Customer Reviews

Judy Moody Goes to College (Book #8)

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Judy Moody is shocked to discover a new teacher in her classroom, a substitute named Mrs. Grossman. It seems that the class's beloved teacher, Mr. Todd, is in Italy at a teaching conference. Mrs. Grossman's method of teaching is quite different from Mr. Todd's, and Judy doesn't care for it. She has quite the attitude toward Mrs. Grossman's "Attitude Tent" set up in the back of the room and about the fact that Mrs. Grossman rewards correct math answers with candy (Judy's major complaint is that she never gets any sweet treats).

Judy must take home a note to her parents in which Mrs. Grossman explains that Judy needs extra help with math. After much discussion, Mom and Dad decide to hire a math tutor for her. Judy is horrified, in spite of their assurance that being tutored will be an enjoyable experience. She believes her brother Stink, who tells her she'll be subjected to flash cards, bead counting and macaroni gluing. However, things look up when she discovers she will be tutored by a student, Chloe, at her college!

It doesn't take long for Judy to realize that Chloe is extremely cool. Soon, they are playing the Game of Life in the college coffee shop, where Judy is enchanted by Chloe's coffee order ("tall, skinny, nonfat, wet, extra-foam, no-whip latte with a double shot of vanilla") and with her own hot chocolate. Judy enjoys being the banker --- a subtle math lesson. She also learns some college vocabulary words from her new "peep" (friend) and gleans a few hip wardrobe tips.

Chloe, it turns out, is an unending source of purely pleasurable math-related games and projects. Judy is enthusiastic about counting the different colors of VW Beetles in the college parking lot and then graphing them in the appropriate hues. When her tutoring session ends, she is sorely disappointed.

Judy counts the days until her next trip back to college. Meanwhile, she sports a Chloe-inspired "this is my thing" outfit --- a dress plus ripped jeans along with a hoodie sweatshirt, scarf, funny flip-flops, glasses, many bracelets and tattoo bandages. When Judy "returns to college," Chloe's creativity extends to games of Tic-Tac-Toe played with Oreo cookies, making shapes with sponge blocks, and pizza fractions.

However, Judy's life is not perfect (a much appreciated touch of reality). She alienates her friends with her constant bragging about her college life. She also continues to clash with Mrs. Grossman and spends time in the Attitude Tent. These developments make Judy moody, but Chloe brightens her outlook with an enjoyable bonus day at college in which Judy gets a glimpse of dorm life, tie-dyes a shirt and invents a pop-art painting. At home, she can't resist making over her bedroom in an effort to make it more college-like. Her decorating efforts morph into quite the adventure. In fact, she must calm herself down afterward with a bit of college-inspired yoga.

This is yet another stellar episode in the ever-entertaining Judy Moody series, thanks to author Megan McDonald's trademark melding of plot, humor and education. Dynamo Judy's voice is pitch-perfect as she conquers life's peaks and valleys. Her escapades with the inspired Chloe will surely stir readers' imaginations, even as they devour the story.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon

Bought this book for my niece and she was so excited to receive it. My own daughter enjoyed these books when she was little and now it's fun to see my niece actually put down the electronics and read a book -and like it! Good 'ol Judy Moody.

judy moody is an enjoyable book but slighly boring in my opinion. i guess it is because i am more into fantasy type books. but this is an overall good book. the character, judy moody is very likeable and has a big attitude! i would suggest this books for ages 9 ad so on.

My grandson loves the books and he says there very funny and I don't mind buying them for him because I know there children books so I don't have to worry!

Our grandaughter, just almost seven, seems to have completed the Judy Moody series. In fact she has devoured it. We hope there are Megan McDonald series, aimed at reading level 5th grade plus!

I think after reading this book my daughter shows more interest in someday 'going to college'. It is silly, but in a smart way and not too sassy. It can be hard to find a book at this age that is smart, silly and not too sassy. A great story about a girl needing extra help at school and really learning everything she can in the process.

I really like this book! I read the whole book in 4 hours straight! I could not put it down!! I am 8 years old.

My 9-yaer old daughter enjoyed the book immensely and finished reading in a coup-le of days. She loves Judy's stories and read them all. Judy is one of her favorite girl characters and she always waits eagerly for her stories. The book like the entire series about Judy is highly recommended to girls in 8-12 age spans.

My 9-year-old daughter couldn't put this down. She loves all the books in this series, and said this one was as good as all of the others. You won't be sorry with this one.

My 10 year old daughter thought this was the dumbest book she's ever read. She only kept reading because she couldn't believe that an adult could write such a dumb book--that obviously is trying to be funny, but fails and describes the way no kid would EVER behave. However did the author ever get it published? she asked me. The language Judy uses is nothing but bad one-liners you'd hear in a sit-com that all fall flat without the canned laughter. She said, "You can tell that this book is one of those sequels where the author had a good idea at the beginning, but then ran out of good ideas but still kept writing about the character...and for some reason they kept publishing it" You compare this Judy to Beverly Cleary's charming Ramona, whose character was so well developed who had real feelings of despair and happiness and confusion and accomplishment and humor and there is NO comparison. We don't know who the audience is, the language is too advanced for young kids, but older kids will know that no 3rd grade kid would EVER behave like Judy Moody supposedly behaves--at school, at home, or at college...and no college tutor would invite her to hang out with her and go to class and peace rallies and have the entire world revolve around one college tutor and one little girl who needed help with math. So far-fetched. So many better books to steer your child to.