The New Kid

by Mavis Jukes

Overview

Newbery Honor Award-winning author Mavis Jukes is back with a lovable new character named Carson. His father moves him to a new town in Northern California, where he'll be the new kid in class—friendless and alone, except for his beloved stuffed moose (named Moose, of course). As Carson settles into his new surroundings, a series of delightful mishaps start to occur: the class pet, a rat named Mr. Nibblenose, gets lost to surprising results; the culprit of a mysterious lunch theft might actually be something that's not human at all; and when his beloved Moose goes missing, Carson makes his first new non-stuffed-animal friend. Told with childlike charm and wit, The New Kid is perfect for newly independent readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375853678
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	12/11/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	700L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

MAVIS JUKES is the award-winning author of several books for children and teenagers, including the picture books No One is Going to Nashville, Blackberries in the Dark, I'll See You in My Dreams, You're A Bear, and Like Jake and Me, which earned a Newbery Honor Award. Other titles include several nonfiction books in a series for adolescents, including Be Healthy! It's A Girl Thing: Food, Fitness and Feeling Great, cowritten by Lilian Cheung, DSc. 

Mavis taught school for several years, then became a lawyer before writing her first book for children. She recently returned to the classroom full-time, currently teaching computer class to 900 enthusiastic students in three different public schools a week. It is from this job that she has drawn inspiration for the ideas and antics featured in The New Kid.

Mavis lives with her husband, the artist Robert Hudson, in Sonoma County, California. They share their small ranch with four cats, a dog, numerous hawks, owls, raccoons, opossoms, skunks, and other mysterious critters whose eyes twinkle in the dark. Mavis and Bob are the parents of four children, all artists.

Editorial Reviews

Being the "new kid" in the middle of a school year means all sorts of new experiences for 8-year-old Carson Blum. When his tax-lawyer father takes a new position in El Cerrito, Calif., Carson packs up his stuffed mammal, Moose, and his ditzy Labrador retriever, Genevieve, and waves a reluctant goodbye to his grandparents, his two best friends and his small private school in Pasadena. Public school is quite different, but his teacher, Mr. Lipman, and Carson's new classmates make him feel welcome. Carson's just not sure he'll have a new friend by his birthday to invite horseback riding. He's also not sure what to make of his classmate Weston Walker, who gets in trouble a lot and seems to tell a lot of whoppers. Carson likes Nancy, who helps him in computer class. He's also excited to help Patrick take care of Mr. Nibblenose, the class rat. In her newest, Newbery Honor author Jukes (Like Jake and Me, 1984) depicts a warmly affectionate relationship between Carson and his adoptive father. They're best friends and have in-jokes and no disagreements. Carson's emotional life is expertly drawn, and readers who've found themselves in approximations of his situation will easily identify. However, the length, abundance of complex sentences and slowish pacing make this problematic for early-elementary children, who are most likely to be interested in a novel starring an 8-year-old. Quiet humor with dashes of goofiness may offset its problems, but Carson's tale will still work better as a read-aloud than as an independent read. (Fiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews