The Landry News

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Every student dreams of being in a classroom in which the teacher doesn't teach and chaos is the order of the day. This is the scenario that Cara Landry walked into in this delightful children's novel, The Landry News. It was difficult being the new student in the classroom, but to be put in a classroom where the teacher prefers to sip coffee while reading the latest newspaper, ignoring the spitballs that are being tossed from corner to corner in the classroom was the ultimate insult.

Cara Landry blended into everything in her new town. Until she started fifth grade she was never a discipline problem. In fact, very few teachers or students knew that she existed. However, this all changed when Cara entered Mr. Larson's fifth grade class. Cara broke the mold that had been created of her unobtrusive image by combing her unique writing style and sense for adventure to create the first Landry News. In her first edition, Cara exposes Mr. Larson for the lazy, unmotivated, selfish educator that he is.

However, although a newspaper is black and white, life is not black and white. Cara learns through her escapade that Mr. Larson's history is not as bland as it appears. As she begins to learn tolerance and being a critical investigative reporter, Mr. Larson begins his journey back to being the high quality teacher that he once desired to be.

This book easily adapts itself to any area of the curriculum. It is an excellent resource to include when beginning a unit about citizenship and the role of government. It opens itself to debate in language arts and social studies, as students examine the conscience of Cara Landry as well as Mr. Larson. It instigates the student who is complacent about their rights and responsibilities as a citizen of this world to become more active in their government. It inspires the teacher who has chosen the easier path of self-destruction in teaching to be rejuvenated and to rekindle the light of learning in students.

The Landry News is a must for every upper middle school library as it inspires students to "think out of the box" and to become active citizens in this world.


Aladdin Paperbacks
Simon & Schuster
Ages 8-12
ISBN 0-689-82868-3
$4.99 US
$6.99 Canada


Rating:
Summary: New Kid Gets Old Teacher....
Review: Cara Landry is a big fan of writing editorials. But after her parents' divorce, Cara starts writing hurtful editorials about her classmates and teachers. Everything changes after she enters Mr. Larson's class. Carl Larson is a sloppy teacher who would just assign an project to the class, and sit at his desk and read newpsapers. He would never look up unless it is loud. Other teachers would complain, but Mr. Larson would just ask a student to just shut the door.

Cara thinks this is not right, so she writes her first ever editorial about Denton Elementary School. She also includes an article about Mr. Larson's poor teaching. Mr. Larson gets mad and rips up the article. Mrs. Landry was heartbroken when she finds out her daughter is on to hurting people again. She tells Cara to write an apology note, and before you know it, The Landry News is a hit at Denton Elementary School.

Everything goes well until a copy of The Landry News find its' way to Dr. Barnes's office. He reads it and tells Mr. Larson to be responsible for Cara's newspaper. Cara then decides to put a divorce story in the newspaper, and wham: Carl Larson is about to get fired. But no way that's going to happen. And that's up to Michael Morton, the kid who wrote the divorce story to solve it.

Rating:
Summary: Another winner from Andrew Clements
Review: Cara Landry notices things that other kids might miss. She not only notices things, but she reports them in her newspaper, "The Landry News." In her last school, Cara was always getting in trouble for her reporting. Now, in a new school, Cara still reports what she sees, making sure that she always tells the truth, even if it hurts. When Cara writes an editorial about her teacher, Mr. Larson, not teaching anything to their class, Mr. Larson becomes so angry that she is afraid he'll stop her from printing her newspaper. But that is not the case. Instead, Mr. Larson turns "The Landry News" into a class project. Soon the whole class gets involved and the whole school starts reading Cara's newspaper which has a new motto: "truth with mercy." When the principal shuts down their newspaper because of a story they published, Mr. Larson finds his job is in jeopardy. For most teachers, this would be a cause for concern. For Mr. Larson, this is the opportunity to teach his students a very important lesson about the first amendment. Another great book from Andrew Clements. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Landry News
Review: Have you ever wanted to start a newspaper? The book I read was The Landry News. The book was about a girl who started a newspaper with her class and it was a big it in the school. The teacher does not do anything so the principle does not like him. The principle says they can do it so as long as the kids give him a copy. He lets them do it so that if something is wrong he can try to get him fired. He finds an article that he thinks it's inappropriate and he brings it to the board. The board tells him that they need to have a conference. At the hearing the boy reads his story and the board thinks it's appropriate.

I like this book because it was a page turner. It was a easy book to concentrate and connect to the characters. I enjoy the style of writing because I can understand what all the character are thinking. There were many surprises in this book. The one bad thing is that it has no cliff-hangers. If you like reality books this is a great book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting Landry News
Review: In The Landry News a person named Cara Landry tried to get her old teacher fired. Mr. Larson sits down and reads the newspaper and doesn't teach. But in chapter 3 Cara got in trouble for offending Mr. Larson. I like each exciting chapter. Each chapter ends like a mystery, and the problem is solved at the beginning of each new chapter. The illustrations were good drawings, and show what the characters look like. It really is a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Even Better than Frindle!
Review: The Landry News by Andrew Clements, the author of frindle and The Janitor's Boy, was an absoleuly fabulous tale of Cara Landry and her newspaper "The Landry News." After the first edition is published she writes in it a story saying how her teacher is slacking off and she decides even though her teacher Mr. Larson saw it she would still publish it under the motto "Truth and Mercy." Her whole fifth grade class then decides to help Cara make more issues and we meet loveable charcters like Lee Ann and Joey.

Then Cara receives an article called "Lost and Found". She decides to publish it even though it isa heavy non-fiction story for elementary school students. The principal then finds a copy and decides that this story is a perfect way to get Mr. Larson fired. He calls a school board meeting and it is up to the students to save Mr. Larson's job.

Rating:
Summary: The Landry News
Review: This book is the best book of all time!I loved reading it and it's great for boys and girls ages 7-up too.It's also full of feelings and friendship.Cara Landry is an ordinary girl whos parents had gotten divorced and then Cara thought of making The Landry News.But the problem is that she thinks that the truth is the only thing about the newspaper which is true.but she putted to much truth in it that she made some people sad because of it.And after her mother read the first edition she told Cara to show Truth and Mercy in the newspaper but not to much of it also.So after her good friend Joey helped her with the next edition 'till Dr.Barnes read one and had an argument with Mr.Larson.And when a boy named Michal Morton gave Cara his story he asked her to put it in the newspaper.But when Dr.Barnes read it in the ninth Landry News he started planing Mr.Larson's early retirement party.If you want to hear the rest you have to read the book to find out what happens.

Rating:
Summary: an adventure
Review: This is a good book for young and old about a girls adventure in journalizam. She is at a new school and starts a new news paper that soon has done more to that she ment. I read alot but this is at the top of the list because it is more than a news paper to her and soon finds herself in trouble. A sweet read that parents might enjoy.