"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." Albert Einstein

25 March 2013

Twerp



Goldblatt, Mark. Twerp. Random House Books for Young Readers, 2013.

Julian is the fastest runner at his school, but when he returns from a week-long suspension, his teacher assigns him to write, not run. Julian has to describe in writing what happened to cause his suspension; the resulting homework assignment is what makes up the bulk of this book. Julian describes his neighborhood, his friends, and eventually gets around to the incident in question.

I enjoyed this book. It was very similar to The Wednesday Wars, which I read to my students each year when I taught. This story takes place in the 1960s, and the stories that Julian tells are entertaining and amusing. I thoroughly enjoyed following Julian's stories, knowing that eventually I was going to find out what caused his week-long suspension. And the ending was similarly satisfying.

I would recommend this book for tweens, fans of Gary Schmidt, and readers who want squeaky-clean stories without religious overtones.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley for the purposes of review.

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