"Two middle school girls scheme to publish a book in this novel from Andrew Clements, the author of Frindle.
Natalie's best friend, Zoe, is sure that the novel Natalie's written is good enough to be published. But how can a twelve-year-old girl publish a book? Natalie's mother is an editor for a big children's publisher, but Natalie doesn't want to ask for any favors.
Then Zoe has a brilliant idea: Natalie can submit her manuscript under a pen name, with Zoe acting as her literary agent. But it's not easy for two sixth graders to put themselves over as grown-ups, even with some help from a couple of real grown-ups who are supportive but skeptical. The next bestselling school story may be in their hands—but can Natalie and Zoe pull off their masquerade?"
Awards and Nominations:
- California Young Readers Medal for Intermediate (2004)
Frindle was the first book I read by Andrew Clements. I remember there was such excitement around the book when I was in junior high even though it had been out for more than a few years. I read a few other books by Clements that were written in the same Frindle style, but none stuck with me enough to remember the titles. Every year I kick 5th grade off by teaching a novel study over Frindle. It is a lighthearted and fun book to get things going and to really hook students into reading. I decided it was time for me to branch out and read more works by Clements. When school closed down in March 2020 I grabbed some books off my shelf to take home (as if I didn't have enough books at home to read) and figured I would read some during the quarantine. It ended up that I didn't get around to reading this until December and that was only because I had a pile of books on a shelf and decided to start at the top and work my way through them.
The School Story is a tale of two friends and their journey to fame. Natalie is quiet and reserved. She has a knack for writing and enjoys it which is what led her to write a book. Natalie's best friend Zoe is more outgoing and talkative. She decides that she is going to do whatever it takes to get Natalie's book published. The two sixth graders work undercover with the help of a teacher to get Natalie's book to an editor at a publishing company. More specifically they decide to get the book to Natalie's mom so she can edit it and get it published. But will they be able to pull it off without getting caught?
This book was a fairly simplistic book for a middle-grade novel. It wasn't drowning with pointless and meaningless characters that didn't have an important role in the book. It had the picturesque plotline with the classic ups and downs that happen in a plot as it all catapults toward the highest hill on the plot rollercoaster and the book finally comes to an end. The problem I had was that this book was fairly... boring. While it had a good solid plot, it lacked fire and excitement. There was of course the constant feeling of anxiety as the girls and their teacher tried to avoid getting caught. But honestly, there weren't many points in the book where I just had to keep reading because it was so good. I was more like "Oh... I'll read this later." It took me way longer to read than it should have just because it lacked that special Andrew Clements pizazz. And honestly, Andrew Clements missed the opportunity to write and publish the story that Natalie wrote in the book. I was more intrigued as to what she wrote than the actual story I was reading.
My biggest complaint with this book is that it wasn't relatable. It wasn't relatable as an adult and it definitely wouldn't have been relatable as a middle schooler. There were so many times throughout the book that I thought to myself, "That would NEVER happen that way." For example, the teacher just agreeing to go behind everyone's back and help these two kids get a readymade office space and help get a book published. Did she think she would get a cut of the money if it did get published? And when it finally ended Natalie's mom was like "Oh how sweet." She wasn't upset or questioning how it all came together. She was just so happy her daughter had published a book. Like hello! Your child just managed to sneakily write and publish a book and you had NO idea. No parent would be chill and happy. They would be flipping their lid that their child had done all of this and signed a contract and consulted a lawyer without even bringing it up. And in what world is a sixth-grader going to write a full book and get it published? The entire thing was just so far fetched.
This book was a definite letdown. There are other Andrew Clements books that I think would be way more exciting than this one. I give this 2 stars. It just didn't sit right with me and was so unbelievable.
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