Jack Adrift : fourth grade without a clue
Record details
- ISBN: 0786263873 (lg. print : hc : alk. paper)
- Physical Description: 240 p. ; 22 cm.
- Publisher: Waterville, Me : Thorndike Press, 2004.
Content descriptions
Summary, etc.: | When his father rejoins the Navy and moves the family to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, ten-year-old Jack becomes confused by a crush on his teacher, contradictory advice from his parents, and a very strange neighbor. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Large type books Teacher-student relationships Fiction Family life North Carolina Fiction Schools Fiction Moving, Household Fiction North Carolina Fiction North Carolina Juvenile fiction |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Bibliomation.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Other Formats and Editions
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thompson Public Library | J LP Gantos (Text) | 34038115847071 | Juvenile Large Type | Available | - |
Electronic resources
- http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1108/2002192880-s.html
- Sample text
- http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/fy044/2002192880.html
- Table of contents
Publishers Weekly Review
Jack Adrift : Fourth Grade Without a Clue
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Jack Gantos continues the Jack Henry Books (Jack on the Tracks; Heads or Tails) with Jack Adrift: Fourth Grade Without a Clue. Jack's father rejoins the Navy and the family relocates from their home just south of Pittsburgh, Pa., to Cape Hatteras, N.C. On the car ride south, Jack solicits advice from his parents on how to make friends, and their contradictory advice ("Tell [people] what they want to hear," says Dad; "Always be yourself," Mom says) sets the stage for a series of conflicts for the nine-year-old, who develops a crush on his teacher, and reluctantly winds up a stool pigeon for the principal. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
The Horn Book Review
Jack Adrift : Fourth Grade Without a Clue
The Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(Intermediate) In this prequel to Gantos's four books about Jack Henry and his tragicomic, itinerant family, young Jack's honest, dryly humorous first-person narration is delivered in eight interrelated chapters that chronicle his fourth-grade year. The novel opens with the family's move from Pennsylvania to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and with Jack's worries about making friends. Should he follow his mother's advice to be himself or, as his Navy father insists, ""just look people right in the eye and tell them what they want to hear""? Gantos manages to make Jack's weird predicaments both familiar and fantastic; laugh-out-loud scenes have a tendency to sneak up on you (Jack's description of life with his elderly, medicated third-grade teacher begs to be read aloud -- if you can manage to get through it without cracking up). In addition to navigating a major crush on his new (young) teacher, among other indignities Jack endures a troubled stint as his school's Respect Detective (a.k.a. a gum-chewing snitch) and attempts to build up the confidence of a duckling born with backward-facing feet: ""Walking a duck on a leash in a public parade is going to crush my self-esteem...Next year the duck will have to walk me."" Jack's realistic struggle with the pull between childhood and the world of adults will resonate with the book's audience; by comparison, his voyage into uncharted waters will make young readers' own experiences seem like smooth sailing. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
Jack Adrift : Fourth Grade Without a Clue
School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Gr 4-7-Readers of the "Jack Henry" series have followed Jack's adventures from fifth to eighth grade as his nomadic family moved from place to place. Now, in a prequel about his fourth-grade year, Gantos's alter ego arrives on a naval base in Cape Hatteras, NC. Jack is quick to acclimate to their new home, a camouflage-painted trailer in the middle of a swamp, and his optimism is rewarded when school starts and he finds himself head over heels in love with his new teacher, Miss Noelle. His unabashed adoration and efforts to please her are poignant and laugh-out-loud funny. The school principal assigns Jack the unwanted job of "Respect Detective," which turns out to be another name for a snitch. The local veterinarian operates on a backward-footed duck and persuades Jack to rehabilitate it in time for the local Pet Parade. The chapters are not plot driven but rather interrelated vignettes that queue up in Jack's memory during this school year. Slapstick is nicely balanced with reflection as the boy struggles to understand his father's moods or make sense of the death of a wheelchair-bound peer. The catchy format imitates a journal with lined-paper edges and excerpts of Jack's handwritten ramblings. A fun and refreshing read.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
BookList Review
Jack Adrift : Fourth Grade Without a Clue
Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Gr. 4-7. The story of young Jack Henry continues in this prequel to the previous four books, which takes place when Jack is nine. His father has joined the navy and the family is moving to Cape Hatteras. Jack jumps off the pages as he falls in love with his teacher, referees a genius contest between his brother and his friend, and learns from his father how to brood. Some of the best scenes are between Jack and his dad. Both of them try to come to terms with who they are and what they believe about the world in general and themselves in particular--always cheered or egged on by Mrs. Henry, who sees her men's weakness and loves them anyway. Jack never sounds like a nine-year-old in the narrative, and the form sometimes oddly juxtaposes the sense of recent happenings with a long look back. That dichotomy is balanced by Gantos' wonderful writing, which is witty, smart, and unafraid to tackle tough topics. A worthy addition to the series. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2003 Booklist
Kirkus Review
Jack Adrift : Fourth Grade Without a Clue
Kirkus Reviews
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
When his father enlists in the Navy Seabees, Jack Henry is off to Cape Hatteras for his fourth-grade year. Again mining his own childhood experiences, Gantos creates laugh-out-loud scenes and quirky characters: a green bunny, a duck with its feet on backwards, a lucky Buddha, and an air-guitar-playing friend who seems to get in trouble as much as Jack does. Jack struggles with a crush on his beautiful blonde and blue-eyed teacher, the death of a friend, and explosive arguments between his parents. The best stories--"Romance Novels" and "Second Infancy"--are about two odd ducks who help each other on the road to self-esteem. If Jack feels adrift and in need of esteem, so does his father, stuck in a job he regrets taking. By the end, the family is about to head back over the Outer Banks in high spirits, having found a silver lining in all of the insanity. (Short stories. 8-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.