6th Grade Can Really Kill You [School & Library Binding]

Barthe DeClements (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Helen fears that lack of improvement in her reading may leave her stuck in the sixth grade forever, until a good teacher recognizes her reading problem.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8 Helen dreads the first day in sixth grade. Good in math and gifted on the pitcher's mound, she is a nonreader diagnosed as a behavior problem. Against the slice - of - life background of a skating party, pierced ears and overnights at friend Louise's, Helen loses the battle with the printed word. Mid-year, she transfers to the other sixth grade class, where the teacher lets her choose whether or not to study in the special ed classroom. Despite the label "retard," she decides to get the special help. Hard work results in progress. Given her caring parents, sympathetic principal and wholesome friends, the motivation for Helen's pranks and booby traps is obscure. DeClements fails to relate Helen's deliquency to her frustration or anger. In addition, since help is just down the hall, it is unrealistic for Helen to suffer for half the year before trying the special ed room. Still, cameo appearances by Jenny and Elsie from Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade (Viking, 1981) will attract readers to this less successful problem novel. Like Gilson's Do Bananas Chew Gum ? (Lothrop, 1980), Sixth Grade. . . illuminates the bleak world of the learning disabled while it entertains. Pat Harrington, Phoenix Public Library
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• School & Library Binding: 146 pages
• Publisher: Topeka Bindery (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0808584820
• ISBN-13: 978-0808584827
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,583,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Depiction of Reality, July 31, 2004

By 

J. F. Wilfong (Gastonia, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You (An Apple Paperback) (Paperback)

I picked this book up at a baby-sitting job expecting it to be a fluffy sixth-grade chapter book. Yet it was much more. DeClements did a great job depicting Helen's challenges with a learning disability as she navigates sixth grade and finally finds some answers in the end. This book is great for teachers like myself because it allows us to see the impact the "little things" we choose to do or not to do can have on a student. It's a great book for students because it depicts Helen's decision-making processes and the ramifications as she chooses to utilize the special ed. room as a resource to help her read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You, September 9, 2000

By 

Leslie G. Bendt (St. Augustine, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You (Paperback)

I understand and can sympathize with Helen and her reading challenges. I am glad that she found a constructive solution. I found it frustrating (and socially irresponsible) that Helen was able to launch firecrackers in school, intentionally damage a teachers' clothing and spray paint the school main entrance signage with little repurcussion. In today's schools, those types of actions would warrant serious consequences.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good and interesting book, March 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You (An Apple Paperback) (Paperback)

Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You is a interesting book you've got to read. It will really abduct your mind!It starts with a girl named Helen who hardley made it to the sixth grade.(she's not very great at reading,spelling,and social st.)She thinks this year might be better than the others,but when she gets Mrs. Lobb, everything is back like last year.She decides to live up to her nickname "Bad Helen",until she finds out she might flunk,then everything geos wrong.This is a good book, and I acclaim that you should read it.