The School Story - Review

We finished The School Story by Andrew Clements yesterday.  It took us a couple weeks to read it, but that was because Laura wanted it to last.  She liked this book.  We read it as a read aloud, but it could easily have been a reader for Laura.

The story centers around two friends, Natalie and Zoe.  At twelve years old, Natalie has written a book.  Her friend Zoe believes the book is good enough to be published.  The girls begin an adventure to have the book published.  With Natalie's mom an editor for a children's publisher, the adventure gets interesting.  Yes, Natalie is able to learn a lot about the publishing business, but trying to keep the identity of the author a secret leads to some interesting situations.

This book talks about a few different careers.  There is a very good example of a teacher going out on a limb to help her students because she believes in them.  There is a pretty good introduction to the publishing world.  The story also touches on law, writing, and advertising. 

This book deals also with some issues that were neat to discuss with Laura.  Natalie and Zoe both had different opinions on what constitutes lying and not lying.  The book dealt with recognition for work, and should some get more recognition than others.  Touched on in this book is the fact that Natalie is dealing with the death of her father and growing up with a single, working mother.  Zoe's life looks much different than Natalie's outside of school. 

Not long ago Laura and I read the book Frindle by the same author.  This book was recommended.  I tend to try to mix up styles in our reading and read alouds.  I wanted a book that was a little lighter and funny after reading the inspirational George Muller.  This book delivered.  I recommend this book for either a read aloud or a reader.  I actually got this book off a book lot auction on ebay, but it is available at most libraries.