about the book
Julian Twerski and his friends have just gotten back from a week-long suspension, imposed after they made a very bad decision that got someone hurt. None of them meant for it to happen.
When Julian learns that he will have to write a report on Shakespeare, he begins to dread it. What a boring piece of homework! After complaining to his English teacher, Julian is shocked when his teacher gives him an option:
Instead of the Shakespeare report, he can keep a daily journal, recording his sixth-grade experience and reflecting on it.
Thus begins Julian’s account of sixth-grade life, full of exploding homemade fireworks, the disastrous aftermath of writing a love letter for a best friend, and Julian’s efforts to maintain his reputation as the fastest kid in school.
The one thing Julian does not speak about?
What he did that got him suspended in the first place. But his teacher will not rest until Julian writes about it.
about the author
Mark Goldblatt was born in 1957 and is known for a variety of things in his nearly 60 years of life: he is a theologian, a political commentator, a journalist, an educator, and a novelist, to name a few.
Mark was educated in English at Queens College of the City University of New York, and then earned his doctorate in English literature at the CUNY Graduate Center. Since 1989, Mark has taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology at the State University of New York.
Source:
Author website
Author biography: Wikipedia
Also by Mark Goldblatt:
Finding the Worm (Twerp, Book 2). Random House Books for Young Readers. 2015.
read more!
Heads or Tails : Stories from the Sixth Grade by Jack Gantos
Jack has a pretty crazy life, which he chronicles in his diary. His family has lived in nine different houses since he was born. His older sister is terrifying, his younger brother is somewhat of a pest, and his parents are weird. So are his next door neighbors. Also, an alligator ate his dog…. Looks like a fun year!
Finding the Worm (Twerp, Book 2) by Mark Goldblattg
Julian’s in trouble again. First it was the bullying incident, and now he’s been accused of vandalizing a painting. But he didn’t do it. The principal doesn’t want to suspend Julian again, so he assigns Julian to write a 200-word essay on good citizenship instead. On top of having the ridiculous essay to write, Julian’s friend has cancer. How is any of this fair?
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Bully Tod Munn is tough, but these days it is hard to be a bully. Wimps are no longer coughing up lunch money. Who has lunch money anymore, anyway? And the teachers are cracking down on bullies harder than ever. Now Tod finds himself in daytime detention with the no-nonsense Mrs. Woodrow, forced to scrawl his thoughts in a beat-up notebook…