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2.98 AVERAGE
2.98 AVERAGE
I was assigned this book in 6th grade and hated it. Then in 7th grade I had a different teacher who also assigned it. I hated it more that time.
This is a great story about how quickly things can spiral out of control. One self absorbed teenager manages to cause a stir by acting out in class. I was astounded by how poorly the adults acted in this story. Everyone seems to just want to be done with it quickly, and not want to take the time to get to the real story. I read this because my daughter will be reading it with her eight grade class, and I can see where this would lead to some heated conversations. It did feel a little dated (there is a fight to "install" computers in the school) but real topic is still very timely. Great read.
http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2015/comments_03/nothing_but_the_truth.html
I thought this book had a lot of great components to it. I thought that the varying styles of narration/format worked seamlessly in this novel. As I was reading I kind of imagined the whole thing as a movie. The dialogued parts were full scenes and the memos and diary entries were voice overs (in my head). I think that this book would be very conducive to "reader's theater" and dramatic readings, as well as acting out scenes in class. Students could produce their own short film versions as part of a project or extra credit.
I thought that this book addressed quite a few complicated and tough issues that would be great to be discussed in class. I realized in college that I never really evaluated any of the literary works we read in school from a feminist perspective. A few times, there are allusions to the fact that Ms. Narwin is unmarried as if that is a negative thing (page 96, 114). Now while obviously this issue is not a prominent theme, it is still a significant part of the book.
I do think that using this story in a classroom would be tricky. There are so many parallels in real life news, but I think because of the whole political-ness it would be risky to really get into the issues- at least for such an inexperienced teacher like myself. I kept wondering what parents reactions would be if I drew comparisons between the radio talk-show hosts and the likes of Glenn Beck and others like him.
I think that there are many valuable lessons to be learned from watching the progression of a small communication problem becoming the end of a career and a school-change for Philip. There are so many instances along the way where if one character had just opened their mouth and said what they were really thinking, all the problems could have been solved. I also liked the foil of Philip's father getting in trouble at work and not speaking up either. There are people making mistakes all over the place, and it's not just the kids, so I think that would be nice for kids to read about.
I also thought the ending was just perfect. I think that target age for the novel would have to be 9th or 10th grade. It says "bitch" so middle school parents might get upset, and I think any older than 9th or 10th grade might not be interested enough in it, but I could be wrong.
I thought that this book addressed quite a few complicated and tough issues that would be great to be discussed in class. I realized in college that I never really evaluated any of the literary works we read in school from a feminist perspective. A few times, there are allusions to the fact that Ms. Narwin is unmarried as if that is a negative thing (page 96, 114). Now while obviously this issue is not a prominent theme, it is still a significant part of the book.
I do think that using this story in a classroom would be tricky. There are so many parallels in real life news, but I think because of the whole political-ness it would be risky to really get into the issues- at least for such an inexperienced teacher like myself. I kept wondering what parents reactions would be if I drew comparisons between the radio talk-show hosts and the likes of Glenn Beck and others like him.
I think that there are many valuable lessons to be learned from watching the progression of a small communication problem becoming the end of a career and a school-change for Philip. There are so many instances along the way where if one character had just opened their mouth and said what they were really thinking, all the problems could have been solved. I also liked the foil of Philip's father getting in trouble at work and not speaking up either. There are people making mistakes all over the place, and it's not just the kids, so I think that would be nice for kids to read about.
I also thought the ending was just perfect. I think that target age for the novel would have to be 9th or 10th grade. It says "bitch" so middle school parents might get upset, and I think any older than 9th or 10th grade might not be interested enough in it, but I could be wrong.
This book is so different than most books. The story is told through documents. And it's not about two people's lives it's more like how one incident got out of hand and that lead to the ruin of two peoples' lives.
Philip realised how it had got out of hand and all the adults that he could talk to were completely oblivious. But that's how his parents act basically throughout the entire book. You can tell that they're trying but, they either just assume Philip's upset because of hormones or they ask briefly and never go any deeper. He's freaking out about track and his grades and his parents don't notice! There just SO OBSESSED with the whole humming/singing incident that they don't pay attention to the fact that all the kids at school are giving him a hard time now!
And DON"T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE POOR TEACHER! How could people really blame HER for his suspension? SERIOUSLY! SHE'S JUST THE TEACHER! And how come the school board can't seem to do anything right for the life of them!
HOW COME THE SCHOOL BOARD JUST TALKS TO THE PARENTS OR THE NEWSPAPERS OR SOMETHING! GOD! THEY WONDER WHY THE FACTS ARE ALL ONE-SIDED! THEY DON'T TELL PEOPLE THEIR STORY!
Don't get me wrong I loved this book. It felt 100% like this would happen in real life and Avi makes the diary entries and letters and conversations and everything else flow together perfectly!
Philip realised how it had got out of hand and all the adults that he could talk to were completely oblivious. But that's how his parents act basically throughout the entire book. You can tell that they're trying but, they either just assume Philip's upset because of hormones or they ask briefly and never go any deeper. He's freaking out about track and his grades and his parents don't notice! There just SO OBSESSED with the whole humming/singing incident that they don't pay attention to the fact that all the kids at school are giving him a hard time now!
And DON"T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE POOR TEACHER! How could people really blame HER for his suspension? SERIOUSLY! SHE'S JUST THE TEACHER! And how come the school board can't seem to do anything right for the life of them!
HOW COME THE SCHOOL BOARD JUST TALKS TO THE PARENTS OR THE NEWSPAPERS OR SOMETHING! GOD! THEY WONDER WHY THE FACTS ARE ALL ONE-SIDED! THEY DON'T TELL PEOPLE THEIR STORY!
Don't get me wrong I loved this book. It felt 100% like this would happen in real life and Avi makes the diary entries and letters and conversations and everything else flow together perfectly!
I had to read this for school, and honestly I did not go into it with high expectations. I assumed it would be a very simple, easy read that I wouldn't find much interest in. It did turn out to be an easy read, but it did have complexity. This book was a sure page turner, which I can honestly say after completing it in one sitting.
While I did not like the main character, the plot, in my opinion, was very realistic and intriguing. It shows how things can get out of hand, stories get twisted, especially by people with agendas such as a budget being passed. The student and the administrators somewhat twisted the truth, and a teacher took the blame unwillingly. It was interesting to watch the whole thing unfold. Things such as the initial insident in this book shouldn't be made into political matters, though maybe suspention was uncalled for (though the teacher was not on board with it.) That should have been the end of the issue, given the student a detention maybe instead of a suspention. I found the ending to be very realistic, and unlike others I liked it, though I'm not sure that's the correct word. Maybe it's better to say I appreciated it. The last line did clear up a question I had running in my head for quite some time, and I enjoyed the drama of it's presentation.
In conclusion, this was thoroughly an enjoyable read for me, and I'm obviously glad it was chosen for my summer reading list.
While I did not like the main character, the plot, in my opinion, was very realistic and intriguing. It shows how things can get out of hand, stories get twisted, especially by people with agendas such as a budget being passed. The student and the administrators somewhat twisted the truth, and a teacher took the blame unwillingly. It was interesting to watch the whole thing unfold. Things such as the initial insident in this book shouldn't be made into political matters, though maybe suspention was uncalled for (though the teacher was not on board with it.) That should have been the end of the issue, given the student a detention maybe instead of a suspention. I found the ending to be very realistic, and unlike others I liked it, though I'm not sure that's the correct word. Maybe it's better to say I appreciated it. The last line did clear up a question I had running in my head for quite some time, and I enjoyed the drama of it's presentation.
In conclusion, this was thoroughly an enjoyable read for me, and I'm obviously glad it was chosen for my summer reading list.
I read it with my class as part of Language Arts and I thought that it was an okay book. I mean, the only time I enjoyed reading it was when my class read it out loud. It was pretty boring to read by yourself. But good idea though.
This book didn't do anything except piss me off. You've got a Willy Loman dad teaching his kid that he doesn't have to take responsibility for a damned thing, a lazy administration, an innocent teacher, and a public out for her blood. I know the book is trying to make some point about different versions of the truth but to me, the kid is clearly in the wrong and no one bothers to teach him any kind of responsibility. I wanted to kick just about everyone in this book in the junk. The only real message I got out of this is that lazy, entitled assholes will continue to get their way because everyone else is stupid enough to keep giving it to them.
Great YA book that speaks to the intersection of nationalism versus patriotism. Incredibly apt in today's contentious political climate.
This is a book composed of sort of found documents or multimedia sources. It's transcripts of conversations and e-mail messages and newspaper clippings. It traces the story of Philip Malloy who has been suspended from school. He was accused of making a nuisance of himself in class by singing the national anthem. It's a really interesting story, and it traces the spread of misinformation in sort of the same way as the game "telephone" does. I was really surprised by this one. I couldn't quite give it five stars because I didn't really like the way it was written, but the plot definitely deserves it. So call it a 4.5 although I'm marking it as a 4. Perfect for middle grade and up.