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

Margaret Peterson Haddix (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

Mrs. Dunphrey agrees not to read the private entries written in her students' English journals, thus Tish Bonner finds herself pouring her emotions into her book in an effort to relieve the pressures in her life that she feels she cannot discuss with anyone.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When her English teacher, Mrs. Dunphrey, announces that she will require everyone to keep a journal, Tish Bonner sighs and fidgets. She's one of those girls with big hair who sits in the back of the classroom, giggling and passing notes to friends instead of paying attention. Frankly, school is a waste of time for Tish. She would rather be working to help support herself and her younger brother. (Goodness knows her mother never lifts a finger to help them.) Mrs. Dunphrey says that she won't read any student's entry marked "DO NOT READ." Should Tish believe her? Much to Tish's surprise, journal writing becomes a welcome--yet frightening--outlet for the increasing stress she feels about life at home. Should she write about everything she's feeling? Will Mrs. Dunphrey really respect her privacy? This novel offers teens a realistic view of a young woman's life spinning out of control. Tish has real heart, and the way she faces her problems will inspire readers. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Haddix (Running Out of Time) offers a tough-edged if familiar story of a beleaguered high school girl who confides the difficulties of her life to a journal in an assignment for English class; the title refers to the label the heroine gives every entry so that her teacher, the true-to-her-word Mrs. Dunphrey, will only look at the completed writing and not actually read the sensitive contents. With an abusive and mostly absentee father, a depressed mother, and only a part-time job at Burger Boy to pay for her food and clothes?as well as for her little brother Matthew's?Tish Bonner seems headed for a crisis. At her lowest point, penniless and starving after her mother's abandonment and after she is fired by a manager whose sexual advances she has refused, Tish shoplifts from a grocery store to feed herself and Matthew?and then faces being evicted from her home. Because the journal is the sole outlet for Tish's inner turmoil, the tone here shifts only in terms of varying shades of anger. Meanwhile, Mrs. Dunphrey, a model of teacherly concern, writes brief comments to express her appreciation of Tish's lengthy entries and to ask Tish to let her read some of them. YA readers will be not in the least surprised that Tish finally turns over her entire journal for Mrs. Dunphrey's perusal as a way of getting help, and that Mrs. Dunphrey comes through in the best sensitive-English-teacher tradition. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1st edition (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689800975
• ISBN-13: 978-0689800979
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,713,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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.