Don't You Dare Read This Mrs. Dunphrey [Turtleback]

Margaret Peterson Haddix (Author)

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media; Reprint edition (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606126805
• ISBN-13: 978-0606126809
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I grew up on a farm outside Washington Court House, Ohio. As a kid, I liked to read a lot, and was also involved in 4-H, various bands and choirs (I played flute and piano), church youth group, the school newspaper, and a quiz-bowl type team. I was pretty disastrous as an athlete, although I did run track one year in high school. After graduating from Miami University (of Ohio), I worked as a newspaper copy editor in Fort Wayne, Indiana; a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis; and a part-time community college instructor and freelance writer in Danville, Illinois, before my first book was published. I've moved around a lot as an adult, having also lived in Luxembourg (during a college semester abroad) and in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. Several years ago, I moved back to Ohio with my husband and kids; we now live in Columbus, Ohio. My husband trains investigative journalists, and my kids are in high school, so there's always a lot going on around our house.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A cry for help, February 22, 2001

By 

Krista - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey (Mass Market Paperback)

As a teacher, I often think about the lives of my students outside the classroom. Are they okay? Are they getting enough to eat? Is someone there when they need help? How would I know if they had problems at home?

Tish Bonner is the kind of student it's easy to overlook: quiet, seemingly bored in school. Yet her life at home is troubled. Her depressed mother spends most of her time at home, yearning for her estranged husband, who abandoned the family. Tish must take on the responsibility of supporting the family, including her young brother.

Tish hides her problems from the world, confiding only in the journal that began as an assignment for English class, but expanded beyond mindless homework to become an outlet for her emotions of sadness and desperation. Unfortunately, Tish marks every entry "do not read," preventing her teacher from understanding her situation and providing help. Tish's diary entries are increasingly panicked and worrisome, as the condition of her situation at home deteriorates.

Haddix does a great job of taking the reader into Tish's thoughts, and creating suspense as we wait for her to reach out to someone. A recommended book for middle school aged readers and their teachers.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT BOOK for FOURTH GRADERS ON UP!!!, September 14, 2005

By 

Historical Writer (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a former elementary teacher and school librarian. I read the book nonstop cover-to-cover about a 15 year old who inadvertently becomes the Mom and Dad who cares for herself and younger brother, Matt. Tish's Dad is physically absent from the family except for a short time, and the Mom is mentally absent all of the time! Tish records in her journal, assigned by her English teacher, Mrs. Dunphrey, what is happening during her struggles to care for her brother and herself. Then when her Mom runs off to California, she must figure out a way to pay the bills. As things get worse and worse, Tish writes more and more but eventually seeks help. The climax of the book is very satisfying and complete. This is not a YA problem novel which leaves kids and adults frustrated with the events and outcome. I am passing it on to a favorite teen with the suggestion that her single Mom read it too. I recommend this very well-written book to teachers, librarians, parents, and kids nine and up. There is no sex or violence in it. K.J. McWilliams, author of The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo (SOUTH CAROLINA, The Journal of Darien Dexter Duff, an Emancipated Slave (LOUISIANA), and The Journal of Leroy Jeremiah Jones, a Fugitive Slave (ALABAMA).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful story of survival, June 29, 2000

By 

twilliam (Williamsburg, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey (Mass Market Paperback)

Haddix tells a story that immediately captures the reader's interest. Many of Tish's concerns are "typically" adolescent-- school, job, sexual harassment--as well as one that is not at all typical. Tish's mother has abandoned her and her younger brother Matt. Tish is trying desperately to do the child-rearing that her mother should be doing. When her English teacher assigns a journal, Tish is sure she won't write at all, but once she starts, she finds writing cathartic, especially since Mrs. Dunphrey keeps her word and doesn't actually read anything that the girl tells her not to read. A totally happy ending would be unrealistic, but there is hope that Tish and Matt will have a better life.

A great read that will open your eyes to the hardships of a not so ordinary teenager.