Space Station Seventh Grade (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
Wednesday, September 17, 2014Jason Herkimer encounters problems, throughout the first three chapters: Food, The End, and School. Jason gets accused by his crazy step father who claims theft of an eaten chicken. In other words, Jason's step father brought out a bag of chicken bones and specifically accused Jason for eating the actual chicken rather than one of Jason's siblings. Moreover, Jason doesn't see a large amount of food in his life. So, when he sees a deaf women with a full trolley with food he volunteers to accompany her to her home thinking he will get somehow get rewarded and observe a rich woman's house. As a matter of fact, the woman had no way to communicate with Jason and he didn't get rewarded nor did he say the cool wonders he expected. This turns out to be that Jason is sadly unlucky towards any action he does. Jason feels like summer went really fast, so he decides to benefit before school starts. Jason plays baseball with his friends every now and then and keeps track of home runs he completes every year. For instance when Jason says, " Every morning we meet at the field in the park:me, Richie, Calvin Lemaine, Peter Kim, and Dugan" (Spinelli 20). Furthermore, Jason is the expert in paper airplane construction and the seventh grader that younger kids look up to. In other words, there are always kids in a corner at summer and whenever Jason passes by they don't let him get through unless he makes for them paper airplanes and settles their childish arguments. Long story short, Jason is not satisfied with school time approaching.Jason is fully not satisfied with school after moving to seventh grade. In addition, Jason is greatly scared from the capabilities of the ninth graders. For instance, " I saw a seventh-grader, a puny little kid...a mob of ninth-graders came running-up. They just went right over him. Never turned back.Like he was grass" (Spinelli 22). Likewise, Jason encounters some ninth-graders at the bathroom using inappropriate language. For example, "Watta you lookin' at, faggot-face?" (Spinelli 22) More or less, Jason wishes he could still stay at sixth grade since the hallways are safer and there is only a little chance that he might meet a ninth-grader.Thursday, September 25, 2014Jerry Spinelli displays a change in the protagonist, as well as thoroughly highlights the primeval conflicts becoming natural teenager instincts. Moreover, Jason indirectly shows that he is indeed making-up his mind, when halloween comes. For instance, “We all decided it would be our last year we got dressed up” (Spinelli 66). In addition, Jason is now a teenager that has to overcome the annoying pimples on his face. In other words, “It had a yellow head…I squeezed it…until there was nothing but…red blood” (Spinelli 87). More or less, Jason Herkimer has to take care of both natural teenage instincts and school.Jason is indeed on the verge of extremely changing behaviors. Moreover, Jason begins to indirectly satirize other cultures. For instance, “…Korean which is what Peter Kim is…Calvin him being black.Like, why did they ask me what they ought to be ? They already were something…it seemed kind of funny” (Spinelli 66). Likewise, Jason crosses the limits after assaulting Dugan’s halloween costume. For example, when Jason says that Dugan came as himself, except for this mask that he might have found in the garbage. Long story short, the fact that Jason’s behavior is beginning to get serious for it may lead to fantastic effects.The setting is indeed slightly changing to obviously provide a better understanding of the events and general idea. Moreover, with the help of the slight change in terms of setting from summer vacation to Halloween, the story seemed to be more comprehensible. For instance, the shift between Jason receiving teenage instincts and before was more explicit with the setting because at summer vacation Jason mentioned that his birthday of 13 would be in October and right after Halloween, Jason began to receive pimples. Furthermore, when places are mentioned it’s easier to capture the general idea. For instance, “Hayrides…it was just for the seventh graders, and it was going to be up at this place called Gwendolyn Orchards.” (Spinelli 53). To conclude, the setting of this novel is present when need be which helps readers understand the context more. Thursday,October 9,2014The plot, towards the end of the book indeed touches great spontaneous events. Furthermore, on Valentine's day Jason wanted to hand Debbie,his girlfriend, a chocolate box, however he noticed that Debbie was dancing with another boy which resulted in great melancholy. For instance, when Jason planned on giving Debbie the gift and thought about all the romantic effects such as a date, kiss, endless love. Moreover, Jason didn't get selected for the football team because of the ninth graders in it. For example, when Jason went home mad for a few weeks until he decided to go for track which would enhance his speed, however despite the fact that he was often beaten (girls) by the end of the season he was able to approach the fastest runners' record in the team. Long story short, as unexpected events come up, the story becomes more appealing to read.The characters generally developed and adapted to the events. Furthermore, unfortunately Kippy Kim, the brother of Peter Km, who is in the group of Jason, died hence he died in a car accident. For instance,"I dug deep-about six inches...My god! It's the dinosaur!...Pee-er!Yet's go! I'm cared!..." (Spinelli 207,211). In addition, Jason decides to go as far as the country where he meets Marceline Mc Allister, a misfit girl in his class, who seems to complain a lot. For instance, when Jason got suspended for skipping Marceline's trombone performance and had to apologize. More or less, the characters indeed developed according to the novel's atmosphere. The atmosphere or mood towards the end of the story is partially happy and sad. Furthermore, Kippy was often depicted as anguish who frequently interfered in Jason's group. Jason couldn't prevent his presence, however at the end of the book he dug a hole representing a dinosaur foot print to scare of Kippy, as Kippy disappeared Mrs.Kim called Mrs. Herkimer saying Kippy died in a car accident. For instance,"The whole night was crackling and popping, like everything was ready to come to boil.No wonder. Baseball...Kippy Kim in a coffin...sunshine...dead crows..." (Spinelli 219). Moreover, throughout the novel Marceline was badly depicted to the readers, however the fact that Jason at the end fell in love with her equalized both a happy and sad ending. For instance, when Jason and Marceline went biking they began to talk about themselves which then shaped a loving relationship to the end of the story. More or less, this story is indeed better with the usage of feelings and a pretty equalized ending in terms of whether it is happy or sad.
Well, the first book by Jerry Spinelli I read was Stargirl, and I totally loved it. The FAQ section of Spinelli's website says his favorite book he wrote was "Space Station Seventh Grade," so when I saw it at a library sale I had to pick it up. The book's tone was a bit of a shock at first, and I had to check the year it was published. 1982. And the language and the action fits that time (No video games, anywhere, in the entire book, which I have to say, I liked a lot.) Jason has a coarse, slightly dull way of speaking, unlike the middle grade/early YA that I've read recently. At the same time, Spinelli is great at conveying Jason's feelings without overexplaining. After a few pages, Jason's I'm-a-good-kid-I-just-screw-up-sometimes attitude and the uncontrollable hormones grew on me, and I laughed at and liked his adventures.The one thing that stood out was the racial undertone. I was a toddler in 1982, so I don't have much of a frame of reference. Maybe Jason's attitude was typical of the time, or maybe Spinelli was trying to make a point. But Jason's mocking of his Korean-American friend Peter made me uncomfortable. Peter stood up for himself, which I liked, and the two ended up becoming closer. But Jason didn't outwardly change, and then the penultimate incident [spoiler] left their relationship rather unsatisfactorily unresolved. Also felt that incident was not really explained or resolved. It almost seemed unnecessary, an obligatory, random dramatic happening to change the tone of the book and make Jason feel remorse. Only, he didn't, really--there was more emotion earlier in the story, related to a different matter. Maybe Spinelli is trying to say that some emotions can be processed by some people/ages, and some can't? (shrug) At any rate, the resolution of that scene was disappointing.Overall I'd give 3.5 stars, and I'm interested in the sequel, Jason & Marceline (who I also liked a lot. :) But I think I am more interested in what happens with Jason and Peter than what happens with Jason and Marcelline!
What do You think about Space Station Seventh Grade (2000)?
Space Station Seventh GradeBy: Jerry Spinelli Period 1Kyle Ebert1/28/15Space Station Seventh Grade is about a boy named Jason. He is now in junior high, but he's the youngest grade in the school. There are 9th graders, 8th graders, and seventh graders. The story is about Jason's life through seventh grade with drama with friends, family, and girls. I really enjoyed this book because it was very interesting and made me want to keep reading. Also, I liked this book because it was funny and kind of reminded me of seventh grade. I recommend this book to people who enjoy sports books and like books by Jerry Spinelli.
—Kyle Ebert
I think Space Station Seventh Grade was a good book and seventh graders can relate to the main character, Jason. But, i think the book is more aimed towards boys because of the main character and his friends. Space Station Seventh Grade is about a boy named Jason. And he is now in junior high, but he's the youngest grade in the school. There are 9th graders, 8th graders, and seventh graders. And it's all about his life through seventh grade with drama with friends, family, and girls. Overall is was a good book.
—Rachel Hoadley
Jerry Spinelli must have made quite a splash back in 1982 with his debut novel, Space Station Seventh Grade. I can imagine that he really opened some eyes with his almost unique use of such realistic dialogue as is commonly found in the book; there are scores of "Yeah? Yeah" and "Uh-huh? Uh-huh" moments in the dialogue that goes back and forth between his junior high characters, which is pretty much true to life. Speaking in full, carefully thought out sentences might be an excellent tool when it comes to communicating, but Jerry Spinelli understands that most people tend not to speak like that. As a result, the conversations that go on between the characters in this book may seem a little bit awkward at times, but it's a good kind of awkwardness. Even "way back when", Jerry Spinelli was one of the most instinctively smooth writers I've ever read. His descriptions of the stars and moon at night are captivating, and no one else can so mesmerizingly paint the details of a first encounter with love. Jerry Spinelli writes what it feels to be in that situation, to experience all of the subtle, minute feelings that crop up when we come near someone we really like. There's just nothing like it in the world, and Jerry Spinelli is the best I've ever known at successfully transferring those sweet and unsure feelings onto the page. Jason is a typical new seventh grade student, in almost all respects. He's no saint, and he deals with the same sorts of troubles that most students face as they reach the onset of junior high. He even has a "broken" family, complete with a stepfather and younger stepbrother, all of which cause him trouble at various intervals of the story. I think that most readers will zero in on the specific problems that best apply to them personally, but where we will all find ourselves drawn into the plot is when Jason falls hard for a popular cheerleader named Debbie. Jason isn't exactly in her social class, but he isn't going to let that stop him from trying to get her to notice him, and maybe even to like him in return eventually, if he's lucky. Who among us wouldn't go to the same lengths when struck by the nascent feelings of love? It's very, very easy to identify with Jason as he continues along in his seventh grade school year. Many surprises and perhaps a bombshell or two later, we see Jason come out on the other end of this story. He may not have learned all of the important lessons that offered themselves to him (actually, he learned very few of them), but he's on his way to somewhere that he eventually wants to be. Where that is, exactly, it's impossible to say, but I believe that he is on the right track. That's good enough for now, I think. I guess I wouldn't trade the chance to read a book by Jerry Spinelli for that of any other author in the world. I'm glad to have read Space Station Seventh Grade, and I hope that it continues to affect readers for years to come. Don't let go of the rare gift of a sweet story. I would give two and a half stars to Space Station Seventh Grade.
—Josiah
