The Naked Mole-Rat Letters (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
The Naked Mole Rat Letters 5 out of 5 stars tAmato uses a large amount of humor in her writing to make light of difficult situations. I enjoyed how the author used misspelled words throughout the book; I often do this when writing notes or letters. The font was large, in my opinion, for this type of book. Although the book was not separated into chapters, it was classified into two different groups. One group was diary entries from the main character, and the other group was emails. I think I enjoyed the book so much because of the humor and the interesting plot line, from the main character losing her brother, nearly burning down the house, weaving an intricate web of lies, and developing her first crush. The story was told in chronological order, and there were a few conflicts as well. The conflicts seemed to stem from the main character, Frankie. There were conflicts between Frankie and her brothers, best friend, father’s girlfriend, and guidance counselor. The author did a superb job of using descriptive text and interesting comparisons to help tell the story. One example was when she was talking about going to a play audition. Frankie said she would be like a teacher on her first day of the job, spunky, mature, nervous, and confident. I found it interesting how the main character evolved so much throughout the book. She started as a goody-goody, morphed into a rebel, and ended up back somewhere in the middle. Additionally, I think students can relate to seeming like an outcast as Frankie did. tI gave the book 5 out of 5 stars because I enjoyed the way the author told the stories and her text selection. The reading level for the book would be between fourth and fifth grades. My fourth grade students during student teaching could not put this book down. I think students can relate to living in a one-parent household, as well as having their first crush, and having feuds with their siblings. Two subject areas into which the book could be integrated could be science and language arts. For a language arts lesson, students could write about how they would feel about their father having a new girlfriend. This would have been a great lesson to use with my fourth grade class, considering half of the students came from divorced parents or lived in a one-parent household.
"The Naked Mole Rat Letters" is a very interesting and exciting book. This book is about a girl named Frankie she lives with her dad and her two little brothers. The problem starts when she finds a note in her dad’s email; it was from a woman named Ayanna. The letter said that she had a wonderful dinner that night and that she specially loved the kiss. Then she remembered the day when her father told her and her brothers that he was going to a conference in Washington D.C. Then she realizes that Ayanna lives in Washington D.C. She got really mad because her father had never lied to her and he only lied because of Ayanna. Another example, he also lied about a chair that he was making. Frankie once found a chair in the basement and when she asked him who that chair was for he said that the chair was for nobody special. From that they on she began getting low grades and she behaved bad at school and she began writing letters to Ayanna making her believe that it was her dad. For example, in math she was an A+ student, from that moment on she began getting C's. Another example is when she ripped her library book and then she didn’t pay for it. She wrote a letter to Ayanna saying that her dad was getting married. She began doing these things because her mother died when she was still little and she didn't want anybody to replace her mom. This book thought me a lesson. The lesson that this book thought me was that you should always tell the truth about everything. Sometimes is hard to admit something, but if you don't then you'll lie forever. Also because when you lie everybody around you gets affected even you family! * I STILL HAVE TO FINISH!!!!!
What do You think about The Naked Mole-Rat Letters (2005)?
What would you do if one day you found out your day was talking to another women, sneaking out with her on dates, and sending love emails? This is a realistic fiction book and I loved every minute of this book. This book makes you laugh out loud and maybe cry a few happy tears. This setting is usually home at Frankies house. 7th grader Frankie becomes suspicious with her fathers actions and starts to investigating she decided to handle this problem herself but emailing the lady herself to get rid of her. Frankie is also have school problems when she doesn't get the role she wanted in the play Miracle worker. I though this book was very interesting. I liked how Frankie tried so hard to get Ayanna out of her fathers life but in the long run she realizes that maybe change id good. Reading this made me think a lot about accepting everyone things won't always go the way want so sometimes we have to just learn to go along with it and accept it. Through the entire book i felt mad and sorry for Frankie because she had to find out about Ayanna through a family email and i think it hurt Frankie more that her dad didn't tell her about it so understood her pain and reasoning for her actions. I give The naked mole rat letters a 10 because while reading you get to learn a valuable lesson that everyone needs to understand. I recommend to every teenager who might be going through the same issue because it might really help them with what there going through I would know because a year ago my step dad left and my mom started talking to someone knew i did everything to find who it was I finally found out it was and hated his guts but as days turned into weeks and weeks turned it months I final learned to just accept the fact that she is happy with this person and I'm happy if she's happy.
—Samantha
I enjoyed this book for the most part. However, the main character could be slightly frustrating at times. I feel that this book would be a good read for students in 5th or 6th grade. I think this book would be especially good for students to read if they have recently been dealing with living in a single parent home because they could relate to how Frankie feels. I also think the book teaches a much needed lesson on the "snowball effect" of lying. Although, this could give students ideas, I think the book does a good job of showing the difficulties lying causes for Frankie.
—Lacey Bolen
I read this book when I was elementary school and I remember enjoying it. However about ten years later I did not enjoy reading this book. Yes, I could sympathize for the main character Frankie while she tries to cope with her dad dating a lady she's never met before, but I just found her to be whiny and manipulative. I do think that a fifth to sixth grade girls would enjoy the book. It does have some pretty funny scenes and dialogue. This book would be for independent reading. Students would be able to identify with the emotions that Frankie feels and could easily relate to her drama as well as the issues she faces within her friendships. This book also captivates the intensity of emotions that girls experience while growing up and maturing. Characterization as well as discussing dynamic and static characters would be easy to discuss with the use of this book. I did enjoy reading the emails that were exchanged and how it gave another layer to the story and plot.
—Bailey Scales
