Tag: Andrew Clements

The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements (J Fiction)

The Last Holiday Concert

Andrew Clements (J Fiction)

Hart Evans was officially a Palmer kid—that wonderful immersion of sixth graders from Collins Elementary School and Newman Elementary School. Out of almost 400 kids, Hart was well on his way to becoming the most popular student at Palmer Intermediate School. But all that was about to change when he decided to make his uncool chorus class a little more fun. When you combine a sweeping arts budget cut with two misfired rubber bands and a disillusioned chorus director, you get one Hart Evans who is suddenly in charge of this year’s holiday concert. What started out as a joke turns into a battle of wills between the chorus director, Mr. Meinert, and Hart. With so much infighting and time quickly running out will Hart and his class deliver the best holiday concert…or the last?

I REALLY enjoyed this book. Not only does it accurately portray middle-school life, but I was delighted that it lacked the stereotypical “bad guys” that you often expect to see in school-related books targeted for this age range: the adult, authoritative figure being the oppressor or the stuck-up popular kid who belittles the weak. Clements avoids those overused pitfalls and instead delivers a heartfelt, sweet, and human story about a teacher feeling betrayed by the institution he loves and a popular kid who suddenly realizes that he can’t make everything right simply by pleasing everyone. Both Hart and Mr. Meinert may seem very different at first, but as the story progresses, we see how much alike they are in wanting to be appreciated and valued. They even learn how to work together and in a nice twist, the teacher realizes just how much he can learn from his students and the students understand just how much their teacher has to offer.

At a time when teachers are abandoning their profession at an alarming rate, Andrew Clements reminds us that everyone wants to feel valued and needed and teachers are no exception. He shows us that leading begins with listening and reminds us of the astounding impact that a teacher can have on learning.

One of my favorite authors, Michael Morpurgo, once wrote, “It’s the teacher that makes the difference, not the classroom.” Facing dismissal and an overwhelming feeling of obsolescence, Mr. Meinert could have easily turned his back on his class and school, but he eventually realizes the reason that he became a teacher in the first place and that was to make a difference. And what a difference he made. Thank you teachers…everywhere.

Rating: 5/5

* Book cover image attributed to: www.abebooks.com

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Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements (YA Science Fiction)

Things Not Seen

Things Not Seen    

Andrew Clements (Young Adult Science Fiction)

Did you ever wish that you were invisible or could just become invisible—even for a day?  Well that’s what happened to Robert “Bobby” Phillips one morning.  He goes to bed an average, normal fifteen-year-old boy and wakes up invisible.  There’s no explanation for it, although his physicist father knows that something doesn’t happen without a reason.  But how can this possibly happen?  What could have caused this?  Promising to keep his “condition” secret, Bobby and his parents frantically search for a cause and a cure because a boy that suddenly vanishes won’t go unnoticed for long.  But then Bobby meets Alicia, a blind girl he literally bumps into at the library.  Surely his secret would be safe with her?  After all, Bobby needs to share this with someone and maybe she can help because time is quickly running out.

Things Not Seen is the first of three books in the “Things” series by Andrew Clements.  In this installment, we are introduced to Bobby and his sarcastic yet devoted love interest Alicia Van Dorn.  This book has just enough science to make it a true science fiction, but not too much to bog down the story and lose reader interest.  Clements also gives us the standard fare of teenage angst: wanting acceptance from peers, craving independence from parents, and longing for a bit of attention from the opposite sex.  The need for acknowledgment, approval, and acceptance is truly universal, but these feelings are personified effectively through Bobby’s invisibility.

Throughout the book, we see Bobby’s new condition force an emotional awakening and maturity upon him.  What was a pleasant surprise was the evolution of his relationship with his parents (and vice versa).  Things Not Seen is a wonderful reminder that parents don’t always have the answers, and sometimes in order to really “see” someone, you simply just need to close your eyes and open your heart.

Rating: 4/5

* Book cover image attributed to www.amazon.com