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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Reading this as someone with social anxiety and a terrible middle-school experience, this was SO spot-on. It's SO HARD to navigate life, especially as a new kid! I had so much empathy for Caitlyn. But beyond that, these characters were FUNNY and BIZARRE and I loved them.
2021: Audiobook with my 14 year year old for our kids book club. This book was an even better read for me the second time around. There were some nuances that passed by me that I really enjoyed catching this time, and my daughter, of course, adored this book. One of the other things that struck me was what a great choice it made for a book club get together — we had the kids duel in Shakespeare insults, create their own box pun images, and find something funny to do with a banana peel. Once the contest was over, they worked together to build their own Paulie statue and make up their own dances. All in all, it was a super fun day celebrating a great book.
2019: What a great story for the middle school years! Not only is it quirky and fun, but it also tackles topics like fitting in and finding your place and what it means to do that with integrity. Reading this book, I couldn’t help but think of the kid who got picked on in my own middle school, and wondered if reading a book like this would’ve made me brave enough to befriend her all those years ago. I wish I would’ve made that choice. It’s not often you come across a book that helps kids to see outside of themselves in such a way as this. Highly recommend.
2019: What a great story for the middle school years! Not only is it quirky and fun, but it also tackles topics like fitting in and finding your place and what it means to do that with integrity. Reading this book, I couldn’t help but think of the kid who got picked on in my own middle school, and wondered if reading a book like this would’ve made me brave enough to befriend her all those years ago. I wish I would’ve made that choice. It’s not often you come across a book that helps kids to see outside of themselves in such a way as this. Highly recommend.
“Sometimes ordinary people do crummy things. That’s just the truth of it. They do things that they’ll wish later they could undo. And they’ll just be stuck with them forever.”
Caitlyn Breen, a seventh grader, has just moved across the country to a new school. She doesn’t quite know how to fit in because at this school the kids help take care of goats, learn about philosophers, and take care of the kids in younger grades at lunch. However, the other seventh graders keep talking about a kid who used to go to school with them, Paulie Fink. Paulie is legendary. He pulled off all sorts of pranks and made school interesting. Now that he is gone, the students don’t know what to do. In a strange set of events, Caitlyn is now the one who will decide who gets to be the next Paulie Fink. With each challenge, Caitlyn learns more about Paulie and herself. Who will end up becoming the next great Paulie Fink?
Ali Benjamin has done it again. Thought-provoking and imaginative, The Next Great Paulie Fink is sure to teach us all a life lesson or two no matter your age. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and found these young characters very relatable. Growing up and learning how you fit in the world is always a challenge and something that we are all navigating throughout our lives. However, I think the lesson that stuck out the most is that we are all flawed and yet have potential. Even though we make mistakes, we can all learn and grow into better people.
Caitlyn Breen, a seventh grader, has just moved across the country to a new school. She doesn’t quite know how to fit in because at this school the kids help take care of goats, learn about philosophers, and take care of the kids in younger grades at lunch. However, the other seventh graders keep talking about a kid who used to go to school with them, Paulie Fink. Paulie is legendary. He pulled off all sorts of pranks and made school interesting. Now that he is gone, the students don’t know what to do. In a strange set of events, Caitlyn is now the one who will decide who gets to be the next Paulie Fink. With each challenge, Caitlyn learns more about Paulie and herself. Who will end up becoming the next great Paulie Fink?
Ali Benjamin has done it again. Thought-provoking and imaginative, The Next Great Paulie Fink is sure to teach us all a life lesson or two no matter your age. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and found these young characters very relatable. Growing up and learning how you fit in the world is always a challenge and something that we are all navigating throughout our lives. However, I think the lesson that stuck out the most is that we are all flawed and yet have potential. Even though we make mistakes, we can all learn and grow into better people.
I loved The Thing About Jellyfish, so I was so excited to find an ARC of this at the library book sale. It was just fantastic. A wonderful book about middle school and all of the feelings that kids have as they adjust to a new school, new friends, and legends left behind by former students. The story is set in an eccentric small town school in an old mansion, with goats. It’s a school that every reader would want to attend. The characters are vivid, unique, and fun. You root for these kids. I can’t recommend this enough. So good.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Such a great YA book about how we see the world & what we do to fit those molds that shape the world rather than making our own.
A bit of slow start had me scratching my head as to what this book was about, but then something clicked a few chapters in and I didn’t want to put it down. Love the characters, the adolescent insight, the unresolved ending...just fantastic.
This was an amusing and sweet book. That was all. I think that was all I expected it to be, to be honest.
Yes, it was good. Yes, I recommend it. No, I'm not going to blab on and on about how much I loved it. Okay? Cool. Goodbye.
Yes, it was good. Yes, I recommend it. No, I'm not going to blab on and on about how much I loved it. Okay? Cool. Goodbye.