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  1 Twerp
Author: Goldblatt, Mark
 
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Class: Fiction
Age: 8-12
Language: English
LC: PZ7
Grade: 3-7
Print Run: 10000
ISBN-13: 9780375971426
LCCN: 2012005033
Imprint: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Random House
Pub Date: 05/28/2013
Availability: Out of Stock Indefinitely
List: $16.99
  Hardcover
Physical Description: 275 p. ; 22 cm. H 8.5", W 5.75", D 0.92", 0.9 lbs.
LC Series:
Brodart Sources: Brodart's Insight Catalog: Children
Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles
Bibliographies: Children's Core Collection, 23rd ed.
Children's Core Collection, 24th ed.
Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award, Gr. 6-8, Book lists
Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 13th ed.
Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 14th ed.
Middle and Junior High Core Collection, 15th ed.
Awards: Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
Starred Reviews:
TIPS Subjects: Friendship
Social Sciences/Sociology
BISAC Subjects: JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / Friendship
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / Bullying
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / Peer Pressure
LC Subjects: Conduct of life, Fiction
Diaries, Fiction
Friendship, Fiction
Interpersonal relations, Fiction
Queens (New York, N.Y.), History, 20th century, Fiction
Schools, Fiction
Self-realization, Fiction
SEARS Subjects: Conduct of life, Fiction
Diaries, Fiction
Friendship, Fiction
Interpersonal relations, Fiction
Queens (New York, N.Y.), History, 20th century, Fiction
School stories
Self-realization, Fiction
Reading Programs: Accelerated Reader Level: 4.5 , Points: 9.0
Lexile Level: 730
Reading Counts Level: 4.5 , Points: 16.0
 
Annotations
Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles | 05/01/2013
Julian Twerski never meant to hurt anyone. After an incident that got Julian and his friends suspended, Julian learns he can get out of doing a report on Shakespeare if he journals about the incident that practically branded Julian a bully. 288pp.
Journal Reviews
BookPage | 06/01/2013
Ages 9-12. Julian Twerski is not a bad guy. Really. That whole incident with Danley Dimple? That was a fluke. He didn't mean for the kid to get hurt. It's not worth going over again. Yet, as part of his punishment, Julian has to write about it for his English teacher. From the start, he has trouble explaining the "Danley Dimple thing" and feels the need first to describe his life, his friendships--who he is. So begins Mark Goldblatt's Twerp, an exploration of life as a 12-year-old in New York City in 1969, in the closing days of sixth grade. We learn about the dangers of playing Cyrano for your best friend, finding out you might not be the fastest kid at P.S. 23 and making your own fireworks (with disastrous results). In fact, Julian will tell you just about anything you want to know--except for the one thing he's supposed to be writing about. By the time he actually gets around to explaining what happened with Danley Dimple, we understand Julian, and we sympathize. So drawn are we into Julian's world, it's sometimes hard to remember that an adult wrote this book. A wonderfully touching story that's hard to put down, Twerp will appeal to readers of all ages. 288pg. BOOKPAGE, c2013.
Booklist | 05/01/2013
Grades 6-9. Sixth-grader Julian Twerski discovers a love for writing as he documents his year for a teacher who wants him to come to terms with an act of bullying on his part. Set in Queens in the author's 1960s childhood, this period piece spotlights a time when boys were independent, self-sufficient in their entertainment, and entirely unsupervised. Julian's gang, led by his best friend, Lonnie, hangs out in a vacant lot or neighborhood playground, entertaining themselves by throwing things, exploding fireworks, and ragging on each other. For Lonnie, Julian writes an admiring letter to classmate Jillian, who responds by becoming interested in Julian instead. This leads to a first date, a first broken heart, and a temporary quarrel with his pal. Meanwhile, Julian's composition entries circle around to the incident that led to his punishment. The cleverly constructed first-person narrative leads readers into sympathy with the precocious narrator, so that the reveal is a surprise and the denouement a relief. There's a fair amount of nostalgia here, which adult readers may appreciate more than teens. Isaacs, Kathleen. 288p. Booklist Online. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2013.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books | 07/01/2013
R. Gr. 5-7. Julian and his friends have done something despicable (though it's not initially clear what), and in addition to getting suspended, Julian has to write a journal chronicling his sixth-grade year. His audience is his English teacher, and he knows that he is supposed to write about the incident, but he's got other stories to tell, stories that help put what happened into context as he explores his changing relationships with his friends. Though the story is set in 1969, Julian's difficulties as his absolute fidelity to his boyhood guy gang is challenged by the bewildering and complicated world of girls and growing up will ring true for contemporary readers. Not everything is as credible (how likely would it be for an eleven-year-old to have read Cyrano de Bergerac?), but the book is well-structured, with metaphors that carry emotional resonance and episodes that showcase the fiercely felt loyalties and confusions as well as the laughable stupidity of preteen boys in groups. The writing is elegant in its simplicity and accessibility; Julian is witty without any distancing snarkiness, and he is genuinely sorry for the bullying incident that prompted the writing assignment, proving that good kids can sometimes make grievous mistakes in judgment but neither the bullies nor the bullied have to get stuck in those positions. KC. 288p. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIV. OF ILLINOIS, c2013.
Horn Book | 09/01/2013
Middle School. Twelve-year-old Julian Twerski didn't mean for "soft in the head" Danley Dimmel to get hurt. He doesn't deny he was there when it happened, but it wasn't one hundred percent his fault, and maybe he could have stopped it. But now that Julian and his gang have served their week's suspension from school, Julian's English teacher, Mr. Selkirk, wants him to write about it. Exactly what happened is the elephant in the room for the rest of the novel (set in 1960s Queens, New York), as Julian does indeed write -- nine composition notebooks' worth -- about everything but Danley Dimmel. Julian tells of how he killed a pigeon and how sad he was, how he caused a car accident, how his friend Quentin burned off his eyebrows, how he was buddied up with Beverly Segal on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and how awkward it was walking past nude statues with a girl. Through the compositions, readers get to know Julian, as he comes to know himself, and though he claims to persist with the writing to get out of a book report on Julius Caesar, Julian ironically finds the meaning of life in Shakespeare. He may be a "quintessence of dust" like Hamlet, he says, but he's "a quintessence of dust with a date for Friday night." Goldblatt's debut novel for young readers is funny, poignant, and an effective commentary on bullying and its consequences and on knowing right from wrong. dean schneider. 277pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2013.
Horn Book Guide | 05/01/2014
2. Twelve-year-old Julian Twerski didn't mean for "soft in the head" Danley Dimmel to get hurt. Now that he's served his suspension, Julian's English teacher wants him to write about exactly what happened. Through the compositions, readers get to know Julian as he comes to know himself. The story, set in 1960s Queens, New York, is funny, poignant, and an effective commentary on bullying. ds. 277pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2014.
Kirkus Reviews | 04/01/2013
Twelve-year-old Julian is assigned the task of keeping a journal that details the events that led up to his suspension for bullying. In an open journal to his English teacher, Julian describes life as a sixth-grader in 1969, roaming his Queens neighborhood with a close-knit group of friends. While the descriptions and dialogue evoke a previous era, the issues Julian faces are timeless topics familiar to adolescents. Initially, Julian minimizes his responsibility for what happened to "Danley Dimmel," whose real name is Stanley Stimmel. Rather than addressing what occurred, Julian recounts his various mishaps and adventures with his friends. Alternately poignant and comical, Julian's stories encompass everything from first crushes and first dates to the purpose of his existence. He struggles with the conflicting need to be part of a group, which means coasting in his best friend Lonnie's wake, and to define himself and understand his unique place in the world. Goldblatt neatly captures that transitional stage between childhood and adolescence, deftly examining the complex dynamics of friendships and skillfully portraying Julian's evolution toward self-understanding. When Julian ultimately reveals what occurred, he describes it with devastating honesty. Julian's acknowledgement of his part in the event and his decisive actions at the story's conclusion illuminate his growing maturity. Goldblatt's tale provides a thought-provoking exploration of bullying, personal integrity and self-acceptance. (Historical fiction. 10-14). 288pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2013.
Publishers Weekly | 03/25/2013
Ages 9-12. Adult author Goldblatt (Africa Speaks) makes his children's book debut with a coming-of-age novel set in 1969, a mix of awkward adolescent stumbling, pockets of sweetness, and oft-used tropes. Sixth-grader Julian Twerski has returned from a school suspension and accepted a deal to write a journal for his English class about what he did. As Julian avoids talking about the actual act of bullying that got him in trouble, he recounts the events of the semester in journal entries. These adventures follow the formula for the genre, ranging from uncomfortable first kisses and dates to extracurricular shenanigans (often accompanied by injuries of varied severity); an early sequence about the death of a bird is among the novel's best and most moving segments. The crucial moment of bullying, although appalling, doesn't quite live up to its buildup, and the familiar "bully forced to keep a journal" concept is somewhat cliched. Occasional cultural reference aside, the historical setting doesn't contribute a great deal to the story, but Julian's anecdotes are entertaining and Goldblatt's characters well-written. Agent: Scott Gould, RLR Associates. (May). 288p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2013.
School Library Journal | 07/01/2013
Gr 6-8--After participating in an act of horrendous bullying, Julian is given the opportunity to atone for his action and lighten his punishment by writing a book throughout the year. What starts as meandering thoughts and stories about him hitting pigeons and chasing cars evolves into a story of self-realization. The bulk of it is given over to a tangled love triangle. When Lonnie asks Julian, a better writer, to craft a love letter from him to new-girl Jillian and sign it anonymously, she believes the amorous intentions are Julian's. The result leaves bitter feelings between two former best friends. As the story unfolds, Julian comes to identify what he feels is right, not just what his best friend tells him is so. This honest portrayal of 12-year-olds' lives does not gloss over the stupid, hurtful things people do to one another before their moral compasses become fully calibrated. Julian is different from his friends, as he is told throughout the book, but he doesn't see it until the end. In the denouement, he finally stands up and tries to make what he has done right. Not all readers will identify with the sometimes-despicable things the protagonist does, but those who identified with the antihero in Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" (Abrams) but have matured beyond the scope and gravity of that series will find a kindred spirit in Julian. Devin Burritt, Wells Public Library, ME. 275p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2013.
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