Funerals and Fly Fishing [Hardcover]

Mary Bartek (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

I start up the street toward my grandfather's house. Just how weird is it that I, Brad Stanislawski, am walking toward a funeral home of my own free will?

Where do you fit in when you're oversized, underappreciated, and faced with a name like Stanislawski?

Brad Stanislawski is looking forward to summer vacation, if only to get away from the classmates who make fun of his size (it's not his fault he's so tall) and his last name (Stan-is-lousy being their moniker of choice). So when Brad's mother announces that she's taking a summer vacation by herself and sending Brad across the country to stay with his estranged grandfather-who happens to be an undertaker-Brad thinks life couldn't possibly get any worse. Still, as Brad ought to know, first impressions can be deceiving, and a name can hold a lot more than embarrassment.

What exactly does it mean to be Brad Stanislawski? In this thoughtful, funny first novel, Brad (with a little help from his grandfather) is about to find out for himself.

 

Funerals and Fly Fishing is a 2005 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–It's hard adjusting to a new place and a new school; when your last name is Stanislawski, things are really tough. The last day of sixth grade finally arrives, and Brad looks forward to summer vacation, to getting away from teasing classmates who call him "Stan-is-lousy." When his mother is awarded a vacation in California, she sends Brad to visit her estranged father, a man he's never met. He enters his grandfather's home not knowing what to expect. He discovers that there's one thing his mother neglected to mention: his grandfather runs and lives in a funeral home. As the week unfolds, Brad learns things about his grandfather and his mother as a child. He gains respect for the man, and for the name that causes so much teasing. In the end, he begins to stand up for himself, is able to bring about reconciliation between his mother and grandfather, and is proud that he is a Stanislawski. In a style similar to the work of Jerry Spinelli and Sharon Creech, this story provides a subtle lesson. The characters are believable and well developed. Anyone who has visited distant relatives and experienced the unknown will identify with Brad's hesitancy. There is enough action to keep children's attention, and because of the uncomplicated plot and short time span of the story, reluctant readers will also find it satisfying.–Denise Moore, O'Gorman Junior High School, Sioux Falls, SD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"[A]musing, touching first-person narrative."--Kirkus Reviews

"The characters are believable and well developed. . . . There is enough action to keep children's attention, and because of the uncomplicated plot and short time span of the story, reluctant readers will also find it satisfying." --School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (August 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805074090
• ISBN-13: 978-0805074093
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,054,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I love to write. For me, telling stories is like taking a jigsaw puzzle of real and imagined people, their experiences and emotions, spilling them on the floor, then selecting the pieces that can be recombined in just the right way to create something new and exciting and wonderful. It's hard work, but it sure is fun.

Stop by my author website at www.marybartek.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feel-Good Book for Young Readers and Families, October 21, 2004

By 

Anne Ballston "Anne Ballston" (Newton, Mass.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Funerals and Fly Fishing (Hardcover)

I found this book to be a charming and well-written story of a lovable and misunderstood young boy. Bartek's descriptive yet undaunting writing style makes her characters warm, realistic, and easily-relatable. I don't think there are many people who could read this book and not remember the awkwardness of early young adulthood; growing into oneself yet with the excitement and hope of a child. I would recommend the story to any young reader or their family at any level of ability.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chrissy's Review, October 24, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Funerals and Fly Fishing (Hardcover)

It's the last day of school in Pennsylvaina for Brad. His mom tells him that she is taking a summer vacation. His mom sends Brad across country to Colrado to stay with his grandfather. His grandfather owns a funeral home, Brad stays there and eats frozen dinners, then has fun at a football game. A boy named Pat tells Brad that his grandfather has a bag of scalps. Brad finds them and they end up being a bag of fly tying things. They go to a church and set up for the St.Mary's Festival. Brad eats food he has never heard of before and he learns how to Polka dance. He also plays Chuck-O-Luck, a gambling game, with his grandfather and Mike. Later that night Mike had Brad call his mom then they went to the hospital. When they got there they went to see grandfather. Brads grandfather ends up being in the hospital because he fell at the festival going from the Chuck-O-Luck to the church basement to get something to eat. This was a very exciting book!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funerals and Fly Fishing, November 17, 2009

By 

Mimi Schaefer "mimis" (denver, co, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Funerals and Fly Fishing (Paperback)

I found this book to be so charming. Brad is a likeable character that I feel any middle schooler or advanced elementary school reader would love. While the adventures are pretty tame by today's tv and movie standards, the book represents every day, real life in a compelling and suspenseful way. I recommended this book to my daughter (who is now a student teacher) for her middle school students as boys may identify with this young boy, Brad, and the dilemmas he faces. Well written, fast paced, entertaining.