ”I don’t remember any of this!”
  • ”Ha, ha!” said [blank]. (He actually said “ha, ha!”)
• Badass Longcoat: Miles is bothered by how cool Niles looks in a turtleneck and trenchcoat.
• Bait-and-Switch Character Intro: Niles is introduced as an overzealous teacher’s pet who is dedicated to academic excellence and a stickler for the rules. He later reveals that this is a show to keep the school staff off his back. In another twist, it’s revealed that he accidentally became a teacher’s pet, then cultivated that reputation, long before he started pranking.
• Black Sheep: Jimmy Barkin was a principal like all other Barkins, but he was known as a kind and fun-loving man to the point of being nicknamed the Smiling Principal. Because the other Barkins value strict discipline and unemotional behavior, he is looked down on and often used as a bad example by his own son.
• Bilingual Bonus: When the prank lab is introduced, Miles notices a bit of French written on the wall: "Oú est le magasin de bonbons le plus proche?" This translates to, "Where is the nearest candy store?"
• The Bully: Josh Barkin, the principal's son, is notorious for picking on other kids, though he never does it where he can get caught. He hits Miles in the face with a backpack and once forced Niles to swallow rocks.
• Chekhov's Gun: One of the cow facts ends up as this. The fact that cows can walk up stairs but not down them is used to fill the school with cows.
• Fictional Document: Excerpts from the cow facts booklet are scattered throughout the book.
• First-Episode Twist: Niles being one half of the Terrible Two. His place next to Miles on the cover practically gives it away.
• The Hyena: Stuart is introduced this way. He loves to laugh at his own jokes, despite nobody else finding him funny.
• Indy Ploy: Miles is good at improvising when he needs to.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Niles' family is pretty well off, but he's never had a friend over.
• Odd Friendship: From the outside, Miles and Niles appear to have this.
• Paranoia Gambit: Miles tries to provoke Niles into pranking him; after Niles agrees to do it, Miles spends two months in anxious anticipation of what will come.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Miles and Niles are very close, to the point that Holly, who is Niles’ love interest, remarks that she’s always imagined they would end up being buried side by side.
• The Prankster: The premise of the book.
• Quirky Janitor: Gus the janitor interrupts students' conversations to provide philosophical insights and quote poetry.
• Rhyme Theme Naming: Rivaling pranksters Miles and Niles.
• Running Gag:
  • Principal Barry Barkin’s face turning all sorts of colors whenever he’s angry: “purple”, “indigo”, “eggplant”, and “nectarine”, just to name a few.
  • Miles’s inability to bake.
  • Barry Barkin’s tendency to drag out a metaphor way longer than necessary. In the last book, when Miles gets lost in his own metaphor, Niles points out that he sounds like the principal.
  • Stuart laughing at his own jokes when nobody else does.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Niles (Teacher's Pet) and Miles (Jerk with a Heart of Gold).
• Teacher's Pet: Niles is a student aide and very enthusiastic about following the rules.

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