Realistic Fiction Books:
Definition: fictional story where people and events are realistic and could happen in real life. http://quizlet.com/dictionary/realistic-fiction/
*All images that are featured are from www.google.com
*All images that are featured are from www.google.com
Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos
Theme: Family and living with a disability
Characters: Joey, Joey's dad Carter, his mom, Joey's grandmom, Joey's dad's girlfriend Leezy Fiddle, and Pablo Joey's chihuahua.
Setting: Joey's dads house and baseball field
Joey is the main character and he is going to visit his dad for the first time ever since his dad and his mom had separated. Joey has a pet Chihuahua named Pablo. Joey’s mom is only sending him to his dads because his dad has claimed that he has cleaned up his act, has stopped drinking and has a job. In school Joey is in special education because he has ADD; he wears patches for his medicine to regulate his ADD. Joey sometimes gets into trouble, one time, he was playing with his dog and Joey found a dart set in his attic, he would spin around and throw the dart at the targets that he set up. By accident he became to dizzy and the dart had gone right threw his dog’s ear. His mom works in a salon and Joey lives with her.
Joey’s dad’s name is Carter and he lives in Pittsburg. He is the grown up version of Joey they can even shoot peanuts out of their nose, he was a compulsive and this was not good for conversation between two people, he is also a neat freak, and is very scattered brained; like how Joey felt when he was off of his medicine. He also coaches a baseball called the Steel City Sports and it was part of his community service after his arrest of biting a man. The baseball team is for kids who might have a chance of getting into trouble and this baseball team is their outlet for keeping busy instead of getting into trouble. Carter lives with his Joey’s Grandmother. The grandmother is a very heavy smoker, she has emphysema, and needs a lung transplant. She now needs an oxygen tank and likes to play golf. They way that she travels is by a shopping cart if she needs to go somewhere.
Joey’s dad took him to Storybook Land Fun Park and this was where Carter turned his life around after one drunken night in front of the Humpty Dumpty. Joey starts to learn more about his dad and that he was a criminal and had gone to jail for biting a man on his nose because of his beer. To relate to his father, Joey once cut off a girls nose tip with scissors. also learns from his grandmother that Carter has a secret dream to have a family again. Carter wanted to put Joey on the team because he wanted to win and Joey had a very good arm for pitching. Carter saw Joey’s coming to visit and be on the team as a chance to start new and create new memories with Joey now that Joey was back in his life. Carter had a girlfriend named Leezy Fiddle, she was the sport store sponsor for the team. She had red hair and helped to keep Carter calm if he got angry on the baseball field. Leezy met Joey when she was giving Joey a uniform with the number 17.
While he was playing he had a fear of leaving the mound because he thought that everything would fall apart if he left. To help him in vision that he was in control of the ball Carter compared Joey to a caveman with a rock because the caveman with the stick can’t do anything. To also help Joey concentrate he requested for his music player, grandmother, and his dog to be at the game. Carter had come to Joey one night after thinking about the best gift he could give Joey; it came to him when he was thinking about his last arrest of a DWI and when he was in jail there was no drinking so he overcame his problem cold turkey and this is how Carter thought he could help Joey with his “problem.” Carter threw Joey’s patches into the toilet and said, “It was a force of will and he could control his ADD himself without the medicine” and to join Joey in his idea, Carter got rid of his nicotine patches. Joey tried to fight Carter saying, that it was “his medicine” but Carter said the he wasn’t a “normal” kid. After this comment, it made Joey feel that he really did have a problem because Carter was saying that normal kids don’t need medicine every day. Joey finished brushing his teeth and in hopes to please Carter, Joey kept this from his mom.
When Joey took a trip downtown with Carter to where Carter worked as a janitor at the War Memorial, it was a test to see how Joey was off of his medicine. When Joey went into a department store he saw a mannequin, and it got him thinking about how these were the perfect kids and it made him feel bad that he wasn’t the perfect kid. After seeing this he pretended to be a mannequin in hope to see what it was like to be “normal.” Also on his adventure to be “normal” he stopped at an ice cream shop and got the bestselling flavors of chocolate and vanilla and *he didn’t like them. Joey liked to play the trumpet and wanted to practice on the bell-tower but instead he evaluated the day and after everything he said to himself he was finally “normal.” Joey learned from Carter that his grandfather was a farmer. Joey’s parents met when Carter was a bartender and Joey’s mom was a waitress. Joey found out as well that he was an accident because of his father not thinking when he told Joey.
Joey was had experienced a lot when he was at his dad’s house. Carter took Joey out and they went bungee jumping. When riding the bus with his grandmother, Joey annoyed the bus driver because he was playing in and out of the bus doors, and then the driver got fed up with Joey and left him behind. Joey got lost on the way to get his grandmother cigarettes with his phone money that his mom had given him. Carter let Joey drive the car. Carter got a tattoo on his arm of Joey’s baseball jersey and this was in place of his skull tattoo. Carter told Joey that when they won the baseball championship he would tattoo the record the 5 wins and 0 losses. Carter got the tattoo when he was out drinking and celebrating the win of the baseball game. Carter and Joey broke into Storybook Land at night and played with the bumper cars, and Carter got zapped by the pole from the electrical wire. Joey wanted leave Carter’s house because his dad was scaring him and he didn’t like his grandmother too much so he stole the car and crashed into the neighbor’s mailbox. He didn’t get in trouble because his dad thought he had done it when he was drunk had forgotten to put the car in park.
When Joey and Carter were at the final game, Joey’s ADD was getting the better of him and he was not pitching his best. Carter got upset and this scared Joey so he decided to climb the fence. When Joey was climbing the fence, Carter told him, “get back here and finish the mess you started, you retard.” Leezy was holding Carter back as Joey ran far away from the championship game. Joey went to the mall and stole some change from the wishing well and called his mom. He confessed that he was not taking his medicine and that he was scared because he was in trouble with Carter. Even though Joey’s mom’s license was slightly expired she borrowed a car and came to pick him up. Joey was hiding in the parking lot and thought that his mom had come to pick him up, but he was mistaken because it was Leezy, he had gotten her confused because both her and his mom both have red hair. Joey waited with Leezy until his mom arrived. Leezy met Joey’s mom and told them that they should go and she would keep Carter at bay. Before they could leave they had to find Pablo, when they went back to Carter’s house they found Pablo tied to the leash out front. Joey’s grandmother stood outside and waved goodbye and Joey was finally reunited with his family.
Characters: Joey, Joey's dad Carter, his mom, Joey's grandmom, Joey's dad's girlfriend Leezy Fiddle, and Pablo Joey's chihuahua.
Setting: Joey's dads house and baseball field
Joey is the main character and he is going to visit his dad for the first time ever since his dad and his mom had separated. Joey has a pet Chihuahua named Pablo. Joey’s mom is only sending him to his dads because his dad has claimed that he has cleaned up his act, has stopped drinking and has a job. In school Joey is in special education because he has ADD; he wears patches for his medicine to regulate his ADD. Joey sometimes gets into trouble, one time, he was playing with his dog and Joey found a dart set in his attic, he would spin around and throw the dart at the targets that he set up. By accident he became to dizzy and the dart had gone right threw his dog’s ear. His mom works in a salon and Joey lives with her.
Joey’s dad’s name is Carter and he lives in Pittsburg. He is the grown up version of Joey they can even shoot peanuts out of their nose, he was a compulsive and this was not good for conversation between two people, he is also a neat freak, and is very scattered brained; like how Joey felt when he was off of his medicine. He also coaches a baseball called the Steel City Sports and it was part of his community service after his arrest of biting a man. The baseball team is for kids who might have a chance of getting into trouble and this baseball team is their outlet for keeping busy instead of getting into trouble. Carter lives with his Joey’s Grandmother. The grandmother is a very heavy smoker, she has emphysema, and needs a lung transplant. She now needs an oxygen tank and likes to play golf. They way that she travels is by a shopping cart if she needs to go somewhere.
Joey’s dad took him to Storybook Land Fun Park and this was where Carter turned his life around after one drunken night in front of the Humpty Dumpty. Joey starts to learn more about his dad and that he was a criminal and had gone to jail for biting a man on his nose because of his beer. To relate to his father, Joey once cut off a girls nose tip with scissors. also learns from his grandmother that Carter has a secret dream to have a family again. Carter wanted to put Joey on the team because he wanted to win and Joey had a very good arm for pitching. Carter saw Joey’s coming to visit and be on the team as a chance to start new and create new memories with Joey now that Joey was back in his life. Carter had a girlfriend named Leezy Fiddle, she was the sport store sponsor for the team. She had red hair and helped to keep Carter calm if he got angry on the baseball field. Leezy met Joey when she was giving Joey a uniform with the number 17.
While he was playing he had a fear of leaving the mound because he thought that everything would fall apart if he left. To help him in vision that he was in control of the ball Carter compared Joey to a caveman with a rock because the caveman with the stick can’t do anything. To also help Joey concentrate he requested for his music player, grandmother, and his dog to be at the game. Carter had come to Joey one night after thinking about the best gift he could give Joey; it came to him when he was thinking about his last arrest of a DWI and when he was in jail there was no drinking so he overcame his problem cold turkey and this is how Carter thought he could help Joey with his “problem.” Carter threw Joey’s patches into the toilet and said, “It was a force of will and he could control his ADD himself without the medicine” and to join Joey in his idea, Carter got rid of his nicotine patches. Joey tried to fight Carter saying, that it was “his medicine” but Carter said the he wasn’t a “normal” kid. After this comment, it made Joey feel that he really did have a problem because Carter was saying that normal kids don’t need medicine every day. Joey finished brushing his teeth and in hopes to please Carter, Joey kept this from his mom.
When Joey took a trip downtown with Carter to where Carter worked as a janitor at the War Memorial, it was a test to see how Joey was off of his medicine. When Joey went into a department store he saw a mannequin, and it got him thinking about how these were the perfect kids and it made him feel bad that he wasn’t the perfect kid. After seeing this he pretended to be a mannequin in hope to see what it was like to be “normal.” Also on his adventure to be “normal” he stopped at an ice cream shop and got the bestselling flavors of chocolate and vanilla and *he didn’t like them. Joey liked to play the trumpet and wanted to practice on the bell-tower but instead he evaluated the day and after everything he said to himself he was finally “normal.” Joey learned from Carter that his grandfather was a farmer. Joey’s parents met when Carter was a bartender and Joey’s mom was a waitress. Joey found out as well that he was an accident because of his father not thinking when he told Joey.
Joey was had experienced a lot when he was at his dad’s house. Carter took Joey out and they went bungee jumping. When riding the bus with his grandmother, Joey annoyed the bus driver because he was playing in and out of the bus doors, and then the driver got fed up with Joey and left him behind. Joey got lost on the way to get his grandmother cigarettes with his phone money that his mom had given him. Carter let Joey drive the car. Carter got a tattoo on his arm of Joey’s baseball jersey and this was in place of his skull tattoo. Carter told Joey that when they won the baseball championship he would tattoo the record the 5 wins and 0 losses. Carter got the tattoo when he was out drinking and celebrating the win of the baseball game. Carter and Joey broke into Storybook Land at night and played with the bumper cars, and Carter got zapped by the pole from the electrical wire. Joey wanted leave Carter’s house because his dad was scaring him and he didn’t like his grandmother too much so he stole the car and crashed into the neighbor’s mailbox. He didn’t get in trouble because his dad thought he had done it when he was drunk had forgotten to put the car in park.
When Joey and Carter were at the final game, Joey’s ADD was getting the better of him and he was not pitching his best. Carter got upset and this scared Joey so he decided to climb the fence. When Joey was climbing the fence, Carter told him, “get back here and finish the mess you started, you retard.” Leezy was holding Carter back as Joey ran far away from the championship game. Joey went to the mall and stole some change from the wishing well and called his mom. He confessed that he was not taking his medicine and that he was scared because he was in trouble with Carter. Even though Joey’s mom’s license was slightly expired she borrowed a car and came to pick him up. Joey was hiding in the parking lot and thought that his mom had come to pick him up, but he was mistaken because it was Leezy, he had gotten her confused because both her and his mom both have red hair. Joey waited with Leezy until his mom arrived. Leezy met Joey’s mom and told them that they should go and she would keep Carter at bay. Before they could leave they had to find Pablo, when they went back to Carter’s house they found Pablo tied to the leash out front. Joey’s grandmother stood outside and waved goodbye and Joey was finally reunited with his family.
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Theme: Family and appreciation of nature
Characters: a girl, her father, and an owl
Setting: Woods
This story takes place in the winter time with a girl and her father; they are going out to the woods to go owling. As they were walking she was very observant of the things leading up to getting into the woods; such as how when they got closer to the woods things started to become much more quite, how her feet crunched in the snow, and the comparison of her shadow being short and round as compared to her father’s who’s was a long shadow. She had to be very quiet and she made sure that she did not make a sound because she had been waiting to experience this with her father for and “long, long time.” To find the owls, her dad made a calling sound that owls make and not long after this there was an owl in the air owl that had responded and flew over to where they were. When her father put his flashlight on they found the owl and were able to see it up close. Then only for a hundred minutes they came face to face with the owl and then they headed for home.
Characters: a girl, her father, and an owl
Setting: Woods
This story takes place in the winter time with a girl and her father; they are going out to the woods to go owling. As they were walking she was very observant of the things leading up to getting into the woods; such as how when they got closer to the woods things started to become much more quite, how her feet crunched in the snow, and the comparison of her shadow being short and round as compared to her father’s who’s was a long shadow. She had to be very quiet and she made sure that she did not make a sound because she had been waiting to experience this with her father for and “long, long time.” To find the owls, her dad made a calling sound that owls make and not long after this there was an owl in the air owl that had responded and flew over to where they were. When her father put his flashlight on they found the owl and were able to see it up close. Then only for a hundred minutes they came face to face with the owl and then they headed for home.
I Can Be Anything! by Jerry Spinelli
Theme: Believing in yourself
Characters: A boy and a bunny
Setting: No specific setting
A boy is talking to a bunny and asks what he can be when he grows up. This book was written to have each of the words rhyme as they boy went through the list of what he could be. The boy comes to the conclusion that he wants every job he went through.
Characters: A boy and a bunny
Setting: No specific setting
A boy is talking to a bunny and asks what he can be when he grows up. This book was written to have each of the words rhyme as they boy went through the list of what he could be. The boy comes to the conclusion that he wants every job he went through.
Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
Theme: Family, responsibility, misunderstanding, and growing up
Characters: Ramona Quimby, Beezus Quimby, Mr. Quimby, Howie, and Mary Jane
Setting: School and Ramona's home are the main settings and Ramona also is baby sat at her friend Howie
This book is about a series of events that happen to Ramona Quimby who is 8 years old. She must deal with the challenges of starting a new school, getting her eraser stolen by the boy she calls Yard Ape, the embarrassment of accidentally smashing an egg on her head, throwing up on the floor in front of her class, dealing with the stomach flu, and as a punishment for her and her sister Beezus, Ramona must make her parents a chicken dinner topped with banana yogurt and chili powder and cornbread made with yogurt and Cream of Wheat. Her adventure doesn’t end here for a book report she sell the book that she has read called, “Left-Behind Cat” and through all of this she has to deal with her pesky four year babysitters granddaughter Will Jean.
Characters: Ramona Quimby, Beezus Quimby, Mr. Quimby, Howie, and Mary Jane
Setting: School and Ramona's home are the main settings and Ramona also is baby sat at her friend Howie
This book is about a series of events that happen to Ramona Quimby who is 8 years old. She must deal with the challenges of starting a new school, getting her eraser stolen by the boy she calls Yard Ape, the embarrassment of accidentally smashing an egg on her head, throwing up on the floor in front of her class, dealing with the stomach flu, and as a punishment for her and her sister Beezus, Ramona must make her parents a chicken dinner topped with banana yogurt and chili powder and cornbread made with yogurt and Cream of Wheat. Her adventure doesn’t end here for a book report she sell the book that she has read called, “Left-Behind Cat” and through all of this she has to deal with her pesky four year babysitters granddaughter Will Jean.
Superfudge by Judy Blume
Theme: Family and change
Characters: Peter Hatcher, Mom (Anne), Dad (Warren), Fudge, Turtle (family dog), Jimmy Fargo, Sheila Tubman, Henry, Mr. Bogner, Tamara Roxanne, Alex Santo, Mrs. Muldour
Setting: New Jersey
The story begins with Peter getting told that his mom is going to have a baby. He was not happy about this and felt left out of the decision of having another child in the family. He had planned to move out but he changed his mind. The baby had arrived and they called her Tamara Roxanne but they nicknamed Tootsie. Peter was concerned that now they had a family named after a chocolate factor; Tootsie and Fudge. Both the boys were having a hard time with having the new baby around; Fudge because he wasn’t considered the baby anymore and Peter because of how much noise she made; he also felt that he wasn’t an important part of the family. Their grandmother came to help their mom with the baby and got Libby Tubman to babysit Fudge. Their mom was also considering going back to school for Art History and taking a few college courses to change from her occupation of dental assisting.
While the family was sitting down together the dad had given some news to the family that they would be moving to Princeton in New Jersey and moving into their friend Millie and George’s house while they travel to Europe for a year. They would be moving for a year so that Their dad could work on his book about the history of advertising and its effects on the American people. His mom would also consider taking classes at Princeton University. Since they would be moving they would not be taking their vacation to Maine that they did every summer. Peter was very upset about not being included in this decision because then he would have to go to a new school with his little brother; Peter would be in sixth grade and Fudge would be in kindergarten. Their dad took a leave of absence from his job so that way he could spend more time at home with the family. As Peter was packing he took his map and the Kreskin’s Crystal that Jimmy gave him for his birthday, this helped him to sleep and Peter gave Jimmy a rock and they made a deal before Peter left not to use either of each other’s gifts.
When they moved into their new home Peter met a boy his age named Alex Santo; he live across the street and he was a single child, when things happened with Fudge he didn’t understand much, and he was going into the same grade as Peter. Peter joined Alex as his business partner in selling worms to Mrs. Muldour. She doesn’t say what she does with the worms but the boys came to the conclusion that she eats them and makes different things like a stew or juice. As a trick to get more money they cut the worms in half and when they gave the worms to Mrs. Muldour she commented on how small they looked but Peter made up a lie saying that they would get bigger later in the summer.
When the first day of school came Peter wanted to ride his bike to school but his mom had asked if he could walk his brother to school. Peter and Alex rode as Fudge ran alongside of them but Peter felt bad so he put Fudge on the crossbar of his bike. In class Peter met a girl named Joanne McFadden and just when he was going to talk to her he was called over the loud speaker to go to Mr. Green’s (principal) office. He was called down because of the ruckus that Fudge was making in his new classroom with his teacher Mrs. Hildebrandt. Fudge had climbed on top of the cabinets that were on the cubbies just inches from the ceiling. He climbed up because his teacher refused to call him by his nickname, Fudge. She refused to call him Fudge because it was not a proper name she preferred to call him by his real name, Farley Drexel Hatcher. She would call him by his first or middle name or just F.D. but not Fudge she said it was a good name for candy not a boy. She was very rude and insulted his family for the nickname they gave him. After all this Fudge would be moved to a new classroom with a new teacher named Ms. Ziff. As Fudge was carried out by Peter to his new room his old teacher told him goodbye with his full name and he retaliated by calling her Rat Face.
Fudge had gotten a pet myna bird that was black, with yellow legs and nose. The bird talked and could say hello in French. Fudge named him Uncle Feathers. Since he had this bird he no longer slept outside of his parent’s room because Fudge said that his bird needed him and even brought him in to show off for show and tell.
While Alex and Peter were downtown they saw an art gallery with a painting; it was all white with two black circles in the middle and a red square in the upper left-hand corner it was called Anita’s Anger by Frank Fargo who was his best friend’s father from home. They also met the woman that worked in the gallery; Peter nicknamed her giraffe neck because of how tall she was and she also spoke with them about how famous a painter Frank was becoming. Peter spoke with his parents and they had considered buying the painting and knew he was becoming famous and that was just one more thing that Peter felt left out of knowing. Then Peter found out that they may be able to afford the painting because his mother was going to work a part-time job for dentist in town. When Peter heard this and knew that she wasn’t going to be taking her classes he blamed this on his father for making the decision to write the book. After this Peter got very frustrated and was upset because of all the new change that was happening in his life and he was uncertain about his feeling about everything (Mom going back to work, dad writing a book, new place to live, Tootsie being born, fudge in kindergarten, and himself in sixth grade) everything seemed to be different and so he decided to call Jimmy; the one thing from his life that hadn’t changed. Jimmy was still his best friend who still lived in the same place.
When he called Jimmy he found out that Sheila Tubman missed him and that both of them had broken the promise of not using one another gifts. Jimmy also revealed the working behind his dads art work was due to his parent’s divorce, it was right before his mom left for Vermont. One night they had a big fight and she threw red paint on the canvas and that is how the red square got there.
It was Halloween and Alex, Peter, and Fudge had gotten dressed up to go out trick or treating. Alex had dressed up as “Anita’s Anger,” Peter had borrowed Fudge’s face disguise toy and Fudge was a ghost. When they went to Mrs. Muldour’s house to trick or treat she saw Alex’s costume and called over her daughter who was the woman from the art store and her name was Beverly. Then Fudge said something that made this night worthwhile, he asked Mrs. Muldour if she ate worms and rated out that Peter said she did eat worms. Mrs. Muldour went along with the joke saying that they did in fact eat worms.
Fudge had made a new friend named Daniel Manheim, he was pudgy with lots of red hair and with ears that stuck out and he was a know-it-all. He knew everything about Fudges bird and was lecturing Fudge about what he knew and he had a very picky appetite.
Jimmy Fargo had come to visit and Alex had come over to meet Jimmy. At first they were rivals because they both had become close with Peter; to break the tension Peter’s mom took the boys to the movies to see Superman, along with Fudge and his friend Daniel tagged along. On their way they stopped at the art gallery and introduced Jimmy to Beverly and after a short talk she said she would like to meet his father one day and both Jimmy and Peter thought they would make a nice couple.
At the movies it was a nice surprise when he saw Joanne McFadden, she was with two other girls; Sharon who is described as either looking at the ground or the sky and Elaine who likes to punch guys in the stomach. Elaine put Danny in his place because after he introduced himself along with his street address he said want to make something of it and she scared him by putting her fists and put them to his nose. The girls bought the guys tickets and Jimmy was interested in Sharon but Sharon just looked at the sky and Joanne met Fudge. Joanne sat next to Peter and their hands were touching; as soon as Lois Lane was about to be kissed by Superman Fudge put ice down Peters back. After Joanne cleaned him up she held his hand and the boys teased him after. The boys had now become friends Peter started to feel left out.
For Christmas Fudge got a new bike and could ride to school. When Fudge did ride to school he got all scraped up because he crashed into the bike rack and had to go to Miss Elliot, the nurse and get cleaned up. They had a meeting in the auditorium that day and were introduced by Mrs. Morgan, the librarian to children’s author, Brian Tumkin. Brian pretended that he had an imaginary friend and Fudge said that he saw him and came up onto the stage and was able to use all of the words he had learned at home. Brian played a game with Fudge; Fudge had to describe someone and Brain would draw them. It turned out to be the principal that Brian drew.
Fudge played a horrible trick on his brother by saying that he was going to be late for school but it was Saturday. Since Peter couldn’t go back to sleep he helped change Tootsie and he heard her first word was yuck. Alex and Peter decided to have a picnic at the lake and watch the university crew team. When Fudge saw Peter making sandwiches he wanted to come along to the picnic but because of what happened in the morning and lying about being sorry to Peter, he was not allowed to come. When Peter came back they found that Fudge was not around, both Fudge and Daniel had lied to their parents saying that they were at one another’s houses. After their parents had realized this they went looking for them while Peter and the mom stayed at the house if the phone were to ring and sure enough Fudge called and said they were at Sandy’s Bakery. As a punishment Fudge and Daniel’s bikes had gotten taken away. Peter and Fudge’s dad had decided to go back to work and their mom wanted to start taking some Art History classes at NYU in Greenwich Village. Their parents were discussing the idea but before they made any decisions they asked Peter, for the first time, what he would like to do; if he would like to stay in the city, or move back. The family had decided to move back into the city.
Characters: Peter Hatcher, Mom (Anne), Dad (Warren), Fudge, Turtle (family dog), Jimmy Fargo, Sheila Tubman, Henry, Mr. Bogner, Tamara Roxanne, Alex Santo, Mrs. Muldour
Setting: New Jersey
The story begins with Peter getting told that his mom is going to have a baby. He was not happy about this and felt left out of the decision of having another child in the family. He had planned to move out but he changed his mind. The baby had arrived and they called her Tamara Roxanne but they nicknamed Tootsie. Peter was concerned that now they had a family named after a chocolate factor; Tootsie and Fudge. Both the boys were having a hard time with having the new baby around; Fudge because he wasn’t considered the baby anymore and Peter because of how much noise she made; he also felt that he wasn’t an important part of the family. Their grandmother came to help their mom with the baby and got Libby Tubman to babysit Fudge. Their mom was also considering going back to school for Art History and taking a few college courses to change from her occupation of dental assisting.
While the family was sitting down together the dad had given some news to the family that they would be moving to Princeton in New Jersey and moving into their friend Millie and George’s house while they travel to Europe for a year. They would be moving for a year so that Their dad could work on his book about the history of advertising and its effects on the American people. His mom would also consider taking classes at Princeton University. Since they would be moving they would not be taking their vacation to Maine that they did every summer. Peter was very upset about not being included in this decision because then he would have to go to a new school with his little brother; Peter would be in sixth grade and Fudge would be in kindergarten. Their dad took a leave of absence from his job so that way he could spend more time at home with the family. As Peter was packing he took his map and the Kreskin’s Crystal that Jimmy gave him for his birthday, this helped him to sleep and Peter gave Jimmy a rock and they made a deal before Peter left not to use either of each other’s gifts.
When they moved into their new home Peter met a boy his age named Alex Santo; he live across the street and he was a single child, when things happened with Fudge he didn’t understand much, and he was going into the same grade as Peter. Peter joined Alex as his business partner in selling worms to Mrs. Muldour. She doesn’t say what she does with the worms but the boys came to the conclusion that she eats them and makes different things like a stew or juice. As a trick to get more money they cut the worms in half and when they gave the worms to Mrs. Muldour she commented on how small they looked but Peter made up a lie saying that they would get bigger later in the summer.
When the first day of school came Peter wanted to ride his bike to school but his mom had asked if he could walk his brother to school. Peter and Alex rode as Fudge ran alongside of them but Peter felt bad so he put Fudge on the crossbar of his bike. In class Peter met a girl named Joanne McFadden and just when he was going to talk to her he was called over the loud speaker to go to Mr. Green’s (principal) office. He was called down because of the ruckus that Fudge was making in his new classroom with his teacher Mrs. Hildebrandt. Fudge had climbed on top of the cabinets that were on the cubbies just inches from the ceiling. He climbed up because his teacher refused to call him by his nickname, Fudge. She refused to call him Fudge because it was not a proper name she preferred to call him by his real name, Farley Drexel Hatcher. She would call him by his first or middle name or just F.D. but not Fudge she said it was a good name for candy not a boy. She was very rude and insulted his family for the nickname they gave him. After all this Fudge would be moved to a new classroom with a new teacher named Ms. Ziff. As Fudge was carried out by Peter to his new room his old teacher told him goodbye with his full name and he retaliated by calling her Rat Face.
Fudge had gotten a pet myna bird that was black, with yellow legs and nose. The bird talked and could say hello in French. Fudge named him Uncle Feathers. Since he had this bird he no longer slept outside of his parent’s room because Fudge said that his bird needed him and even brought him in to show off for show and tell.
While Alex and Peter were downtown they saw an art gallery with a painting; it was all white with two black circles in the middle and a red square in the upper left-hand corner it was called Anita’s Anger by Frank Fargo who was his best friend’s father from home. They also met the woman that worked in the gallery; Peter nicknamed her giraffe neck because of how tall she was and she also spoke with them about how famous a painter Frank was becoming. Peter spoke with his parents and they had considered buying the painting and knew he was becoming famous and that was just one more thing that Peter felt left out of knowing. Then Peter found out that they may be able to afford the painting because his mother was going to work a part-time job for dentist in town. When Peter heard this and knew that she wasn’t going to be taking her classes he blamed this on his father for making the decision to write the book. After this Peter got very frustrated and was upset because of all the new change that was happening in his life and he was uncertain about his feeling about everything (Mom going back to work, dad writing a book, new place to live, Tootsie being born, fudge in kindergarten, and himself in sixth grade) everything seemed to be different and so he decided to call Jimmy; the one thing from his life that hadn’t changed. Jimmy was still his best friend who still lived in the same place.
When he called Jimmy he found out that Sheila Tubman missed him and that both of them had broken the promise of not using one another gifts. Jimmy also revealed the working behind his dads art work was due to his parent’s divorce, it was right before his mom left for Vermont. One night they had a big fight and she threw red paint on the canvas and that is how the red square got there.
It was Halloween and Alex, Peter, and Fudge had gotten dressed up to go out trick or treating. Alex had dressed up as “Anita’s Anger,” Peter had borrowed Fudge’s face disguise toy and Fudge was a ghost. When they went to Mrs. Muldour’s house to trick or treat she saw Alex’s costume and called over her daughter who was the woman from the art store and her name was Beverly. Then Fudge said something that made this night worthwhile, he asked Mrs. Muldour if she ate worms and rated out that Peter said she did eat worms. Mrs. Muldour went along with the joke saying that they did in fact eat worms.
Fudge had made a new friend named Daniel Manheim, he was pudgy with lots of red hair and with ears that stuck out and he was a know-it-all. He knew everything about Fudges bird and was lecturing Fudge about what he knew and he had a very picky appetite.
Jimmy Fargo had come to visit and Alex had come over to meet Jimmy. At first they were rivals because they both had become close with Peter; to break the tension Peter’s mom took the boys to the movies to see Superman, along with Fudge and his friend Daniel tagged along. On their way they stopped at the art gallery and introduced Jimmy to Beverly and after a short talk she said she would like to meet his father one day and both Jimmy and Peter thought they would make a nice couple.
At the movies it was a nice surprise when he saw Joanne McFadden, she was with two other girls; Sharon who is described as either looking at the ground or the sky and Elaine who likes to punch guys in the stomach. Elaine put Danny in his place because after he introduced himself along with his street address he said want to make something of it and she scared him by putting her fists and put them to his nose. The girls bought the guys tickets and Jimmy was interested in Sharon but Sharon just looked at the sky and Joanne met Fudge. Joanne sat next to Peter and their hands were touching; as soon as Lois Lane was about to be kissed by Superman Fudge put ice down Peters back. After Joanne cleaned him up she held his hand and the boys teased him after. The boys had now become friends Peter started to feel left out.
For Christmas Fudge got a new bike and could ride to school. When Fudge did ride to school he got all scraped up because he crashed into the bike rack and had to go to Miss Elliot, the nurse and get cleaned up. They had a meeting in the auditorium that day and were introduced by Mrs. Morgan, the librarian to children’s author, Brian Tumkin. Brian pretended that he had an imaginary friend and Fudge said that he saw him and came up onto the stage and was able to use all of the words he had learned at home. Brian played a game with Fudge; Fudge had to describe someone and Brain would draw them. It turned out to be the principal that Brian drew.
Fudge played a horrible trick on his brother by saying that he was going to be late for school but it was Saturday. Since Peter couldn’t go back to sleep he helped change Tootsie and he heard her first word was yuck. Alex and Peter decided to have a picnic at the lake and watch the university crew team. When Fudge saw Peter making sandwiches he wanted to come along to the picnic but because of what happened in the morning and lying about being sorry to Peter, he was not allowed to come. When Peter came back they found that Fudge was not around, both Fudge and Daniel had lied to their parents saying that they were at one another’s houses. After their parents had realized this they went looking for them while Peter and the mom stayed at the house if the phone were to ring and sure enough Fudge called and said they were at Sandy’s Bakery. As a punishment Fudge and Daniel’s bikes had gotten taken away. Peter and Fudge’s dad had decided to go back to work and their mom wanted to start taking some Art History classes at NYU in Greenwich Village. Their parents were discussing the idea but before they made any decisions they asked Peter, for the first time, what he would like to do; if he would like to stay in the city, or move back. The family had decided to move back into the city.
When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
Theme: Family
Characters: Brother, sister, grandmother, and grandfather
Setting: Mountains and grandparent's house
The story is told through the girl’s perspective about when she and her brother were young in the mountains and the memories that they shared at the mountains. They stayed with their grandfather who was a coal miner and their grandmother who stayed at home to prepare the meals and take care of the land. They would go swimming, stop at Mr. and Mrs. Crawford’s for butter, get water for their baths, to heat up after they would warm by the stove as their grandmother made hot chocolate, they would go to church and their cousin Peter got baptized, getting a picture with a snake if their grandmother didn’t kill it, and spending time with her family on the porch at night. She never wanted to be anywhere else but right where she was.
Characters: Brother, sister, grandmother, and grandfather
Setting: Mountains and grandparent's house
The story is told through the girl’s perspective about when she and her brother were young in the mountains and the memories that they shared at the mountains. They stayed with their grandfather who was a coal miner and their grandmother who stayed at home to prepare the meals and take care of the land. They would go swimming, stop at Mr. and Mrs. Crawford’s for butter, get water for their baths, to heat up after they would warm by the stove as their grandmother made hot chocolate, they would go to church and their cousin Peter got baptized, getting a picture with a snake if their grandmother didn’t kill it, and spending time with her family on the porch at night. She never wanted to be anywhere else but right where she was.
Junie B., First Grader (at Last!) by Barbara Park
Theme: Friendship, being confident with yourself and your differences
Characters: Junie B. Jones, May, Mr. Scary- Teacher, Dad and Mom, Lucille, Camille, Chenille, Grace, Bobbi Jean Piper, Mr. Woo, Herb, Lennie, Jose, and Mrs. Weller
Setting: School, nurses office, home, bus, and eye doctors.
This book is about a girl named Junie B. Jones and she is entering into first grade for the first time. She is nervous and on top of being in a new classroom with whole new surroundings, she discovers that she cannot clearly read the board and may have to get glasses. This book also touches on the meaning of friendship and how important it is to have some good friends by your side.
Characters: Junie B. Jones, May, Mr. Scary- Teacher, Dad and Mom, Lucille, Camille, Chenille, Grace, Bobbi Jean Piper, Mr. Woo, Herb, Lennie, Jose, and Mrs. Weller
Setting: School, nurses office, home, bus, and eye doctors.
This book is about a girl named Junie B. Jones and she is entering into first grade for the first time. She is nervous and on top of being in a new classroom with whole new surroundings, she discovers that she cannot clearly read the board and may have to get glasses. This book also touches on the meaning of friendship and how important it is to have some good friends by your side.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
Theme: Friendship
Characters: Amos McGee and his zoo animals
Setting: Zoo and Amos McGee's house
This story is about Amos McGee, he was an early riser and had his whole morning planed out before he went to work. He is a zoo keeper who likes to spend time with different animals. He played chess with the elephant who thought about every move, ran races with the tortoise who never lost, sat quietly with the penguin who was shy, lent a handkerchief to the rhinoceros whose nose was always runny, and at sunset read stories to the owl who was afraid of the dark. Then Amos became sick and when he did not come to work to perform his normal routine with the animals the animals went to his home so that they could spend time with him and he could do his routine right in his home with some changes. He played chess with the elephant but Amos thought about every move, played hide-and-seek with the tortoise, took a nap with the penguin and his red balloon, the rhinoceros had a handkerchief waiting for him when he sneezed, and after tea and the alarm clock was set the owl read everyone a story because Amos was afraid of the dark.
Characters: Amos McGee and his zoo animals
Setting: Zoo and Amos McGee's house
This story is about Amos McGee, he was an early riser and had his whole morning planed out before he went to work. He is a zoo keeper who likes to spend time with different animals. He played chess with the elephant who thought about every move, ran races with the tortoise who never lost, sat quietly with the penguin who was shy, lent a handkerchief to the rhinoceros whose nose was always runny, and at sunset read stories to the owl who was afraid of the dark. Then Amos became sick and when he did not come to work to perform his normal routine with the animals the animals went to his home so that they could spend time with him and he could do his routine right in his home with some changes. He played chess with the elephant but Amos thought about every move, played hide-and-seek with the tortoise, took a nap with the penguin and his red balloon, the rhinoceros had a handkerchief waiting for him when he sneezed, and after tea and the alarm clock was set the owl read everyone a story because Amos was afraid of the dark.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Theme: Friendship and loyalty, family, and honesty
Characters: Greg Heffley, Bryce Anderson, Rowley Jefferson, Rodrick, Darren Walsh, Dad, Mom, Manny, Fregley, Marty Porter, Preston Mudd, Vice Principal Roy, Mr. Winsky, Chirag Gupta
Setting: School, Greg Heffley’s house, and Rowley Jefferson’s house
This book starts out by first explaining that this diary was really a journal but by his mom’s mistake she bought him a book that said diary on it. The only reason that he decided to write in this was so that when he was rich and famous he would not have to answer any questions. The reader is introduced to Greg Heffley he is starting middle school and is worried about fitting in and seeming attractive to girls. He is not very popular according to him he is somewhere between 52nd and 53rd most popular. He thinks middle school is a dumb idea and if it were up to him he would have it based on height not age because of the bullying situation.
Next the reader is introduced to the dreadful stinky cheese on the blacktop. If someone touches the cheese you have the “cheese touch” and that is equivalent to having cooties. The only way to protect yourself was to cross your fingers. Abe Hall got the cheese touch and no one approached him all year but then he moved away to California.
Greg was put in the gifted reading group at school even though he tried not to be so he could get out of doing more work. Greg is unsure if Rowley will stay his best friend because of how he embarrassed him by saying do you want to come to my house and play. Greg is all about keeping a cool image now that he is in middle school but Rowley is not quite up to speed with the cool factor just yet; Rowley is ok with reading his comic books. His parents are very protective and won’t allow him to play the latest video games because they have violence. In fact the way that Greg and Rowley met was his mom bought him a book called, “How to Make Friends in New Places” and told Greg a silly joke and he mostly became friend with Rowley because he felt bad for him and wanted to take him under his wing. Greg also likes being his friend because all the tricks his older brother pulls on him he can pull on Rowley. Next, the reader is introduced to Manny the little brother that gets away with everything. Anything that he does is mostly blamed on Greg.
Greg and Rowley are good for getting into trouble on their adventure like when they had a Halloween adventure and they went to a haunted house that gave them the idea to start their own. But it backfired on them and Rowley just got grounded. When they went trick or treating they got attacked by teenaged boys with fire extinguishers and then as they drove away Greg said he would call the cops and then Greg and Rowley hid out in Greg’s grandmother’s house and her house got teepee the next day. The boys had planned to stay but Greg’s mom wasn’t too happy so they had to go home and then they both got splashed with water by Greg’s dad.
Greg and Rowley’s next adventure lies within the school play of The Wizard of Oz and Greg’s mom had made him sign up for this but it did have a plus because a girl named Patty Farrell was Dorothy; she was the girl that ratted out that the map was showing during a Geography quiz that Greg didn’t study for so it turned out that he failed. This play turned out to be his revenge on Patty. Mrs. Norton who is directing the play showed the movie so everyone would know the story and Greg wanted to be a tree so he could throw apples at Patty. He also wanted to be a tree for no lines but he wasn’t that lucky; he got one line and a song to sing. Not only did he have to deal with this but when his younger brother was in the audience he called Greg, Bubby but luckily Greg blamed it on the other tree. When the song didn’t go as planned they tried to get Patty out on the stage but as she was standing in the wing of the curtain, Greg picked up and apple and threw it at her; then all of the other trees followed. It turned out that someone knocked off Patty’s glasses and broke one of her lenses; since she couldn’t see without her glasses the play had to be shut down.
It was now Christmas time and this was always an interesting time of year for Greg. One year he wanted a Barbie dream house for his soldiers to have a fort; he asked his Uncle Charlie and instead he got a Barbie Doll. Greg ended up in the emergency room with a pink Barbie shoe up his nose. This year Manny got everything he wanted and it was the opposite year for Greg; he didn’t get many presents, his brother gave him a L’li Cutie’s comic which he later gave to Rowley, Uncle Charlie who was known for the best gifts gave him an 8 by 10 picture of himself, Dad got him a new weight set but he had lost interest after wrestling stopped, and when Greg’s mom gave her gift she had, by accident, given him the sweater that was supposed to be donated to the needy and the video game “Twisted Wizard” was given to the person who was needy. Rowley got Greg a big wheel which they later used to play with and the game was that the guy that has the football has to hit the guy who is riding the big wheel down the hill. As Greg was going to hit Rowley’s shoulder he missed and hit the front of his tire and broke Rowley’s hand. After Greg saw how much attention Rowley was getting from his hand, Greg tried to get the same attention with his cast but Greg said his hand was an infection and needless to say a lot of people did not feel sorry for a splinter that was left untreated.
Rowley and Greg had signed up to be on the Safety Patrol and got their belts and badges. Many perks came to having this job; they would get out of Pre-Algebra twenty minutes early, since they didn’t have a post like the others they didn’t have to stand out in the cold before school, free hot chocolate, they could show up for first period ten minutes late, and their only assignment was to walk the kindergartners home from school.
To give Greg a taste of the fame he was hoping for he tried out for the open cartoonist job at school. Greg and Rowley teamed up to work on a comic. Greg came up with the punch line for the strip saying, “Zoo-Wee Mama!” he did this so they wouldn’t have to make jokes. When Rowley took over the Zoo-Wee Mama comic strip because Greg got tired of it they both did their own comics and Greg made a new comic about “Creighton the Cretin.” Greg had won the spot of the new cartoonist but it was because the teacher Mr. Ira had made some changes to his comic to something informational about math rather than being funny.
One day Rowley had to take a quiz and Greg borrowed his jacket and walked the kindergartners home alone and was tormenting the kindergartners with worms but Mrs. Irvine, who is friends with Rowley’s Mom, thought it was Rowley. Greg didn’t correct her and let Rowley take the blame. Now Rowley would have to apologize to the kindergartners and he was suspended from Patrols for disrespecting the badge for a week. Greg didn’t confess because he was afraid of losing all of his privileges, but he did tell Rowley the truth about what had happened.
The next day Greg was kicked off of the Safety Patrol because Rowley told the principal about what had happened. After this Rowley got promoted to captain because according to the principal he exhibited dignity under false suspicion. The only reason Greg was nice to Rowley after this had occurred was because of the trip to Six Flags. After this their friendship seemed to start to deteriorate and Rowley found a new best friend Collin Lee; they even made t-shirts to say it was official. Greg was left to hang out with Fregley, Greg did this as a way of getting back at Rowley for getting a new best friend. Greg and Fregley had a sleepover and before they went into the house Fregley was stabbing a kite and it only got worse from there; when Fregley had gone into Greg’s night bag and ate a whole pack of jelly beans, he began to bounce off of the walls. After this Greg locked himself in the bathroom until Fregley calmed down and then he handed him a note apologizing for chasing him with a booger and put the booger on the paper. That’s when Greg knew he had to get out so he snuck out and woke his parents up at two in the morning.
After looking in Rodrick’s yearbook Greg decided he wanted to go for class clown just as he was about to devise a plan to put thumbtacks onto his teachers chair his teacher called out sick and there was to be a substitute teacher. Greg thought this was even better until it was his mom and she embarrassed him in front of the whole class by having his lunch for him and calling him hunny bunches.
Greg had quit his job as the cartoonist for the school and Rowley took over and to Greg’s surprise Rowley took all the credit for the “Zoo-Wee-Mama” strip without giving Greg any credit. Greg went up to Rowley to confront him about this and just as they were about to get into a big fight, the teenagers that had chased them on Halloween night had come to show them a lesson for that night. The teenagers did the worst thing anyone could do; out on the black top they made Rowley eat the Cheese. They were coming for Greg next but he talked his way out of it saying that he was allergic to dairy. The next day everyone noticed that the cheese was gone from the blacktop and people started coming up with rumors about what happened but then Greg took the cover for Rowley and Greg said that he got rid of the cheese; now everyone said Greg has the Cheese Touch. After this Greg and Rowley became best friends again and when the year books came out Rowley got class clown.
Characters: Greg Heffley, Bryce Anderson, Rowley Jefferson, Rodrick, Darren Walsh, Dad, Mom, Manny, Fregley, Marty Porter, Preston Mudd, Vice Principal Roy, Mr. Winsky, Chirag Gupta
Setting: School, Greg Heffley’s house, and Rowley Jefferson’s house
This book starts out by first explaining that this diary was really a journal but by his mom’s mistake she bought him a book that said diary on it. The only reason that he decided to write in this was so that when he was rich and famous he would not have to answer any questions. The reader is introduced to Greg Heffley he is starting middle school and is worried about fitting in and seeming attractive to girls. He is not very popular according to him he is somewhere between 52nd and 53rd most popular. He thinks middle school is a dumb idea and if it were up to him he would have it based on height not age because of the bullying situation.
Next the reader is introduced to the dreadful stinky cheese on the blacktop. If someone touches the cheese you have the “cheese touch” and that is equivalent to having cooties. The only way to protect yourself was to cross your fingers. Abe Hall got the cheese touch and no one approached him all year but then he moved away to California.
Greg was put in the gifted reading group at school even though he tried not to be so he could get out of doing more work. Greg is unsure if Rowley will stay his best friend because of how he embarrassed him by saying do you want to come to my house and play. Greg is all about keeping a cool image now that he is in middle school but Rowley is not quite up to speed with the cool factor just yet; Rowley is ok with reading his comic books. His parents are very protective and won’t allow him to play the latest video games because they have violence. In fact the way that Greg and Rowley met was his mom bought him a book called, “How to Make Friends in New Places” and told Greg a silly joke and he mostly became friend with Rowley because he felt bad for him and wanted to take him under his wing. Greg also likes being his friend because all the tricks his older brother pulls on him he can pull on Rowley. Next, the reader is introduced to Manny the little brother that gets away with everything. Anything that he does is mostly blamed on Greg.
Greg and Rowley are good for getting into trouble on their adventure like when they had a Halloween adventure and they went to a haunted house that gave them the idea to start their own. But it backfired on them and Rowley just got grounded. When they went trick or treating they got attacked by teenaged boys with fire extinguishers and then as they drove away Greg said he would call the cops and then Greg and Rowley hid out in Greg’s grandmother’s house and her house got teepee the next day. The boys had planned to stay but Greg’s mom wasn’t too happy so they had to go home and then they both got splashed with water by Greg’s dad.
Greg and Rowley’s next adventure lies within the school play of The Wizard of Oz and Greg’s mom had made him sign up for this but it did have a plus because a girl named Patty Farrell was Dorothy; she was the girl that ratted out that the map was showing during a Geography quiz that Greg didn’t study for so it turned out that he failed. This play turned out to be his revenge on Patty. Mrs. Norton who is directing the play showed the movie so everyone would know the story and Greg wanted to be a tree so he could throw apples at Patty. He also wanted to be a tree for no lines but he wasn’t that lucky; he got one line and a song to sing. Not only did he have to deal with this but when his younger brother was in the audience he called Greg, Bubby but luckily Greg blamed it on the other tree. When the song didn’t go as planned they tried to get Patty out on the stage but as she was standing in the wing of the curtain, Greg picked up and apple and threw it at her; then all of the other trees followed. It turned out that someone knocked off Patty’s glasses and broke one of her lenses; since she couldn’t see without her glasses the play had to be shut down.
It was now Christmas time and this was always an interesting time of year for Greg. One year he wanted a Barbie dream house for his soldiers to have a fort; he asked his Uncle Charlie and instead he got a Barbie Doll. Greg ended up in the emergency room with a pink Barbie shoe up his nose. This year Manny got everything he wanted and it was the opposite year for Greg; he didn’t get many presents, his brother gave him a L’li Cutie’s comic which he later gave to Rowley, Uncle Charlie who was known for the best gifts gave him an 8 by 10 picture of himself, Dad got him a new weight set but he had lost interest after wrestling stopped, and when Greg’s mom gave her gift she had, by accident, given him the sweater that was supposed to be donated to the needy and the video game “Twisted Wizard” was given to the person who was needy. Rowley got Greg a big wheel which they later used to play with and the game was that the guy that has the football has to hit the guy who is riding the big wheel down the hill. As Greg was going to hit Rowley’s shoulder he missed and hit the front of his tire and broke Rowley’s hand. After Greg saw how much attention Rowley was getting from his hand, Greg tried to get the same attention with his cast but Greg said his hand was an infection and needless to say a lot of people did not feel sorry for a splinter that was left untreated.
Rowley and Greg had signed up to be on the Safety Patrol and got their belts and badges. Many perks came to having this job; they would get out of Pre-Algebra twenty minutes early, since they didn’t have a post like the others they didn’t have to stand out in the cold before school, free hot chocolate, they could show up for first period ten minutes late, and their only assignment was to walk the kindergartners home from school.
To give Greg a taste of the fame he was hoping for he tried out for the open cartoonist job at school. Greg and Rowley teamed up to work on a comic. Greg came up with the punch line for the strip saying, “Zoo-Wee Mama!” he did this so they wouldn’t have to make jokes. When Rowley took over the Zoo-Wee Mama comic strip because Greg got tired of it they both did their own comics and Greg made a new comic about “Creighton the Cretin.” Greg had won the spot of the new cartoonist but it was because the teacher Mr. Ira had made some changes to his comic to something informational about math rather than being funny.
One day Rowley had to take a quiz and Greg borrowed his jacket and walked the kindergartners home alone and was tormenting the kindergartners with worms but Mrs. Irvine, who is friends with Rowley’s Mom, thought it was Rowley. Greg didn’t correct her and let Rowley take the blame. Now Rowley would have to apologize to the kindergartners and he was suspended from Patrols for disrespecting the badge for a week. Greg didn’t confess because he was afraid of losing all of his privileges, but he did tell Rowley the truth about what had happened.
The next day Greg was kicked off of the Safety Patrol because Rowley told the principal about what had happened. After this Rowley got promoted to captain because according to the principal he exhibited dignity under false suspicion. The only reason Greg was nice to Rowley after this had occurred was because of the trip to Six Flags. After this their friendship seemed to start to deteriorate and Rowley found a new best friend Collin Lee; they even made t-shirts to say it was official. Greg was left to hang out with Fregley, Greg did this as a way of getting back at Rowley for getting a new best friend. Greg and Fregley had a sleepover and before they went into the house Fregley was stabbing a kite and it only got worse from there; when Fregley had gone into Greg’s night bag and ate a whole pack of jelly beans, he began to bounce off of the walls. After this Greg locked himself in the bathroom until Fregley calmed down and then he handed him a note apologizing for chasing him with a booger and put the booger on the paper. That’s when Greg knew he had to get out so he snuck out and woke his parents up at two in the morning.
After looking in Rodrick’s yearbook Greg decided he wanted to go for class clown just as he was about to devise a plan to put thumbtacks onto his teachers chair his teacher called out sick and there was to be a substitute teacher. Greg thought this was even better until it was his mom and she embarrassed him in front of the whole class by having his lunch for him and calling him hunny bunches.
Greg had quit his job as the cartoonist for the school and Rowley took over and to Greg’s surprise Rowley took all the credit for the “Zoo-Wee-Mama” strip without giving Greg any credit. Greg went up to Rowley to confront him about this and just as they were about to get into a big fight, the teenagers that had chased them on Halloween night had come to show them a lesson for that night. The teenagers did the worst thing anyone could do; out on the black top they made Rowley eat the Cheese. They were coming for Greg next but he talked his way out of it saying that he was allergic to dairy. The next day everyone noticed that the cheese was gone from the blacktop and people started coming up with rumors about what happened but then Greg took the cover for Rowley and Greg said that he got rid of the cheese; now everyone said Greg has the Cheese Touch. After this Greg and Rowley became best friends again and when the year books came out Rowley got class clown.
Knuffle Bunny: a Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems
Theme: Being Observant
Characters: Knuffle Bunny, Trixie, mom, and dad
Setting: New York and the Laundromat
This was based on a true-to-life story. Trixie before she could speak went on an errand with her dad to do laundry at the Laundromat. When her dad was putting in the laundry by accident he put in her bunny doll, Knuffle Bunny. Not too long after they left the Laundromat did she start to cry because Knuffle Bunny was missing and since she couldn’t talk her dad didn’t know why she was crying. She cried all the way home and when they went to open the door the mom was there and asked where Knuffle Bunny was and the whole family ran back down to the Laundromat and they found him in the washer and Knuffle Bunny was the first words of Trixie.
Characters: Knuffle Bunny, Trixie, mom, and dad
Setting: New York and the Laundromat
This was based on a true-to-life story. Trixie before she could speak went on an errand with her dad to do laundry at the Laundromat. When her dad was putting in the laundry by accident he put in her bunny doll, Knuffle Bunny. Not too long after they left the Laundromat did she start to cry because Knuffle Bunny was missing and since she couldn’t talk her dad didn’t know why she was crying. She cried all the way home and when they went to open the door the mom was there and asked where Knuffle Bunny was and the whole family ran back down to the Laundromat and they found him in the washer and Knuffle Bunny was the first words of Trixie.
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Theme: Excitement, wonder, and making the most of a day
Characters: Peter
Setting: Outside in the snow
The story is about Peter and when he woke up he found everything covered in snow. It goes through his whole day in the snow, starting with how he made footprints in different directions in the snow, found a stick and smacked the snow off of the tree that fell on his head, he wanted to play with the big boys in their snowball fight but he wasn’t old enough yet so he made a smiling snowman and snow angels. He slid down a hill and finally he made a snow ball to save for tomorrow but his house was warm so it melted. While his mother got him ready for his bath he told her all about his adventure. When he slept he dreamed that the snow had melted but to his delight, there was new snow falling. He called his friend and they ventured off together in the “deep, deep snow.”
Characters: Peter
Setting: Outside in the snow
The story is about Peter and when he woke up he found everything covered in snow. It goes through his whole day in the snow, starting with how he made footprints in different directions in the snow, found a stick and smacked the snow off of the tree that fell on his head, he wanted to play with the big boys in their snowball fight but he wasn’t old enough yet so he made a smiling snowman and snow angels. He slid down a hill and finally he made a snow ball to save for tomorrow but his house was warm so it melted. While his mother got him ready for his bath he told her all about his adventure. When he slept he dreamed that the snow had melted but to his delight, there was new snow falling. He called his friend and they ventured off together in the “deep, deep snow.”
The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
Theme: Inspiration
Characters: Vashti, teacher, and a boy
Setting: School
Vashti was sitting in the classroom even though art was over and her paper was empty and she was upset because she thought that she couldn’t draw. Her teacher encouraged her to just make a mark and to see where the mark would take her. In her anger she gave the paper a jab and made a dot on the paper and her teacher had her sign her dot. When Vashti walked into art class she saw her work framed and hanging over the teacher’s desk. When she saw it she knew she could make a better dot and then she used her water colors to mix and to make all different colored dots. After she was done with little dots she decided that she could make big dots as well. She even made a dot by not painting a dot. She hung all of her dots at the school art show and a young boy gave her a compliment telling her that she was a great artist and he wish that he could draw. She encouraged the boy and told him he could draw even though he doubted himself. Then she gave the boy paper and asked him to draw, he drew a squiggle on the paper and then asked him to sign it.
Characters: Vashti, teacher, and a boy
Setting: School
Vashti was sitting in the classroom even though art was over and her paper was empty and she was upset because she thought that she couldn’t draw. Her teacher encouraged her to just make a mark and to see where the mark would take her. In her anger she gave the paper a jab and made a dot on the paper and her teacher had her sign her dot. When Vashti walked into art class she saw her work framed and hanging over the teacher’s desk. When she saw it she knew she could make a better dot and then she used her water colors to mix and to make all different colored dots. After she was done with little dots she decided that she could make big dots as well. She even made a dot by not painting a dot. She hung all of her dots at the school art show and a young boy gave her a compliment telling her that she was a great artist and he wish that he could draw. She encouraged the boy and told him he could draw even though he doubted himself. Then she gave the boy paper and asked him to draw, he drew a squiggle on the paper and then asked him to sign it.
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
Theme: Love
Characters: Bunny and his mom
Setting: No specific setting
There was a bunny who wanted to run away and his mother said that she would run after him. When she said this, the young bunny change him mind and decided to become something else. Anytime that he would change his mother would always change with him and become his complement to what he wanted to be so that she could catch him. No matter what he tried to become or how much he would try to hide from his mother, she would always be determined to seek him out. Finally when he was all out of ideas, he was satisfied with staying right where he was and being her little bunny.
Characters: Bunny and his mom
Setting: No specific setting
There was a bunny who wanted to run away and his mother said that she would run after him. When she said this, the young bunny change him mind and decided to become something else. Anytime that he would change his mother would always change with him and become his complement to what he wanted to be so that she could catch him. No matter what he tried to become or how much he would try to hide from his mother, she would always be determined to seek him out. Finally when he was all out of ideas, he was satisfied with staying right where he was and being her little bunny.
Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman
Theme: Memories
Characters: Grandfather, Grandmother, and grandchildren
Setting: Attic
This story is about a Grandfather who use to dance on the vaudeville stage and shares his talents with is grandchildren.
Characters: Grandfather, Grandmother, and grandchildren
Setting: Attic
This story is about a Grandfather who use to dance on the vaudeville stage and shares his talents with is grandchildren.
Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim
Theme: Ambition
Characters: Ruby, grandfather, and Ruby's family
Setting: China
A true story about a young girl named Ruby who's wish was to attend a University.
Characters: Ruby, grandfather, and Ruby's family
Setting: China
A true story about a young girl named Ruby who's wish was to attend a University.
David Goes to School by David Shannon
Theme: Making trouble
Characters: David
Setting: School
This story is about a boy named Dave who always gets into trouble from the time he enters school, until the time he leaves.
Characters: David
Setting: School
This story is about a boy named Dave who always gets into trouble from the time he enters school, until the time he leaves.
First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
Theme: Nerves
Characters: Sarah and Mr. Hartwell
Setting: Sarah's house and school
This book is about how even teachers get nervous for the first day of school.
Characters: Sarah and Mr. Hartwell
Setting: Sarah's house and school
This book is about how even teachers get nervous for the first day of school.
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
Theme: Deceit, being happy with who you are, and don't believe what everyone tells you
Characters: Andrew Marcus, Miss Kelly, Nicky Lane, Sharon, and Andrew's mom
Setting: School and Andrew's house
This story is about a boy who will go to any lengths to get freckles.
Characters: Andrew Marcus, Miss Kelly, Nicky Lane, Sharon, and Andrew's mom
Setting: School and Andrew's house
This story is about a boy who will go to any lengths to get freckles.