'Gator Aid [Hardcover]

Jane Cutler (Author), Tracey Campbell Pearson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1999 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

A third book in the popular Fraser brothers series.

Right after seeing his older brother, Jason, in a school production of Peter Pan, Edward Fraser claims to have spotted an alligator in his neighborhood park's lake. Jason and his parents think the sighting is a result of Edward's overactive imagination, probably inspired by the play. But then the local news media hear about it and suddenly the town is all abuzz. Cameramen, reporters, animal rights activists, and Jim Bob Hooke, a professional alligator rescuer, are all camped out by the lake, waiting to see the 'gator. Does it really exist? Of course it does! Jane Cutler once again captures the essence of boyhood in this hilarious chapter book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wittily and winningly, Mills's often poignant comedy focuses on one of the boys from her Losers, Inc. While his best friend has found his strengths, Julius Zimmerman still feels doomed to failure. It's summer vacation, and Julius's ambitious mom is determined to use the time to "set a good foundation for seventh grade." She has enrolled him in an intensive French language course for the mornings, arranged an afternoon job baby-sitting a three-year-old tyrant named Edison and also obliges him to keep a weekly "goal-setting" journal. Befuddled in French class, terrified that he'll have to change a dirty diaper, Julius has a familiar, sinking feeling: "Disappointing his mother was the one thing Julius was good at." Mills strikes a delicate balance. Her humorously constructed scenes of classroom antics, baby-sitting triumphs and disasters, and unspoken domestic conflicts are both touching and peppered with laugh-out-loud apercus. Fans of the companion novel will be intrigued by the familiar characters glimpsed through an alternate viewpoint, and newcomers will join them in rooting for Julius as he finds his stride. Although the ending is a little bit neat, this novel as a whole rings satisfyingly true. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-4 In the Fraser brothers' third appearance, second-grader Edward can't convince anyone that he has seen a baby alligator in the lake at the local park. His family and friends assume his imagination is working overtime, especially since he recently saw a production of Peter Pan performed by his brother's fifth-grade class, and particularly enjoyed the crocodile. A rumor of the minuscule lake dweller reaches a local radio station and soon grows into a huge man-eating reptile, as big and dangerous as the media frenzy it engenders. Captain Hooke, a Louisiana alligator trapper, arrives with his granddaughter to rescue or is it capture the little creature. Young readers will enjoy this light tale of neighborhood adventure, and will be pleased with the ending, happy for all. Darcy Schild, Schwegler Elementary School, Lawrence, KS
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (September 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374325022
• ISBN-13: 978-0374325022
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,928,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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