The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates

Rating:
Summary: Kaleh's Corner
Review: I can still remember how it felt. I was held back in the 6th grade (unlike Joshua, in my case it was my own fault), and though Joshua didn't realize it, he was actually very fortunate to have been held back earlier rather than later.

Susan Shreve must have been held back herself as a child, or had at least one of her own children held back, or dealt with many students who have been held back. She writes the story in such a way as to meet the reader right where they are. She seems to identify with someone who has had to repeat (or is in the process of repeating) a grade for whatever reason.

Although it is a very short story (initially written for my generation -- see the "Pac-Man" refernces), it still brings home some very important messages for young kids struggling in school, whether it be academically or socially. Also, in the tradition of Katherine Paterson's "Bridge To Terebithia" and Louis Sachar's "There's a Boy In the Girl's Bathroom", this story also does a wonderful job of offering us the character of a teacher who is able to reach the student on a deep and meaningful level...the kind of teacher we never forget about no matter how old we get.

Rating:
Summary: The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates
Review: I think The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates was an okay book. Joshua, the main character, was very humorous. Joshua just ended the summer after a year of third grade. He is shocked and embarassed when he learns he has to repeat third grade over. Josh wasn't happy about the situation at first, but then Mrs. Goodwin came in. Mrs. Goodwin tutored Josh after school and during school she made him feel beeter about himself. Josh takes the test to fourth grade. Did he make it or did he not? Read The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates to find out the ending and all the hysterical details.

Rating:
Summary: Kaleh's Corner
Review: Joshua has to repeat the third grade, in Mrs. Goodwin's class. His teacher says he needs another year to mature. Everyone teases him, especially Tommy Wintey. They say he's a baby. He is sick of it. The first day of third grade was horrible. Everyone stared at him like he was stupid. Joshua's best friend is in fourth grade. Tommy Wintey makes a rule. The rule is no fourth grader can be friends with a third grader. Will Joshua ever catch up, or will he be in the third grade forever? His teacher says she will give him extra help after school. After a few weeks of extra help, he takes a test to see if he can go to fourth grade. I recommend this book to kids in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, because it is about kids at this age who are really funny.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read!
Review: This book is about Joshua T. Bates who spent all summer having fun...that is until Labor Day when his mom gave him the devastating news ---he had to repeat third grade !

He thought his year would be terrible and that everyone would make fun of him because he flunked third grade.

But his teacher cared and gave him the extra help he needed to succeed. Joshua made new friends and learned that with hard work and and practice he could make it into fourth grade where he belonged.

Kids our age will like this book because it is a page turner and it teaches you that no matter how bad things may seem, if you believe in yourself, you can do anything!

Rating:
Summary: Flunking Third Grade
Review: This is a perfect book for second or third graders who are becoming independent readers, and offers the spice of encouragement to the reluctant ones.

Joshua T. Bates ought to have been going into fourth grade in the fall. But he had flunked third grade the year before. He couldn't read well enough, and his math skills left something to be desired.

Having to enter a third grade class with kids a year younger was a humiliation for Joshua. Everyone at Mirch Elementary knew it and would not let him forget. Worse than that--if such a thing were possible--was the pasting he took on the schoolyard from the school bullies. Neither Tommy Wilhelm nor Billy Nickel would let Joshua play team sports with the fourth graders.

Joshua of course pulled his studies together and showed up both bullies in a rather surprising set of circumstances. How he did it is what keeps children turning these pages.

I read this story aloud to one of our children, in her reluctant reader stage. By the end, she was anxious to read alone. She raced through the next two books in the trilogy herself. Our son plowed through all three books, also in second grade, without a hitch. Go for it. Alyssa A. Lappen