Anyone but Me (Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo No. 1) [Paperback]

Nancy E. Krulik (Author), John & Wendy (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2002 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

Katie Carew, nicknamed Katie Kazoo by the class bully, had no idea what would happen when she wished that she could be anyone but herself. But now her wish has come true, and-switcheroo!-she keeps turning into other people and even animals! What is one ordinary third-grade girl with a really extraordinary problem to do? It's a good thing Katie is resourceful and smart enough to find a solution for every problem . . . no matter how much of a disaster she causes!

Katie can't stand George, the class bully. He constantly picks on everyone, but he really torments Katie. One day, she can't stand it anymore, and she wishes she could be anyone but herself. What she doesn't see is the shooting star that flashes through the sky at that moment . . . catapulting Katie into a crazy series of adventures, starting the next day when she turns into the class hamster! Will she be trapped in a glass cage forever? Will she ever be a girl again?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-The premise is fantastical-a third-grade girl wishes she were someone else, a wind blows up, and she becomes someone or something else. In just 70-odd pages, Katie solves big problems at school, just by her "switcheroos." In Anyone but Me, her tenure as a hamster gives her insight into the class bully (who turns out to be afraid of hamsters), and he is transformed into a nice boy who loves to tell jokes and riddles. In Out to Lunch, she turns into the nasty cafeteria woman, causes a food fight, and comes up with a way to change the quality of the food. This series could be a feminine contender to rival Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" series (Scholastic), but the writing is not of the same caliber and the characters are less well drawn. It's also more purposeful and less fun.
Kay Bowes, Concord Pike Library, Wilmington, DE
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Nancy Krulik is the author of many media-related books for young adults, including The New York Times best-seller Leonardo DiCaprio for Archway.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap (May 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0448426536
• ISBN-13: 978-0448426532
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy Krulik is the author of more than 100 books for children and young adults, including three New York Times bestsellers. She is best known, however, for being the author and creator of the Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo book series. Nancy currently lives in Manhattan with her husband, composer Daniel Burwasser, their two children, Amanda and Ian, and a crazed cockerspaniel named Pepper.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful reading, October 8, 2005

By 

Teacher "Avid Reader" (West Bend, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anyone but Me (Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo No. 1) (Paperback)

This series is wonderful for all students. It is one of the series I use in my classroom and it never fails to get all students "hooked" on reading. They are anxious to see what happens. It is fun to see them applying the comprehension skills we are working on in class.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended series for early readers!, March 21, 2006

By 

Melanie "mongoliamel" (Cass Lake, MN, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anyone but Me (Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo No. 1) (Paperback)

Every vegetarian child should enjoy the company of a like-minded friend. That's exactly what she gets in the children's books series Katie Kazoo Switcheroo. In the series, Nancy Krulik shares the trials and tribulations of Katie Carew, your typical puppy loving, pizza eating, camp going, jump rope playing third grader. Katie also happens to be an ovo-lacto vegetarian.

While Krulik has given Katie meat-loving omnivorous parents, she has endowed on them whole-hearted support when Katie decides that she is "never, ever going to eat anything that had had a face." Katie's mom whips up everything from Katie's favorite, veggie burgers, to stir-fried tofu with broccoli for dinners. She encourages Katie when she signs up for a cooking class and gives her plenty of freedom to explore in the kitchen, providing healthy staples such as carrots, celery and peanut butter.

In fact, Krulik surrounds the third grader with a multitude of encouraging adults and friends. Louie the pizza guy serves up his super veggie special with extra spinach. The camp cook packs Katie's bag of trail food with extra carrots and leaves out the meat. Her best friend, Suzanne, brings a mix of rice, lentils, and tomato sauce for lunch and frequently joins Katie in a tray of macaroni and cheese with chocolate pudding and milk. Perhaps it is this support that gives the youngster confidence in speaking up for herself and asserting the fact that she does not eat meat.

Krulik creatively weaves these aspects of vegetarianism and, less occasionally, animal rights concepts into the main plot of her stories. In the books, Katie is overcome by a magic wind and temporarily turns into one of her friends, teachers, neighbors, or even the classroom hamster. So for just a little while, she must see what it's like to live in someone else's shoes (or paws!).

I highly recommend this entertaining series for early readers. The books are fun, funny, and in a very sneaky way teach a wonderful lesson. Katie Kazoo is the like-minded friend so desperately needed by children of this age. I can already hear your sons and daughters exclaim, "Hey, I don't eat meat either. She's just like me!" Tammie Ortlieb

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars love your life, January 17, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Anyone but Me (Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo No. 1) (Paperback)

Katie Kazoo Switcheroo Anyone But Me

By Nancy Krulik

Does Katie's wish come true in her fantasy world? Katie isn't a tomboy but her favorite sport is football, and she likes playing it with the boys. But when she missed the ball and made the team lose. The team yelled at Katie.

When she got home and plays outside she makes a wish as a shouting star shoots by in the sky. The next day the wind picks up and what happens next?

There is not a lot books like this but I can compare it to my life and me because I was afraid of the class bully and than I found out what he was afraid of.

I like when Katie makes her wish!!

I hope you will like the same thing as I do.

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