School's back in session! With the first day of school just behind us, students of all ages are settling down into new schools, new grades, and new worlds of fresh challenges. (And maybe just a little wistful daydreaming of the next summer vacation.)
So if you know a student who might need some help getting back into the school spirit, try one of these recommended reads about the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of school life.
For Kindergarteners:
-- I Am Too Absolutely Small for School by Lauren Child
Though they have their own animated TV show now, Lola and older brother Charlie got their start as characters in Lauren Child's immensely popular Charlie and Lola picture book series. Seven-year-old Charlie is a very kind older brother who occasionally finds it challenging when he's asked to mind his precocious and imaginative four-year-old little sister -- especially when Soren Lorenson, Lola's best imaginary friend, is around.
When Mum and Dad decide that Lola is big enough to start school, Lola's not so sure it's a good idea. "I probably do not have time to go to school," she informs Charlie. "I am too extremely busy doing important things at home."
But Charlie is quick to point out all the important things Lola needs to learn how to do (like writing letters to Santa Claus, reading secret messages on the fridge, or learning how to count out the correct number of snacks in case of surprise elephant attacks). Persuaded at last, Lola decides to give school a go, and discovers it just might be fun after all. (Even if Soren Lorenson is a bit nervous.)
For Elementary School Students:
-- Wayside School series by Louis Sachar
Wayside School was designed to be a normal elementary school -- a one-story building with thirty classrooms inside. But the builder got it a little wrong, and accidentally constructed a thirty-story building with one classroom on each floor. (He said he was very sorry.)
So perhaps it's to be expected that Wayside School is a school where strange things tend to happen. Where students are sometimes actually rats, math problems are made up of words instead of numbers, and there is no 19th floor.
The series kicks off with thirty stories about the class on their thirtieth floor -- and their new teacher, Mrs. Jewls (their former teacher got turned into an apple). These clever, funny, and zany little tales are the perfect read for students of all ages.
For Middle-School Students:
-- Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm
The premise of this book rests in the idea that the things around us have a story to tell. And in this book, it makes for a compelling argument. Cards, notes, school reports, diary entries, receipts, mail, invitations, report cards, and more are all used to tell the story of a year in the life of Ginny Davis. She's kicking off her first year of middle school with a list of goals that include a starring role in her dance school's production of The Nutcracker, rekindling her friendship with former chum Mary Catherine Kelly, keeping her older brother Henry in line ... and getting her mother to marry Bob so that Ginny can have a proper stepdad at last. But, as Ginny is quick to discover, such plans rarely go as expected.
Told with English class essays, text messages, shopping receipts, teacher notes, cards from her Grandpa, and Ginny's own notes and pictures, the story of Ginny's ups and downs of her first middle school year is told in a wholly unique style.
-- It's the First Day of School ... Forever! by R.L. Stine
Phil Connors of Groundhog Day got off easy. Artie has a much bigger problem: he's stuck repeating the first day of sixth grade.
Artie starts off the morning by falling out of bed and smacking his head -- not a good way to kick off your first day of school. The day only goes downhill from there: his little brother gets glue in Artie's hair, Artie's dog jumps up on the new school principal, and Artie manages to make enemies with Brick the Bully. At least tomorrow will have to be better ... until Artie wakes up and discovers he's trapped, reliving the first (and worst) day of school. What's a new sixth-grader to do?
This humorous (and horrifying) read is a perfect fit between premise and writer: author R.L. Stine has long been known as the master of horror for the middle school set. His popular Goosebumps series is full of creepily fun titles like The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, It Came From Beneath the Sink! and The Cuckoo Clock of Doom. Stine is always careful to find a balance between the screams and the laughs in his quirky midde-school novellas, and it pays off in spades in this fun and freaky read.
For High School Students:
-- Freaks and Geeks [DVD]
Though short-lived (the show ran for only eighteen episodes), Freaks and Geeks has become an undeniable cult classic. It was created by Paul Feig, director of Bridesmaids and The Heat, and produced by Judd Apatow, who directed Knocked Up and This is Forty.
Set in the early 80s, the show was timeless in its representation of the high school hierarchy. "Mathlete" Lindsay Weir is struggling to break out of the expectations put on her by herself and others, and so befriends the "freaks" -- the misfit slackers who are on the fringes of the William McKinley High School social scene. Meanwhile, her younger brother, Sam, hangs out with his fellow "geeks" as he and his friends work hard to fit in.
The show played with the humor of teenage stereotypes, but was always aware of the pain involved in finding yourself and your place in the world ... and in high school. It makes for a relatable story that should appeal to high school students everywhere -- and those who remember those school days.
-- Post by Ms. B
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