Listened to audiobook.

Recommended Ages: Gr.

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Personal Thoughts: I wish his books for younger kids would be as awesome as his books for junior high. This book was alright. There were nice moments, humorous parts, and good storytelling, but many kids will miss the narrative arc, since this is instead a series of vignettes from his childhood. A 5th grader teacher using this as a readaloud stated that it was slow, the kids thought it was ok, and there was a lot to discuss.

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Pacing: medium-slow, no narrative arc
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Activity: ( )

Jordan wants to be the best at something - anything - but instead, he's unmemorable: the third-shortest, the second-smartest, etc. But when he starts fourth grade, he just might have a new, undesirable distinction: kid most hated by his teacher. Mrs. Fisher truly is awful - so bad that Jordan transfers schools, which presents a new bundle of challenges, but also a wonderfully understanding new teacher, Miss Tuff. Through it all (including his dad's cancer scare, his baby snakes' deaths, fights at school, and an "idiot" left hand that can't keep up with his right hand when he's drumming), Jordan keeps trucking, and trying to be good. Set in Long Island in the late 1970s.

Quotes

Dedication: To Elizabeth Tuff Duffy, the best fourth-grade teacher in the world, for understanding that sometimes the most difficult student is the one who needs love the most

It seems to be that becoming a drummer isn't just learning a set of skills. Becoming that guy would be more like a transformation: caterpillar me would have to somehow turn into...not a butterfly, exactly. Something cooler and stronger. Something heroic. (22)

This is one of the worst things about being nine. Let's face it: pretty much everybody is my elder. Which seems to mean that everyone can do whatever they want to me... (51)

It is just another example of how following directions can drown you. (87)

What I really wish is that I could stop ruining everything, and maybe even be particularly good at something. (88)

Comic books have excellent lessons...."With great power comes great responsibility"...love is more important than war....you can't judge people just for being different from you....you have to stick up for your friends, no matter what. (93)

Sure, it hurts getting smashed in the kidney by a fastball. But I would rather lose a kidney than my reputation.
Choices like this come up a lot in my life, for some reason. (142)

I suppose all I can do is keep trying to be good. There is always a chance it will work eventually. (152)

My parents have been saying the car is a lemon, which seems to be like a bad egg but with wheels. (184)

I am confused. Sometimes, it's really hard to figure out when having fun is just fun, and when it is the same as being bad. (204) ( )