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Marcy Lewis #1
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit
Marcy's life is a mess. Her parents don't understand her, she feels like a fat blimp with no friends, and her favorite teacher just got fired. Ms. Finney wasn't like the other teachers, and she was helping Marcy feel good about being herself.
Now that she's gone, Marcy doesn't know what to do. She's always thought things would be better if she could just lose weight, but the loss of Ms. Finney sparks something inside her. She decides to join the fight to bring back her teacher, and in doing so, she discovers that her voice might matter more than she ever realized.
Now that she's gone, Marcy doesn't know what to do. She's always thought things would be better if she could just lose weight, but the loss of Ms. Finney sparks something inside her. She decides to join the fight to bring back her teacher, and in doing so, she discovers that her voice might matter more than she ever realized.
147 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
About the author
Paula Danziger
106 books327 followersBorn in Washington, D.C., and raised in New York, Paula Danziger knew since the second grade that she wanted to be a writer. Throughout her career, she wrote a collection of children's stories, including The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, The Divorce Express and, more recently, the Amber Brown series.
Danziger loved to travel and meet young kids all over the world. She was embraced by her audience for her ability to relate to children through the characters in her stories. She was often known for "borrowing" children (only the ones she knew) for her inspiration. The Amber Brown character was conceived during one of her trips with her niece.
Danziger was also the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association and the 2003 Garden State Children's Book Award. She spent most of her time in New York City and London, England.
She is survived by a brother, three nephews, and a niece. The Amber Brown Fund has been set up in memory of her. Donations for this fund will be used to allow authors and illustrators to speak at local schools and libraries.
Danziger loved to travel and meet young kids all over the world. She was embraced by her audience for her ability to relate to children through the characters in her stories. She was often known for "borrowing" children (only the ones she knew) for her inspiration. The Amber Brown character was conceived during one of her trips with her niece.
Danziger was also the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association and the 2003 Garden State Children's Book Award. She spent most of her time in New York City and London, England.
She is survived by a brother, three nephews, and a niece. The Amber Brown Fund has been set up in memory of her. Donations for this fund will be used to allow authors and illustrators to speak at local schools and libraries.
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November 1, 2022
This is my Personal Monthly Challenge Childhood Re-Read for the month of October😻
I do not own a copy of this book. I remember it was my best friend's copy that I read. We used to swap books back then. I remember reading this one and liking it but I did not remember much else about it. I found the Audiobook at one of my local libraries that use the CloudLibrary app. The Audio was fantastic with a full cast of characters!
Meet 13 year old Marcy Lewis. She is a sweet, awkward girl who is overweight. She feels invisible and disliked. Her mother is loving but needy. Her father has anger issues. She hates him. One day a new English teacher appears in her classroom. Ms. Finney. All the kids love her. She's different then all the other teachers. She's a radical left leaning liberal and feminist who is highly educated. She also wants the kids to talk about their feelings. Since she is focusing on the curriculum at school she helps the kids form a club for after school to talk and write about all their feelings. This club helps Marcy get to know her fellow classmates better and really helps her come out of her shell. One day Ms. Finney is not in class and the Principal informs them that she has been fired from her job. She's too radical for the board. The students then organize a way to help get her job back.
It's a great little story (almost a novella.) I think this story still resonates today. Tweens and teens still have the same issues and even the political issues are still relevant today. A bit of the lingo is dated such as (Marcy using a push phone) but most of the story I think holds up really well considering this book was published in 1974.
I rather enjoyed Paula Danziger's author notes at the end. It was really interesting listening to her explaining the circumstances on what made her write this book. She says Penguin books have deemed this, "A modern classic." I think it definitely is for the YA category. It was and still is a great story. I do own, Paula Danziger's, "Can you sue your parents for malpractice." It's a good one too that I hope to re-read as well. It's actually the book I traded with my friend in order to read this one.
If you were a tween or teen in the mid 1970's-1980's I definitely think you'd enjoy reading this story and I highly recommend the audio!
I do not own a copy of this book. I remember it was my best friend's copy that I read. We used to swap books back then. I remember reading this one and liking it but I did not remember much else about it. I found the Audiobook at one of my local libraries that use the CloudLibrary app. The Audio was fantastic with a full cast of characters!
Meet 13 year old Marcy Lewis. She is a sweet, awkward girl who is overweight. She feels invisible and disliked. Her mother is loving but needy. Her father has anger issues. She hates him. One day a new English teacher appears in her classroom. Ms. Finney. All the kids love her. She's different then all the other teachers. She's a radical left leaning liberal and feminist who is highly educated. She also wants the kids to talk about their feelings. Since she is focusing on the curriculum at school she helps the kids form a club for after school to talk and write about all their feelings. This club helps Marcy get to know her fellow classmates better and really helps her come out of her shell. One day Ms. Finney is not in class and the Principal informs them that she has been fired from her job. She's too radical for the board. The students then organize a way to help get her job back.
It's a great little story (almost a novella.) I think this story still resonates today. Tweens and teens still have the same issues and even the political issues are still relevant today. A bit of the lingo is dated such as (Marcy using a push phone) but most of the story I think holds up really well considering this book was published in 1974.
I rather enjoyed Paula Danziger's author notes at the end. It was really interesting listening to her explaining the circumstances on what made her write this book. She says Penguin books have deemed this, "A modern classic." I think it definitely is for the YA category. It was and still is a great story. I do own, Paula Danziger's, "Can you sue your parents for malpractice." It's a good one too that I hope to re-read as well. It's actually the book I traded with my friend in order to read this one.
If you were a tween or teen in the mid 1970's-1980's I definitely think you'd enjoy reading this story and I highly recommend the audio!
September 3, 2023
Ever since I first read Paula Danziger's delightful and personally captivating 1974 middle grade novel The Cat Ate my Gymsuit in early 2007 (as I never did manage to read The Cat Ate my Gymsuit as a tween or teen, but did textually encounter Danziger's The Pistachio Prescription in 1978, in the year it was first published), I have absolutely both loved The Cat Ate my Gymsuit and have also felt totally connected both physically and spiritually with and to main character, main protagonist Marcy Lewis (regarding her weight issues, Marcy's father basically being for all intents and purposes a verbally abusive nasty hatefully misogynist jerk, her mother's annoying and ridiculous passivity at the beginning of The Cat Ate my Gymsuit and indeed also sometimes and even often at least in my opinion wanting to cast blame at Marcy for the father's, for her husband's tantrums in so far that the mother actually often seems to suggests that if Marcy were skinnier and not as sensitive to her father's words, her father would perhaps not be as likely to yell and scream, to constantly verbally assault his daughter).
Now I do well realise that there are actually quite a large number of rather majorly negative reviews of The Cat Ate my Gymsuit, reviews that often and sometimes rather vehemently strive to suggest that for example Marcy's teacher (Ms Finney) being fired for exercising her basic human rights of freedom of thought and expression (including refusing to pledge allegiance to the flag every day at school, being categorically against both the Vietnam War and USA foreign policies in general) is somehow not only totally justified but that Ms Finney should not have been made into a hero and martyr by Paula Danziger but shown as somehow both traitorous and anti-American (and yes, as a person of German background, I do consider such attitudes, no matter from which country and culture/religion they hail, totally unacceptable if not even ridiculously Nazi and Stalinist like in scope). And of course, the individuals faulting Paula Danziger for having penned Ms Finney as a positive role model, they also then generally complain and rant regarding how negatively in The Cat Ate my Gymsuit Macy Lewis' father been depicted as a hugely problematic pater familias, how Paula Danziger has shown him as being an abusive and nasty all encompassing bully (and also, sadly, with both Marcy and later also Marcy's mother when she finds her strength and voice and joins her daughter fighting back, that they both should not be rocking the proverbial boat and should therefore also know their assigned and seemingly sacred cow places in American life and society).
But really, for ANYONE who would in The Cat Ate my Gymsuit consider Marcy Lewis as obnoxious, bratty and problematic, well sorry, but she, but Marcy is not nearly as much of a sad and naively thoughtless lowlife as either that silly (male) principal who fires Ms Finney (for simply attempting to actually teach her students, for opening their collective eyes and minds to critical thinking and not automatically and without insight supporting any given country, government, even their own) or Marcy's at best constantly verbally ranting and raving father, who obviously expects what he says and demands to be followed to the letter without comment and criticism and who verbally chastises, condemns and nastily reams out as he wants, and obviously considers this to be his God-given and preordained family right (and major kudos to Pauls Danziger for in The Cat Ate my Gymsuit having Marcy Lewis NOT conform, for portraying her as not only standing up to both of the above mentioned bullies but also for helping her mother come out of her shell and do pretty much the the same).
Now finally, The Cat Ate my Gymsuit also deals with something that is due to my own personal experiences very close to my heart, namely Marcy Lewis' weight and body image issues. And indeed, as someone who has always struggled with this and who especially as a teenager was constantly being told by "well meaning" family members, teachers etc. that I needed to lose weight, that I would be considerably more physically attractive and contented if I were skinny, that losing weight was just a matter of will power, that I was simply being lazy (and also physically ugly and disgusting), yes indeed, I do really wish that I had known about The Cat Ate my Gymsuit during my own teenager-hood (when The Cat Ate my Gymsuit was first published). For what Marcy experiences with regard to her personal body weight issues and how in particular her mother at the beginning of The Cat Ate my Gymsuit often tries to unsuccessfully encourage her daughter to lose weight (and yes indeed shown by Paula Danziger as absolutely unhelpful if not unintentionally nastily), these words would have been a tremendous help and comfort in the late 1970s and early 1980s when I as a teenager was experiencing precisely the same type of "though love" (and finding all of this like Marcy does in The Cat Ate my Gymsuit).
And yes, the above is indeed why I (although I have totally both loved and appreciated reading Paula Danziger's The Cat Ate my Gymsuit and am therefore ranking it with five glowing stars because of this) also totally HATE AND DESPISE the 2006 cover image for The Cat Ate my Gymsuit with every fibre of my being. For if Marcy Lewis is supposed to have a weight problem, why is the 2006 book cover for The Cat Ate my Gymsuit basically showing and depicting a generally slender girl with skinny arms? And honestly, I actually do find this both a major insult to author Paula Danziger's memory, to her literary creation Marcy Lewis and yes to all of us who struggle and have struggled with body image and weight problems (as the publisher obviously seems to be of the impression and opinion that while an author might be allowed and even encouraged to write about weight issues and such, books covers should seemingly not be permitted to depict individuals who are physically heavy-set and potentially obese).
Now I do well realise that there are actually quite a large number of rather majorly negative reviews of The Cat Ate my Gymsuit, reviews that often and sometimes rather vehemently strive to suggest that for example Marcy's teacher (Ms Finney) being fired for exercising her basic human rights of freedom of thought and expression (including refusing to pledge allegiance to the flag every day at school, being categorically against both the Vietnam War and USA foreign policies in general) is somehow not only totally justified but that Ms Finney should not have been made into a hero and martyr by Paula Danziger but shown as somehow both traitorous and anti-American (and yes, as a person of German background, I do consider such attitudes, no matter from which country and culture/religion they hail, totally unacceptable if not even ridiculously Nazi and Stalinist like in scope). And of course, the individuals faulting Paula Danziger for having penned Ms Finney as a positive role model, they also then generally complain and rant regarding how negatively in The Cat Ate my Gymsuit Macy Lewis' father been depicted as a hugely problematic pater familias, how Paula Danziger has shown him as being an abusive and nasty all encompassing bully (and also, sadly, with both Marcy and later also Marcy's mother when she finds her strength and voice and joins her daughter fighting back, that they both should not be rocking the proverbial boat and should therefore also know their assigned and seemingly sacred cow places in American life and society).
But really, for ANYONE who would in The Cat Ate my Gymsuit consider Marcy Lewis as obnoxious, bratty and problematic, well sorry, but she, but Marcy is not nearly as much of a sad and naively thoughtless lowlife as either that silly (male) principal who fires Ms Finney (for simply attempting to actually teach her students, for opening their collective eyes and minds to critical thinking and not automatically and without insight supporting any given country, government, even their own) or Marcy's at best constantly verbally ranting and raving father, who obviously expects what he says and demands to be followed to the letter without comment and criticism and who verbally chastises, condemns and nastily reams out as he wants, and obviously considers this to be his God-given and preordained family right (and major kudos to Pauls Danziger for in The Cat Ate my Gymsuit having Marcy Lewis NOT conform, for portraying her as not only standing up to both of the above mentioned bullies but also for helping her mother come out of her shell and do pretty much the the same).
Now finally, The Cat Ate my Gymsuit also deals with something that is due to my own personal experiences very close to my heart, namely Marcy Lewis' weight and body image issues. And indeed, as someone who has always struggled with this and who especially as a teenager was constantly being told by "well meaning" family members, teachers etc. that I needed to lose weight, that I would be considerably more physically attractive and contented if I were skinny, that losing weight was just a matter of will power, that I was simply being lazy (and also physically ugly and disgusting), yes indeed, I do really wish that I had known about The Cat Ate my Gymsuit during my own teenager-hood (when The Cat Ate my Gymsuit was first published). For what Marcy experiences with regard to her personal body weight issues and how in particular her mother at the beginning of The Cat Ate my Gymsuit often tries to unsuccessfully encourage her daughter to lose weight (and yes indeed shown by Paula Danziger as absolutely unhelpful if not unintentionally nastily), these words would have been a tremendous help and comfort in the late 1970s and early 1980s when I as a teenager was experiencing precisely the same type of "though love" (and finding all of this like Marcy does in The Cat Ate my Gymsuit).
And yes, the above is indeed why I (although I have totally both loved and appreciated reading Paula Danziger's The Cat Ate my Gymsuit and am therefore ranking it with five glowing stars because of this) also totally HATE AND DESPISE the 2006 cover image for The Cat Ate my Gymsuit with every fibre of my being. For if Marcy Lewis is supposed to have a weight problem, why is the 2006 book cover for The Cat Ate my Gymsuit basically showing and depicting a generally slender girl with skinny arms? And honestly, I actually do find this both a major insult to author Paula Danziger's memory, to her literary creation Marcy Lewis and yes to all of us who struggle and have struggled with body image and weight problems (as the publisher obviously seems to be of the impression and opinion that while an author might be allowed and even encouraged to write about weight issues and such, books covers should seemingly not be permitted to depict individuals who are physically heavy-set and potentially obese).
January 13, 2009
Oh Marcy, could I love you more? This book helped me and a lot of other girls accept what we looked like and who we were. I especially like this cover (the one I own) as that is EXACTLY what I imagine Marcy to look like!
January 9, 2013
Historical context is paramount for full enjoyment of this adorably dated book was a fun read. While I think kids might have some trouble with casual references to recreation rooms, records, women's liberation and push button phones. The real issue is Marcy's parents. Without understanding the era in which this story was published (mid-seventies)they come off as a cartoonish villian and victim. The rampant McCarthyism and casual mysogny of Marcy's father as he chomps on a cigar while downing scotch and sodas seemed so fabricated as to be unbelieveable (althought I am actuely aware that it was not that long ago that his behavior was considered acceptable if not the norm). A great book about kids learning to stand up for what themselves, those they care about and what they believe in.
February 17, 2011
I'm really surprised to hear that so many people liked this book - I am at a loss to say anything about it. I can't say that it was really terrible, it was just pointless to me. The characters were a little too basic and contrived - they are either good or evil, with no exploration into their viewpoints, backgrounds, or values. For a book that seems to be promoting understanding other people and accepting new ideas, it felt very one-sided to me.
May 22, 2017
This book is about a student named Marcy Lewis who hates school and she's one of the volleyball players in her school. In her classroom, no teacher have ever lasted in their room as a teacher because the students disrespect the teacher when they hate the teacher that's teaching them. Then this person who is ready to teach and
October 8, 2019
I think that when I read this as a kid, I hyper focused on all of the main character Marcy's adolescent awkwardness and I was a little too young to understand it. As an adult, I think this book is a classic coming of age book complete with standing up for your beliefs, and full of feminism, and everything young girls need.
March 15, 2014
RETRO REREAD #3. I am going back and re-reading books from my adolescence (found in several boxes while moving. Books that is, not my adolescence - that's long gone) and this is the third one I pulled from the shelf (the first was This Time of Darkness by HM Hoover and the second was Anna to the Infinite Power by Mildred Ames), but I just now decided to make it a "thing" and give it a nifty name.
So anyway - the ratings I am giving these books are based on two things: 1) did it hold up well, and 2) did I enjoy re-reading it. Of some consideration is how much I loved it when I first discovered it (in the case, in Junior High). This book is so dated as to be antiquated (a teacher gets fired for being, essentially, a liberal feminist with ideas that students should...gasp...think!) but what scares me is how much, with the whole "no child left behind/teach to the test" mess plaguing our schools now is that what IS relevant is the idea of a teacher who challenges that and gets kids to think and learn...and gets punished for it. When I was a kid I was mad at Ms. Finney at the end (won't say why) but now, as an adult and educator, I get her completely. Sometimes I think I learned how to teach from Ms. Finney.
Just as an aside: There is a new trend of updating books from the 70s (for instance, replacing Marcy's push button phone with a cell phone). I don't know if that was done with this book, as my copy is from 1978, but I imagine it would change too much (like how the protest is organized). I am not sure I like the new trend (Lois Duncan's Down a Dark Hall did NOT work for me because the isolation seemed stupid in a world with the internet and cell phones. Kit would have thoroughly googled the teachers and the school before being sent away, especially since she didn't want to go) even if it gets kids to read "old books."
So anyway - the ratings I am giving these books are based on two things: 1) did it hold up well, and 2) did I enjoy re-reading it. Of some consideration is how much I loved it when I first discovered it (in the case, in Junior High). This book is so dated as to be antiquated (a teacher gets fired for being, essentially, a liberal feminist with ideas that students should...gasp...think!) but what scares me is how much, with the whole "no child left behind/teach to the test" mess plaguing our schools now is that what IS relevant is the idea of a teacher who challenges that and gets kids to think and learn...and gets punished for it. When I was a kid I was mad at Ms. Finney at the end (won't say why) but now, as an adult and educator, I get her completely. Sometimes I think I learned how to teach from Ms. Finney.
Just as an aside: There is a new trend of updating books from the 70s (for instance, replacing Marcy's push button phone with a cell phone). I don't know if that was done with this book, as my copy is from 1978, but I imagine it would change too much (like how the protest is organized). I am not sure I like the new trend (Lois Duncan's Down a Dark Hall did NOT work for me because the isolation seemed stupid in a world with the internet and cell phones. Kit would have thoroughly googled the teachers and the school before being sent away, especially since she didn't want to go) even if it gets kids to read "old books."
January 12, 2012
Aku benci ayahku. Aku benci sekolah. Aku benci tubuh gemukku. Aku benci Kepala Sekolah karena ia ingin memecat Ms.Finney, guru bahasa inggrisku.
Membaca kalimat pertama itu, aku mengira Marcy ini tentu orang yang sering mengeluh, tidak puas dengan apapun, penyendiri dan mungkin pemarah..
Setelah meneruskan membaca terbukti semua yg kukira di awal ternyata banyak yg salah..
Mercy memang penyendiri, tapi dia bukan pemarah, dia pemalu.. Dia malu akan kegemukan tubuhnya, dia malu jika muncul jerawat di wajahnya, dia malu berbicara dengan teman-teman sekelasnya..
Mercy memang penyendiri, tapi mungkin semua itu sebuah akibat dari apa yang terjadi di rumahnya. Ayahnya sering berteriak, Ibunya sering menangis, setiap adiknya membuat masalah Mercy selalu disalahkan, semua hal di diri Mercy seperti tidak ada arti dimata ayahnya..
"Aku tidak peduli jika kau dapat nilai-nilai bagus, karena kau konyol. Mengapa aku harus punya anak perempuan yang konyol dan gemuk? aku tidak akan pernah menemukan orang yang mau menikahimu."
Lihat apa yang telah kau lakukan. Kami tak pernah bertengkar kecuali gara-gara dirimu. Minta maaf!"
kalimat-kalimat seperti itulah yang sering diteriakkan ayahnya pada Mercy.. Dan karena percaya dia memang gemuk, konyol, dan menyebalkan, Mercy lebih suka menyendiri.. Bahkan dia berpikir, Nancy, satu-satunya teman yg dimilikinya mau berteman dengannya cuma karena ibu mereka berteman..
Keminderan Mercy mulai berkurang seiring kedatangan Ms.Finney, guru bahasa inggris yang baru di sekolahnya.. Pendekatan Ms Finney yang lebih menekankan pada komunikasi sesama manusia sepertinya membuat Mercy dan teman-teman sekelasnya dapat mengenal lebih baik diri mereka..
Mercy akhirnya mulai keluar dari cangkangnya.. Dia mulai bisa mengobrol santai denggan teman-temannya. Bahkan Joel mengajaknya datang bersama ke pesta Nancy..
Tapi kesenangan Mercy dan teman-temannya memiliki guru seperti Ms.Finney tidak bertahan lama. Kepala sekolah dan beberapa orang tua murid menganggap Ms.Finney berpengaruh buruk karena pakaian yg dikenakannya dan penolakannya untuk mengucapkan Ikrar Kesetiaan (Pledge of Allegiance) pada negara dan akan di pecat.. Maka Mercy, Joel, Nancy dan teman-teman yg lain berusaha menggagalkan rencana itu...
Ini pertama kali saya membaca buku karangan Paula Danziger. Menurutnya ini adalah semacam autobiografi yg ditulisnya di awal tahun 70an.. Hebatnya aku ga ngerasa ini buku cerita terbitan jaman dulu.. bahkan baru tau pas sudah selesai dan baca catatan penulis di bagian belakang..
Pengen deh baca lanjutannya There's a Bat In Bunk Five tapi musti cari edisi asli nih, ga ada terjemahannya kayaknya..
-----------------------------------------
Sebenarnya aku beli buku ini karena mengira ini buku anak2... yah usia se-sd gitu laah... ternyata cerita anak ABG, yg tahun depan mo masuk SMA :))
Tapi biar begitu ga nyesel kok.. karena aku suka ceritanya :)
Membaca kalimat pertama itu, aku mengira Marcy ini tentu orang yang sering mengeluh, tidak puas dengan apapun, penyendiri dan mungkin pemarah..
Setelah meneruskan membaca terbukti semua yg kukira di awal ternyata banyak yg salah..
Mercy memang penyendiri, tapi dia bukan pemarah, dia pemalu.. Dia malu akan kegemukan tubuhnya, dia malu jika muncul jerawat di wajahnya, dia malu berbicara dengan teman-teman sekelasnya..
Mercy memang penyendiri, tapi mungkin semua itu sebuah akibat dari apa yang terjadi di rumahnya. Ayahnya sering berteriak, Ibunya sering menangis, setiap adiknya membuat masalah Mercy selalu disalahkan, semua hal di diri Mercy seperti tidak ada arti dimata ayahnya..
"Aku tidak peduli jika kau dapat nilai-nilai bagus, karena kau konyol. Mengapa aku harus punya anak perempuan yang konyol dan gemuk? aku tidak akan pernah menemukan orang yang mau menikahimu."
Lihat apa yang telah kau lakukan. Kami tak pernah bertengkar kecuali gara-gara dirimu. Minta maaf!"
kalimat-kalimat seperti itulah yang sering diteriakkan ayahnya pada Mercy.. Dan karena percaya dia memang gemuk, konyol, dan menyebalkan, Mercy lebih suka menyendiri.. Bahkan dia berpikir, Nancy, satu-satunya teman yg dimilikinya mau berteman dengannya cuma karena ibu mereka berteman..
Keminderan Mercy mulai berkurang seiring kedatangan Ms.Finney, guru bahasa inggris yang baru di sekolahnya.. Pendekatan Ms Finney yang lebih menekankan pada komunikasi sesama manusia sepertinya membuat Mercy dan teman-teman sekelasnya dapat mengenal lebih baik diri mereka..
Mercy akhirnya mulai keluar dari cangkangnya.. Dia mulai bisa mengobrol santai denggan teman-temannya. Bahkan Joel mengajaknya datang bersama ke pesta Nancy..
Tapi kesenangan Mercy dan teman-temannya memiliki guru seperti Ms.Finney tidak bertahan lama. Kepala sekolah dan beberapa orang tua murid menganggap Ms.Finney berpengaruh buruk karena pakaian yg dikenakannya dan penolakannya untuk mengucapkan Ikrar Kesetiaan (Pledge of Allegiance) pada negara dan akan di pecat.. Maka Mercy, Joel, Nancy dan teman-teman yg lain berusaha menggagalkan rencana itu...
Ini pertama kali saya membaca buku karangan Paula Danziger. Menurutnya ini adalah semacam autobiografi yg ditulisnya di awal tahun 70an.. Hebatnya aku ga ngerasa ini buku cerita terbitan jaman dulu.. bahkan baru tau pas sudah selesai dan baca catatan penulis di bagian belakang..
Pengen deh baca lanjutannya There's a Bat In Bunk Five tapi musti cari edisi asli nih, ga ada terjemahannya kayaknya..
-----------------------------------------
Sebenarnya aku beli buku ini karena mengira ini buku anak2... yah usia se-sd gitu laah... ternyata cerita anak ABG, yg tahun depan mo masuk SMA :))
Tapi biar begitu ga nyesel kok.. karena aku suka ceritanya :)
November 20, 2018
Actually this book looks similar to bollywood movie Hichki ..Story is same just it is written in words .
It actually tells or depicts what our real education system is like ..
Why do teachers only teach us from books why don't they tell us anything practical ?
Teachers are builders of the nation ..A strong building can only be established with good ideals and learning and not rote learning .
Here also there are students who don't let any teacher stay by doing nuisance .Then one teacher comes who completely changed them .
Why can't every teacher be like her?
Why can't our education system be like that where we think and not just learn .
We have a system where children are not allowed to think not allowed to ask .What our teachers say is right .. isn't?
It actually tells or depicts what our real education system is like ..
Why do teachers only teach us from books why don't they tell us anything practical ?
Teachers are builders of the nation ..A strong building can only be established with good ideals and learning and not rote learning .
Here also there are students who don't let any teacher stay by doing nuisance .Then one teacher comes who completely changed them .
Why can't every teacher be like her?
Why can't our education system be like that where we think and not just learn .
We have a system where children are not allowed to think not allowed to ask .What our teachers say is right .. isn't?
October 12, 2017
This book will always have a special place in my heart. I was twelve when I read it and completely identified with the main character and her struggles. I also loved the teacher in the story, who helped inspire me to be a teacher (at least for a little while). I still recommend this book to preteens and teens who feel they just don't fit in.
July 2, 2011
-----3,5 star
I LOVE THIS BOOK
Nggak nyangka bakal jatuh suka sama buku ini, dan kelar dengan begitu cepatnya pas dibaca. Ngalir banget ceritanya, dan nggak bertele-tele, meskipun ending-nya agak sedikit terlalu mudah. Pengen lebih greget. Tapi, cukup seru (banget) sihh...love it. Tema-nya pun oke. Asyik-lah pokoke!
I LOVE THIS BOOK
Nggak nyangka bakal jatuh suka sama buku ini, dan kelar dengan begitu cepatnya pas dibaca. Ngalir banget ceritanya, dan nggak bertele-tele, meskipun ending-nya agak sedikit terlalu mudah. Pengen lebih greget. Tapi, cukup seru (banget) sihh...love it. Tema-nya pun oke. Asyik-lah pokoke!
July 9, 2020
3.5 stars
I remember reading this book when I was about fourteen but the details about the plot were kind of hazy in my memory, so I decided to do a reread. I do remember enjoying it then and enjoyed again as well.
Marcy Lewis is in junior high and is not a fan of school. At home, her father constantly criticizes her and her mother. Marcy has low self-esteem about her physical appearance (she thinks she looks like a blimp) and doesn't have many friends. Things start to look up when Marcy's class is assigned a new English teacher, Miss Finney. Unlike other teachers, Miss Finney seems to care what her students think and feel. She assigns fun projects, orders books her students want to read, and encourages class discussions. Marcy soon finds herself looking forward to school and begins to open up to other students in the class. When Miss Finney is suddenly replaced with a substitute, Marcy and her classmates are upset and surprised. This leads Marcy and other students to begin to look into how they can help their favorite teacher.
This book was published in the mid-seventies but aside from a few references to the era (records, push-button phones), this story and Marcy's situation can be related to the present as well. Readers may identify with Marcy's home situation as well as her struggles with accepting who she is. The writing is pretty straight forward and to the point, nothing too complication. Paula Danziger's writing style always reminded me of Judy Blume's style. It's very similar and basic to how kids/teens talk. While this book is pretty simple, it's a classic example of how students can start to accept who they are and stand up for what they believe in.
I remember reading this book when I was about fourteen but the details about the plot were kind of hazy in my memory, so I decided to do a reread. I do remember enjoying it then and enjoyed again as well.
Marcy Lewis is in junior high and is not a fan of school. At home, her father constantly criticizes her and her mother. Marcy has low self-esteem about her physical appearance (she thinks she looks like a blimp) and doesn't have many friends. Things start to look up when Marcy's class is assigned a new English teacher, Miss Finney. Unlike other teachers, Miss Finney seems to care what her students think and feel. She assigns fun projects, orders books her students want to read, and encourages class discussions. Marcy soon finds herself looking forward to school and begins to open up to other students in the class. When Miss Finney is suddenly replaced with a substitute, Marcy and her classmates are upset and surprised. This leads Marcy and other students to begin to look into how they can help their favorite teacher.
This book was published in the mid-seventies but aside from a few references to the era (records, push-button phones), this story and Marcy's situation can be related to the present as well. Readers may identify with Marcy's home situation as well as her struggles with accepting who she is. The writing is pretty straight forward and to the point, nothing too complication. Paula Danziger's writing style always reminded me of Judy Blume's style. It's very similar and basic to how kids/teens talk. While this book is pretty simple, it's a classic example of how students can start to accept who they are and stand up for what they believe in.
January 13, 2011
Perkenalkan, namaku Marcy Lewis. Aku gemuk dan berjerawat. Canggung dan mudah gugup. Sekolahku mengerikan. Aku tahu teman-teman tertawa di belakangku. Keadaan di rumah lebih buruk. Ayah menganggapku tidak berarti, dan seringkali bertengkar dengan ibu. Singkatnya, aku punya banyak masalah!
Review saya:
Ini buku bagus yang pernah saya baca. Tentang common problem gadis ABG. Yang kehilangan rasa percaya diri gara-gara bertubuh gemuk dan berjerawat. Marcy merasa dia adalah orang dengan masalah paling buruk di dunia. Selain dengan kondisi tubuhnya yang gemuk, yang membuatnya minder, ayahnya seringkali membentaknya. Karena ayahnya merasa telah bekerja keras, menganggap Marcy tidak berguna karena tubuhnya yang gemuk, dan lainnya. Rumahnya selalu dihiasi dengan teriakan sang ayah :(
Di sekolah, keadaannya juga tidak bagus. Guru-guru datang dan pergi. Sampai akhirnya, Ms. Barbara Finney datang. Semula, Marcy mengira, gurunya hanya akan bertahan beberapa hari saja. Namun ternyata, seisi kelas, bahkan anak-anak kelas lain, sangat menyukai Ms. Finney. Metode pengajaran yang dilakukannya, membuat Mercy mulai memiliki rasa percaya diri yang baik. Teman-temannya juga begitu.
Sayangnya, Kepala Sekolah tidak sependapat, sehingga Ms. Finney dipecat. Keadaan ini membuat semua murid malah semakin kompak, begitu juga dengan orangtua mereka. Tentu saja, ada yang pro dan ada yang kontra. Dan ketika berusaha membela Ms. Finney, Marcy justru menjadi sangat dekat dengan Joel, yang sama sekali tidak peduli dengan tubuh gemuk Marcy.
Buku ini positif buat dihadiahkan ke cewek-cewek yang bermasalah dengan rasa percaya diri. Bintang 5 buat buku ini. Hehe...
Review saya:
Ini buku bagus yang pernah saya baca. Tentang common problem gadis ABG. Yang kehilangan rasa percaya diri gara-gara bertubuh gemuk dan berjerawat. Marcy merasa dia adalah orang dengan masalah paling buruk di dunia. Selain dengan kondisi tubuhnya yang gemuk, yang membuatnya minder, ayahnya seringkali membentaknya. Karena ayahnya merasa telah bekerja keras, menganggap Marcy tidak berguna karena tubuhnya yang gemuk, dan lainnya. Rumahnya selalu dihiasi dengan teriakan sang ayah :(
Di sekolah, keadaannya juga tidak bagus. Guru-guru datang dan pergi. Sampai akhirnya, Ms. Barbara Finney datang. Semula, Marcy mengira, gurunya hanya akan bertahan beberapa hari saja. Namun ternyata, seisi kelas, bahkan anak-anak kelas lain, sangat menyukai Ms. Finney. Metode pengajaran yang dilakukannya, membuat Mercy mulai memiliki rasa percaya diri yang baik. Teman-temannya juga begitu.
Sayangnya, Kepala Sekolah tidak sependapat, sehingga Ms. Finney dipecat. Keadaan ini membuat semua murid malah semakin kompak, begitu juga dengan orangtua mereka. Tentu saja, ada yang pro dan ada yang kontra. Dan ketika berusaha membela Ms. Finney, Marcy justru menjadi sangat dekat dengan Joel, yang sama sekali tidak peduli dengan tubuh gemuk Marcy.
Buku ini positif buat dihadiahkan ke cewek-cewek yang bermasalah dengan rasa percaya diri. Bintang 5 buat buku ini. Hehe...
March 20, 2016
This was Danziger's first novel, and it shows. The moral is heavy-handed, the dialogue and narrative text are trite, and the only flashes of wit are in Marcy's excuses to her gym teacher (the title of the book is one such excuse).
The fundamental problem with the book is that it talks down to its audience. Marcy is ostensibly thirteen years old, but her narration reads as though she's about eight. Even in 1974, high-school kids would never talk about political issues this way--hell, this was a year after the abolition of the draft, and the class of '74 was the first in a generation where the male students could breathe freely. The book is preachy, disconnected from reality, and shallow. If Danziger hadn't discovered her comic talents, this might have been the end of her career.
For a much better view of children dealing with adult concerns, read Bridge to Terabithia. The protagonists in that story aren't even ten yet, but they know more about life than Marcy could hope to grasp.
The fundamental problem with the book is that it talks down to its audience. Marcy is ostensibly thirteen years old, but her narration reads as though she's about eight. Even in 1974, high-school kids would never talk about political issues this way--hell, this was a year after the abolition of the draft, and the class of '74 was the first in a generation where the male students could breathe freely. The book is preachy, disconnected from reality, and shallow. If Danziger hadn't discovered her comic talents, this might have been the end of her career.
For a much better view of children dealing with adult concerns, read Bridge to Terabithia. The protagonists in that story aren't even ten yet, but they know more about life than Marcy could hope to grasp.
Read
May 16, 2014I read this book when I was about fourteen and I remember really liking it, but had lost a lot of the details. The volleyball / dangling participle scene and wishing I could have gotten out of phys.ed. so easily is about the only thing that stuck.
As a adult that was raised in a household that had many of the same dynamics, I was rather blown away at some of the memories that it brought back. And with the clarity of 30 years growth, I see that Marcy's father was terribly abusive and Marcy's poor self esteem and anxiety were sadly, tragic and all too common.
Reading this book, in some ways, must have been like reading my own diary. Thank goodness the teenage years do not last forever, and whoever says that high school was the best time of their life is lying.
As a adult that was raised in a household that had many of the same dynamics, I was rather blown away at some of the memories that it brought back. And with the clarity of 30 years growth, I see that Marcy's father was terribly abusive and Marcy's poor self esteem and anxiety were sadly, tragic and all too common.
Reading this book, in some ways, must have been like reading my own diary. Thank goodness the teenage years do not last forever, and whoever says that high school was the best time of their life is lying.
June 4, 2009
(3.5) This was a nice quick "modern classic"-- I don't think I read it as a kid, but I could have. Though a lot of the story holds up now, 30+ years later, a lot of it is dated (Miss vs. Ms., women's liberation issues, smoking "grass", etc.) Girls will still be able to relate to Marcy's weight issues, her mean father, and her clueless mother, however. I'm not sure who I would give this book to-- it is written at a pretty low reading level (4th-5th grade), but features a 13 year old 9th grader who at one point, is offered and accepts a alcohol. I have a feeling this reading level/age appropriateness disconnect has to do with the time it was written.
June 23, 2010
This book meant SO much to me when I was in fifth grade. I actually remember reading it while walking home. I mean, I distinctly remember walking and reading at the same time.
September 17, 2019
I loved this book as a kid, and have been carting it around the country with me for the 30 years, so I thought I'd justify that decision and reread it. This is the story of Marcy, a 9th grader with a horrible father, no self-esteem, and a cool English teacher who gets suspended for not saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
I don't think I noticed that the book was originally published in 1974; when I read it in the late 80s, I didn't feel like it was particularly dated. But reading it now, man, it really is a product of its era. Not that modern audiences wouldn't be able to enjoy it; as a tween, I related to Marcy's self-confidence problems, anguish over her weight, and her feelings of not being able to talk to anyone (particularly boys).
But reading it now, placing it in context of a barely post-Vietnam era, as Watergate was going on...I'm not saying I sympathize with some of the adults in the story, but I sure understand where they're coming from a lot more. It's amazing what difference it makes.
Reading it, I remembered so much of it vividly--passages that were burned into my memory. (Including the back cover copy--"despairs of being thin" is a phrase that pops up in my head a LOT, to this day.) (Also, the purple jumpsuit she wears. I can picture it so clearly!) Marcy was probably more annoying to me now than then; she behaves in a fairly typical teenage way (frequently yelling at her parents with little provocation), but it makes sense.
I'm so glad I reread this.
I don't think I noticed that the book was originally published in 1974; when I read it in the late 80s, I didn't feel like it was particularly dated. But reading it now, man, it really is a product of its era. Not that modern audiences wouldn't be able to enjoy it; as a tween, I related to Marcy's self-confidence problems, anguish over her weight, and her feelings of not being able to talk to anyone (particularly boys).
But reading it now, placing it in context of a barely post-Vietnam era, as Watergate was going on...I'm not saying I sympathize with some of the adults in the story, but I sure understand where they're coming from a lot more. It's amazing what difference it makes.
Reading it, I remembered so much of it vividly--passages that were burned into my memory. (Including the back cover copy--"despairs of being thin" is a phrase that pops up in my head a LOT, to this day.) (Also, the purple jumpsuit she wears. I can picture it so clearly!) Marcy was probably more annoying to me now than then; she behaves in a fairly typical teenage way (frequently yelling at her parents with little provocation), but it makes sense.
I'm so glad I reread this.
May 5, 2019
The cat ate my gymsuit 3.5⭐️
Marcy hates everything until she gets a new english teacher that makes everything a little less awful that is until she gets suspended. The kids ban together to try and get their favorite teacher back.
This was cute and fast and fun.
“ Yesterday I looked in the mirror and saw a pimple it’s name is Agnes”
Marcy hates everything until she gets a new english teacher that makes everything a little less awful that is until she gets suspended. The kids ban together to try and get their favorite teacher back.
This was cute and fast and fun.
“ Yesterday I looked in the mirror and saw a pimple it’s name is Agnes”
October 23, 2022
Raw emotion. The opening of this book was like none other when it came out. It gave a voice to upset teens. This book shows what internal strife a child can go through, and when they fight for what is right, the world don’t work out the way anyone wants it to.
December 22, 2017
I'm always reading books about 30 years too late. It's funny, but I have so little understanding of what the 70s were, when I grew up in them. But back when this book came out, I was reading books written about 30 or so years earlier than this one. As a pre-teen and teenager, I was reading about the Malone family ( Meet the Malones ) by Lenora Mattingly Weber. Or I was reading the Betsy-Tacy books (remember the ones where she was in high school?) or books by Betty Cavanna and Grace Livingston Hill.
Ok so some of my reading was 70 years earlier, not 30.
My point is, I knew more about what it was to be a teenager in the 1950's. Or the 1930's or 1910's than I did about being a teenager where I was. And I was so shy and introverted, that I truly had no idea of the world around me.
So reading this book is a look into a moment in time that I didn't understand at all. The 'radical' notions of women working outside the home. Of teaching methods that were outside the 'tried and true' and discovering who you were in a time where being an individual was something to be both feared and desired. And this book captures that very well.
What I didn't like? The abusive father. The way Marcy is treated about her weight - and her own issues regarding it. This was truly the time we were in (though not all fathers were abusive. Marcy's father feels like a caricature). But I remember these discussions. The way my parents looked down on divorce. On women who worked outside the home. On feminism and liberalism and a lot of other isms.
But at the same time, I'm not seeing much of the hope. The way the world was changing for the better. Nor am I feeling like Marcy is truly a girl worth emulating. She's selfish and not a good friend on many levels. She screams at her parents just to hear herself scream I think, with no hint of trying to understand any of their motivations when she's demanding they understand HER. Which is perhaps what soured me on this book completely.
Too often our own quest for tolerance is a one-way street. We want to be able to be free to express ourselves, as we are, but we're not willing to grant the same rights to anyone else, especially those who want to express themselves in a way that's completely different from yours. This is what leads to Marcy's biggest problems.
By the end of the book I wanted Marcy to shut up and listen for once. To learn how to engage in a dialogue. I wanted her mother to leave her father, until he quit yelling at everyone and expecting to be king of the castle. And I wanted the kids to not have to be so subversive in their actions - had they really not learned anything from Ms. Finney?
But as for Ms. Finney - I'm glad she made the choice she did, though to the young reader there's no understanding it. As an adult I can see what it would mean for her to stay. She would forever be bucking the system, forever under scrutiny, and fighting the same battles forever. Also, with some of the children opposed to her methods, she's always going to have that conflict in her classroom, and the knowledge that no matter how well she taught, she would not be wanted, or desired.
This is a difficult book, but it's not one I would read again or go out of my way to recommend. I think there are better books that encapsulate this moment in time. Still, I'm glad I finally read it. I remember when my peers were talking about this book, but for some reason I never picked it up.
Maybe I was too busy being a teenager of the 1950's...or the 1930's...to pay any attention.
Ok so some of my reading was 70 years earlier, not 30.
My point is, I knew more about what it was to be a teenager in the 1950's. Or the 1930's or 1910's than I did about being a teenager where I was. And I was so shy and introverted, that I truly had no idea of the world around me.
So reading this book is a look into a moment in time that I didn't understand at all. The 'radical' notions of women working outside the home. Of teaching methods that were outside the 'tried and true' and discovering who you were in a time where being an individual was something to be both feared and desired. And this book captures that very well.
What I didn't like? The abusive father. The way Marcy is treated about her weight - and her own issues regarding it. This was truly the time we were in (though not all fathers were abusive. Marcy's father feels like a caricature). But I remember these discussions. The way my parents looked down on divorce. On women who worked outside the home. On feminism and liberalism and a lot of other isms.
But at the same time, I'm not seeing much of the hope. The way the world was changing for the better. Nor am I feeling like Marcy is truly a girl worth emulating. She's selfish and not a good friend on many levels. She screams at her parents just to hear herself scream I think, with no hint of trying to understand any of their motivations when she's demanding they understand HER. Which is perhaps what soured me on this book completely.
Too often our own quest for tolerance is a one-way street. We want to be able to be free to express ourselves, as we are, but we're not willing to grant the same rights to anyone else, especially those who want to express themselves in a way that's completely different from yours. This is what leads to Marcy's biggest problems.
By the end of the book I wanted Marcy to shut up and listen for once. To learn how to engage in a dialogue. I wanted her mother to leave her father, until he quit yelling at everyone and expecting to be king of the castle. And I wanted the kids to not have to be so subversive in their actions - had they really not learned anything from Ms. Finney?
But as for Ms. Finney - I'm glad she made the choice she did, though to the young reader there's no understanding it. As an adult I can see what it would mean for her to stay. She would forever be bucking the system, forever under scrutiny, and fighting the same battles forever. Also, with some of the children opposed to her methods, she's always going to have that conflict in her classroom, and the knowledge that no matter how well she taught, she would not be wanted, or desired.
This is a difficult book, but it's not one I would read again or go out of my way to recommend. I think there are better books that encapsulate this moment in time. Still, I'm glad I finally read it. I remember when my peers were talking about this book, but for some reason I never picked it up.
Maybe I was too busy being a teenager of the 1950's...or the 1930's...to pay any attention.
August 23, 2017
This is actually a re-read, too. I read it many, many years ago. It belongs to a group of books that I think of as realistic fiction / learning to deal with the world.
One of the things that was of particular interest to me in this re-read is the attitude toward the issues of the day. I took a college class that was big on talking about and doing the types of things the students did in "Smedley". This seems to be very out-of-date now. The issue about saying the pledge has been resolved in many cases (though certainly not all). It is interesting to see the focus on dress.
Two things are of particular interest. The attitude of the father - a sort of don't rock the boat - and his way of treating his wife and children seemed very negative to me. I wonder if books like this would even appear in the current culture. The father is a bully. And his wife and children suffer from it. Though there is a hint that the father will back off a bit towards the end of the book, it is an uneasy resolution - perhaps a foreshadowing of the rise (again) of feminism.
The other thing that is of particular interest to me is the attitude of everyone about the MC weight problem. I have a weight problem, so this particularly needles me. In this book, the mother does some of the same things that annoy me so in people who try to "help" me lose weight. Offering to buy new clothes. Smiling or extending approval when you pass up a dessert. Telling you that people don't care about your weight. These, and other things, were not helpful for me. It made me feel like others felt they owned my problem. That they felt that weight was something I needed help with. They felt that it was their right to give suggestions about how to deal with it. Weight, before shyness, before reaction to being bullied, before normal problems of growing up (dating). Weight tied into everything.
Positives: I liked seeing the kids deal with their situations. I liked the obvious emotional volatility of that age of children.
All in all: a bit dated, but still interesting.
One of the things that was of particular interest to me in this re-read is the attitude toward the issues of the day. I took a college class that was big on talking about and doing the types of things the students did in "Smedley". This seems to be very out-of-date now. The issue about saying the pledge has been resolved in many cases (though certainly not all). It is interesting to see the focus on dress.
Two things are of particular interest. The attitude of the father - a sort of don't rock the boat - and his way of treating his wife and children seemed very negative to me. I wonder if books like this would even appear in the current culture. The father is a bully. And his wife and children suffer from it. Though there is a hint that the father will back off a bit towards the end of the book, it is an uneasy resolution - perhaps a foreshadowing of the rise (again) of feminism.
The other thing that is of particular interest to me is the attitude of everyone about the MC weight problem. I have a weight problem, so this particularly needles me. In this book, the mother does some of the same things that annoy me so in people who try to "help" me lose weight. Offering to buy new clothes. Smiling or extending approval when you pass up a dessert. Telling you that people don't care about your weight. These, and other things, were not helpful for me. It made me feel like others felt they owned my problem. That they felt that weight was something I needed help with. They felt that it was their right to give suggestions about how to deal with it. Weight, before shyness, before reaction to being bullied, before normal problems of growing up (dating). Weight tied into everything.
Positives: I liked seeing the kids deal with their situations. I liked the obvious emotional volatility of that age of children.
All in all: a bit dated, but still interesting.
May 3, 2019
This is a classic that I somehow missed reading as a kid. I probably would’ve liked it then, but I really really didn’t now. The characters were all pretty flat and tended towards emotional mood swings. Everyone’s favorite outburst seemed to be “I hate you!” which just seems like lazy writing to me. Nothing felt nuanced or realistic (such as the plot or the character development). Maybe it’s just a symptom of the time it was written though, so I tried to give it a little benefit of the doubt.
In general though, the plot was very shallow, and what plot it did have just felt like thinly-veiled liberal propaganda about expressing your feelings being the most important thing, even to the point of disrupting everything with chaos and protests. If only this author could see the current craziness of Antifa and the SJW mobs who’ve taken this mentality to the extreme in recent years. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t even mind reading about people with different points of view than me, but this book just felt like it had an agenda and it was difficult to see the characters and story arc around that agenda.
Also... what on earth is an orange pit? Oranges don’t have pits! 😂 One of the characters was constantly talking about orange pits and I was so confused. Maybe they meant peaches? Those are kind of orange. 🤷🏼♀️
In general though, the plot was very shallow, and what plot it did have just felt like thinly-veiled liberal propaganda about expressing your feelings being the most important thing, even to the point of disrupting everything with chaos and protests. If only this author could see the current craziness of Antifa and the SJW mobs who’ve taken this mentality to the extreme in recent years. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t even mind reading about people with different points of view than me, but this book just felt like it had an agenda and it was difficult to see the characters and story arc around that agenda.
Also... what on earth is an orange pit? Oranges don’t have pits! 😂 One of the characters was constantly talking about orange pits and I was so confused. Maybe they meant peaches? Those are kind of orange. 🤷🏼♀️
January 17, 2016
While I liked the main character, as I identify with her, the rest of the characters come off as complete annoying jerks, especially the father and the principal. The father calls her stupid and comes close to physically abusing her. Unfortunately her mother doesn't to anything about it and would rather let them stay in this bad relationship. The principal is a bully and I feel that in real life he would've been fired. The story was just unpleasant and the main issue that gets the teacher fired is just, by today's standards ludicrous and unimportant. If you liked the book that's your opinion, but for myself, I'll just move on to Charles Dickens.
April 20, 2010
Word of advice--If you are reading a book to your kids that you haven't read in a really long time, reread it by yourself first! There were a few kind of heavy topics in this one for my 10 yr old.
May 30, 2021
Fun read. Loved it!
February 23, 2018
I have complicated feelings about this book. It's not perfect; the characters don't end up in a great place by the end. The people who are cruel don't get their comeuppance. People say sexist, misogynist, and fatphobic things. It's set in the 1970s, people were more in-your-face than now (in some ways). But by the end, things are better in many ways in our character's life. She is feeling more confident in herself and her ability to see herself getting older. She has more community connectedness. And I will forever be grateful to this book for making me feel less alone, as a child who was being abused at home. It reminded me that other people out there had survived the experience (as I correctly assuming the author wrote from experience) and maybe I could too.
April 27, 2017
I like this book because these students been having a sub for the whole year and the next day they heard that they have a new teacher, not a sub but a real teacher and the students make this plan so they can show the teacher that there the boss, and every time the teacher took attendance the kids would say it's wrong. But later on throughout the week and days the teacher assigns them to do work in class and Marcy brought her gym suit to school and the teacher had brought a cat to school and this cat ate Marcy gym suit and she got really mad and threw something at the cat and she got detention.
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