The Epic Documentary of a Not-Yet-Epic Kid (The Classroom Series)

by Robin Mellom

Overview

Trevor Jones has been looking forward to seventh grade all summer, but when his best friend Libby tells him that he HAS to ask a girl out to the fall dance--his bright outlook suddenly takes a turn. It also doesn't help that there's documentary crew to film his every awkward move. Modern Family meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid in The Classroom, a new middle grade series full of heart, laughs, and awkward documentary footage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423165873
Publisher:	Disney Press
Publication date:	06/19/2012
Series:	Classroom Series
Sold by:	DISNEY PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE -EBKS
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	720L (what's this?)
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Robin Mellom used to teach middle schoolers and now she writes about them. (Any fictional characters that resemble her previous real-life students is purely coincidental. Probably.) She is also the author of Ditched: A Love Story. She lives with her husband and son on the Central Coast of California. Learn more at www.robinmellom.com and follow her on Twitter (@robinmellom).




Through a freak incident involving a school bus, a Labrador retriever, and twenty-four rolls of toilet paper, Stephen Gilpin knew that someday he would be an artist. He applied himself diligently and many years later, he has found himself the illustrator of around thirty children's books. He lives in Hiawatha, Kansas with his genius wife, Angie and a whole bunch of kids. Visit his Web site at www.sgilpin.com.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 4–7—Trevor Jones admits that he's obsessive and a little neurotic, but his best friend, Libby, has stuck by him and defended him throughout elementary school and he's depending on her to continue to do so. But while they wait for the bus on the first day of middle school, she explains to him that he's on his own now. Seventh grade is a whole new ball game with new rules and new friends and she can't have him tagging along. Trevor seems shell-shocked and is just hoping his sneakers are adequately scuffed up to not look new, and he's confused about why Libby is sporting a new skirt and lip gloss. The book is set up to resemble a film documentary, with cameo inserts of characters done in contrasting fonts with clever ideas like labeling the illustrations as "Camerawork" and calling the author the "Director." Unlikely scenarios like having to have a date for the fall dance by the end of the first day of school seem out of place, and the tempo seems to drag, calling it curtains for suggesting this title to reluctant readers. While there are some amusing illustrations that will appeal to "Wimpy Kid" readers, the slow, evasive plot will keep this book from flying off library shelves. Strictly an additional purchase.—Cheryl Ashton, Amherst Public Library, OH

School Library Journal

A documentary crew descends upon Westside Middle School to reveal what middle-school students' lives are really like. At the heart of the story is Trevor Jones, just starting middle school. He's a worrier and a "pre-thinker," and, despite his claim that he's not worried about seventh grade, he has it all planned. He's got brand-new clothes, and his yogurt stick is frozen just right to be the perfect temperature by lunchtime. Unfortunately, his best friend forever, Libby, shakes his cool at the bus stop when she informs him about the upcoming dance and how he must ask a girl by the end of the day. The whole novel revolves around the dance and the attendant social drama of middle-school life. Though readers never find out much about the making of the documentary itself, it's a clever contrivance. A third-person narration alternates with interviews with the major players. There's Trevor, Libby, eighth-grader Corey Long, Wilson the custodian, and seventh-grade gossip Cindy Applegate among the several main players. Illustrations add appeal to the story, including cartoonish drawings found in Trevor's notebook, a "Social Skills Training" pamphlet found in Counselor Plimp's office and drawings from Libby's Hola! Kitty Cat! sketchpad. All in all, a silly but appealing story for readers approaching the middle-school years. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews