Cum Sa Faci Sa NU Citesti. Ghidul Lui Charlie Joe Jackson (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I found this story quite funny & I think an elementary or junior high kid would find it even funnier. This is the story of Charlie Joe Jackson, a middle school boy who hates reading. He hates reading with such a passion, that he bribes one of his friends to read all of his assigned books & then tell him what happened in it. But they get caught & Charlie has to come up with a new arrangement. He ends up arranging for a dorky kid to date a pretty popular girl for part if his end of the year assignment on why cliques are bad. As part of this, the dorky kid agrees to read all of his books for him. It works perfectly, Charlie gets a great grade. But then at the end of the year dance, the dorky kid spills the beans in front of everyone & Charlie gets in big trouble... he either has to read 10 books over the summer or write a 150 page book. He writes the book... which is what we are reading. At the end, he admits he still hates reading & is going to come up with a new plan for next year. Very humorous. Most kids would enjoy. The story: Charlie Joe Jackson is determined to finish middle school with a perfect record of never having read a book. He has a sweet arrangement with his buddy Jake—Charlie Joe buys the ice cream, and Jake does the reading and summarizing. Even though he’s bright, and no one else can figure out what the deal is, Charlie Joe is committed to NOT reading. Until...the lies and excuses start catching up with him, and he finally gets outed: in the middle of the school dance! Even worse, the girl he’s always liked starts going out with his best friend...and it’s all his fault. Now what’s he going to do? The easy thing would be to just break down and read the book...but Charlie Joe has his honor to uphold, and that would be taking the easy way out.June Cleaver’s ratings: Language PG; Nudity G; Sexual Content G; Violence G; Substance Abuse G; Magic & the Occult G; GLBT Content G; Adult Themes G; overall rating G.I really like this book! Charlie Joe is a fun, engaging narrator, and the story itself truly reads like it’s being told by a bright non-reader—Greenwald has the MS voice down cold. Charlie Joe’s tips for not reading are funny and actually have some good points. Add into that the usual ins-and-outs of MS drama, and you have a fun story that also, oddly, features a happy family dynamic that’s refreshing. Two thumbs up! (And to pay his debt to society, Charlie Joe doesn’t cave in and end up reading the book after all—he ends up WRITING a book, which you’ve just finished. He emerges triumphant! Nice.)Annotation:
What do You think about Cum Sa Faci Sa NU Citesti. Ghidul Lui Charlie Joe Jackson (2011)?
There's a bunch of inventive stuff being done with kids books. It's like the Indie game scene. People are trying all sorts of stuff, partially to differentiate themselves but I think mostly because it's fun. (Even well known authors are trying their hands at kid-lit.) Thus you get things like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Hugo Cabret that play with the format of a book.This is one such book. Being about reading and books, it's all rather meta. It has that certain kind of directness that a diary has - the narrator talking directly to you the reader. That would be enough to get me interested. What's more the story is good as well. So this is a thumbs up from me.
—damiana
Charlie Joe Jackson hates to read. He has spent his entire academic career developing ways to not read. When Charlie Joe finally gets caught, he must develop an even more complex scheme to avoid reading. Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading would be appropriate for readers between ten and twelve years old. Reluctant readers may engage with the main character. The book may be slightly long and text heavy for some readers.
—VISHAL
I think this would be a fun one, especially middle school boys.
—Nazomeita
