Book Description

A heartwarming middle-grade novel about friendship, family, and dogs.

Keath and his best friend Lynda are in the fourth grade. Some kids call Lynda "Zebra," because her mother's black and her father's white. And Keath is Whitey. He's vanilla in a chocolate school where Toothpick, a bully, has it in for him.

Lynda and Keath both love dogs. When Keath grows up, he wants to be a golden retriever. Dogs don't care about what color is the right one. Dogs don't hate anybody. Their favorite dog is Leftovers, Lynda's three-legged beagle. When he got hurt, his first owners gave up on him, but Lynda and Keath turn him into a winner, a pooch that shows Keath that sometimes it's good to stand out, to be special, and that even when you look different, there are ways to fit in. ... Read more

Book Description

A buggy sequel to Later, Gator.

Teddy's brother, Bobby, is a real pest. Not only is he sickly sweet and good with adults, but he has some strange friends-bugs. So when the school bully singles out Bobby for some special treatment, Teddy is reluctant to come to his rescue. But that's what big brothers are for, right?

Soon Teddy realizes that Bobby can save them from the bully. Bobby has a pet cockroach that will keep anyone at arm's length; or perhaps the answer lies in a batch of mysterious cookies from Bobby's creepy friend, the Bug Lady.

Filled with humor and warmth, this creepy-crawly tale is a tribute to resourcefulness and the unique relationship that only brothers share. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

wonderful brother tale
I am an adult who loves children's books and I found this one charming. It reminded me very much of my nephews, both the portrayal of the complex of sibling rivalry -- the older brother here thinks he is the only one with the right to beat up the younger one so he protects him from bullies while reserving the right to whack at him himself, the contrasts in the two boys' personalities, the way the younger one loves bugs while the older one is horrified by them. The relationship with the bully rings true for school boy fights as well as the discovery the brothers make about why the bully is so mean and the truce they develop with him. Lots of humor and gently affectionate, I can't wait to read it to my nephews.

A warm, involving story.
Streetwise Teddy avoids bullies and trouble but his younger brother seems to invite them and Teddy finds himself on the losing end of a bully's wrath in this gentle story about brothers, friends, and pets. Add a Chinese family's interactions and you have a warm and involving story.

bugs to bullies!
Bullies are a problem in schools and Yep's gentle story of two brothers working together to outwit the bully works on many levels. Using the fascination with insects is an effective plot device that will keep 8 - 10 year boys interested in a story that could help their social skills. ... Read more

Book Description

Shelley's just turned fourteen, but her life has turned upside down. When her mother lost her last job, she also lost their home. Shelley begins writing to Ziggy, the lead singer in her favorite band, Arctic 2000. Ziggy "speaks" to her with his lyrics, so she chooses him to confide in, as she's afraid to keep a diary in case her mother reads it:a lot of what she needs to write about is her mother's drinking problem. She's elated when she receives a postcard from him in reply:from Italy no less! Inspired and encouraged, she continues her correspondence, telling Ziggy about her growing problems with her mother, as well as trouble with some girls at school. And Ziggy always answers, usually with the phrase "Hang on in there, Shelley," but sometimes with something more, just enough so she knows he's listening,and he cares.

A strong and endearing character, Shelley shines through the situations she's faced with and comes out on top.
... Read more

Book Description

"Veena and I'd been best friends for five years. Sure, I knew other kids, but I'd never hung out with anyone else. I've never been good at going up to kids and starting conversations. Or phoning them. What would I say?... Veena, she understood me. She liked me, quiet and all. And she never freaked out about my spiders." ... Read more

Book Description

Thomas Hrodej's father, a tough Bohemian immigrant, helped build the Erie Canal.When Thomas is picked on by the town bullies, will he be as tough as his father?When they use the ultimate weapon...rumors and gossip, Thomas turns to the new, young Bohemian priest, Fr. Neumann for help.What he finds is a treasure!

Fun to read!Exciting Adventures! Faith Filled Journeys!Unit Study on Erie Canal included. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Teaching Faith through a Fun Story
Joan Stromberg started writing her Glory of America series to supply her children with good historical fiction that also celebrated their Catholic faith.In Thomas Finds a Friend, Mrs. Stromberg accomplishes just that, only for my children and yours too!

Thomas is a little boy in the mid-1800s who finds himself bullied by some local boys. His rescuer comes in the form of a holy priest, who we now know as Saint John Nuemann.

The story is engaging and my boys loved it.I highly recommend it for both the Catholic home and the Catholic school! ... Read more

Book Description

Louise has a problem, and his name is Jasper. Jasper thinks it's okay to bully Louise and the other kids into giving him their lunches and doing his work for their project on Ancient Egypt. But Louise isn't about to let anybody push her around. Leave it to Louise to take charge and come up with a clever plan to put a stop of Jasper's bossy ways.

"Fans of Patricia Reilly Giff's Polk Street Kids books will love this."--Booklist ... Read more

Book Description

Donald doesn't even know he's being insulted by Louisa, the class bully, when she names him King of the Kooties-but that's just the beginning of Louisa's war against Donald.And Donald doesn't do a very good job of protecting himself.So it's up to his best friend Nate to teach Donald to defend himself. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

blindside the bully
Bad books on bullying resolve the conflict by having the bully pledge eternal friendship after receiving Algebra (or English or History) lessons from the bullied. There are a lot of bad books about bullying out there. This isn't one of them. Highly recommended to be read aloud with a child on your lap. ... Read more

Book Description

A real bully!

That's what Dan is. He's mean to old Mr. and Mrs. Klunkett and their cat Nicodemus. He's mean to Alex's friends, too. But what can she do about it?

Of course Alex can pray for him—but does God expect her to do more than pray?

• Reminds kids that God always answers prayer, but not always in the way we expect

• Helps children learn appropriate ways to deal with bullies

• Teaches an important lesson on how prayer works

Every kid gets into the predicaments that Alex does—ones that start out small and mushroom. Readers will learn from Alex's mistakes and understand that they have the same sources of help that she turns to: a God who loves them and parents who understand.

You'll want to read all the books about Alex and her friends and family.

NANCY SIMPSON, who shares Alex's love of sports, lives in Texas.

 

 

Reviews (1)

Yes!
this book lets you journey with alex as she calls on Jesus to help her through her troubles-- an excellent books for all ages! ... Read more

Book Description

"I didn't like Willie Groves, but I didn't hate him enough to want someone to kidnap him."

Famous last words. Joey Bishop soon finds himself face-to-face with the kidnappers himself (as well as his archenemy) in this fast-paced, urban story that will leave you panting for your next breath. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

The Kidnappers by: Willo Davis Roberts
The Kidnappers
By Willo Davis Roberts
Sep.20, 20002

I read the greatest book this summer! The Kidnappers by Willo Davis Roberts takes place in the modern day about a boy who is kidnapped. A bully from school that always beats on people is standing outside the school waiting for his chauffeur and he is kidnapped. Nobody believed the only kid that saw the kidnapping because he was always making up stories. All of his family thought that he was making up another story but he told them to call Willie's parents. When they called Willie's parents their secretary said that they were busy and that was strange because they were never busy. Joey thought they had gone to dinner or someplace else.
My favorite character in the book is the bully Willie. The reason I like him is because he is the main victim and everything is happening to him and he is the one that has to go through the pain and the suffering. Another reason I like him is because he sounds like he is really nice on the inside and doesn't really want to bully other people. The main reason I like him is because he is one of the main characters in the book and I like the main characters. Ii don't like that he bully's other people because I don't like when I get bullied, so I know that all of the kids are probably afraid of him.
In conclusion, I liked the book because I like mystery books. The kind of reader that would like this book is someone that enjoys reading mystery books that you have to think about and try to solve on your own. Also, the kind of person that would like this book is a person that doesn't like to put a book down when they pick it up. I would like to recommend this book to anyone that is willing to read it because it is a really good book and anyone would like this book even if they didn't like to read mystery books. This book is sort of challenging to read, because if you don't pay good enough attention, then you will get lost and you won't know or understand what you are reading. This book is important to me because it shows that if you do bad things then you will have to pay the price. This book is also important to me because it shows me that if your always lying or making things up then when something really does happen, nobody will believe you. This is the greatest book that I read this summer and I hope that you will read it too.

The best Book Ever
The kidnappers is the best book around.I loved it from begging to end. I also like the wrighter of this book. I will always read her books. I also liked it becouse it is a mysterie and I couldn't put it down.

Fine read for the young teen
No gratuitous violence. No sex. No foul language.

What more could a parent or teacher want in a novel!!!

This is just a simple mystery about an enterprising lad with occasional flights of fantasy that witnesses the kidnapping of one of his tormenters at school. His attempts to rescue his antagonist places are jeopardized by his tendancy to "exaggerate". Family members, as well as the household help, don't believe him and he must use his own determination to make things right and save the life of the missing boy.

I highly recommended the book for any classroom or home library.

I Couldn't put it down!
I read a lot but had never heard of Willo Davis Roberts. So when i saw one of her books in the libraey i decided to check it out. I loved it! I couldn't put it down. i thought that the ending was great!You've always heard that the butler did it, this time it was the chaufer!

AWSOME book
I stummbled over this book at school when i had to do a report on any book at school.and the title the kidnappers just sounded amusing and i could never get my eyes off of it!im sure to get an A on my report! ... Read more

Book Description

Travis lives in a trailer park outside a small prairie town with his aunt, uncle, and a pack of rowdy little cousins. His mother, a country-and-western singer, is on the road a lot; his father is long gone. When things get crazy at his place he can always go visit his best friend, Chantelle, a smart disabled girl. Travis doesn't mind being poor and having strange relatives. But he knows he's different from his junior high classmates in other ways, too. He loves to sew and play with puppets. He wants to become a professional puppeteer. These interests make Travis a ripe target for Shon and his friends, the school thugs. As ninth grade graduation approaches and Travis and friends (including Shon's girlfriend) create a puppet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the taunts and schoolyard ambushes escalate until Shon's anger, jealousy, and prejudice erupt in violence. This touching story of the trials and tribulations of adolescence resonates with young adult readers. ... Read more

Book Description

Luther is a pet dinosaur&150a triceratops, to be exact&150though that doesn't stop him from trick-or-treating with the rest of the kids! But when Dracula starts stealing candy, it looks as though Halloween will be ruined. Is Luther brave enough to stand up to mean old Dracula? Vibrant illustrations and comic details set the stage for a night of ghoulish good fun in this delightful, not-too-spooky tale for young readers. ... Read more

Book Description

Tommy Wilhelm and his gang of bullies have never let fifth-grader Joshua

forget that he was held back in the third grade. Now Tommy has started picking

on a dorky new kid and Joshua must choose between sticking up for the nerd and

saving his own neck. "With a well-drawn school backdrop and a believable main

character, this is a perceptive story that makes it plain what it's like to be

an outcast and also what it takes to be a hero.Welcome back,

Joshua."--Booklist




... Read more

Reviews (3)

No more bullies
Both of my children gobbled up this delightful 1993 sequel to The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates in the second or third grade. There's great appeal in the realistic characters and dialogue. They fell in love with Joshua.

Joshua was entering the fifth grade. As the school year opened, however, the class (and school) bully, Tommy Wilhelm announced plans for a new "Nerds Out" club. Still sensitive to his failure to make fourth grade on time, Joshua at first refused to stand up to the gang.

That made things worse for him. They put the whole school on the defensive, but Joshua got the brunt of their nastiness--until, that is, they decided to pick on a new kid in the class who had no friends and liked Joshua. Worse, Joshua's mother told him to be nice to the new boy.

The N.O.s plotted and planned and pulled a very nasty prank, which worried the entire class, and all the teachers. It was up to Joshua to set things straight. And this he did, managing to put the class bully and his clique in their place. How, I can't say.

Parents, take note. This book is "just right" for kids moving on from early chapter readers. It's challenging but not too hard, and the charmer story line keeps them turning the pages. Alyssa A. Lappen

Funny, sweet, moving
Another frustrated children's author must have written the last review, because this sequel to the sweet and hilarious The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates is every bit as wonderful as the first book. Susan Shreve is one of our best young adult writers.

Like "The Flunking Of..." this is a horrible book.
The author of the "Joshua Bates" line does not exhibit much ability to write above the third grade level herself. It is a horrible book to expose young readers to, both for a poor story line and for terrible grammatical errors in the text. It is best avoided and has been removed from our curriculums allowed reading list. ... Read more

Book Description

Tombo, the self-proclaimed biggest, fastest, and strongest tadpole, teases and chases all the other tadpoles.Tombo finally learns that having friends is better than being King of the Pond.

Tombo the tadpole thinks he is the king of the pond.He brags that he is the biggest, the fastest, and the strongest tadpole, and teases and chases all the other tadpoles.However, while Tombo is showing off doing a triple flip, a boy catches him.The boy puts him into a fish tank and gives him fish flakes to eat, a food Tombo despises.When Tombo turns into a frog, the boy releases him back into his pond.Then Tombo discovers that he is no longer the biggest and fastest, but he does learn the value of friendship.

In this superbly illustrated book, Carl Sommer reveals the importance of respect for others, forgiveness, and sportsmanship. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

King of the Pond
King of the Pond is about a big bully named Tombo. He boasts to all his friends that he is the biggest, strongest and fastest tadpole in the pond. As the story continues a boy named Alex comes to the pond to catch fish. But instead sees Tombo and catching him for a pet. After Tombo returns to the pond as a frog he realizes how important friends are, as he returns now as the smallest FROG in the pond. Tombo learns a good lesson in the importance of friendship, forgiveness and of being a good sport.

Don't Be A Show Off!
King of the Pond, was a cute book as well as a book to learn from. It could be used in a science class for children to learn where frogs come from. It had excellent illustrations and a very good storyline. I'm sure glad that Tombo made it back to the pond. He learned a valuable lesson about boasting. Thanks Sommer, I will use this one in an integrated science lesson. ... Read more

Book Description