Knots in My Yo-Yo String [Library Binding]

Jerry Spinelli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 1998 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

"A master of those embarrassing, gloppy, painful, and suddenly wonderful things that happen on the razor's edge between childhood and full-fledged adolescence" (The Washington Post),  Newbery medalist Jerry Spinelli has penned his early autobiography with all the warmth, humor, and drama of his best-selling fiction. From first memories through high school, including first kiss, first punch, first trip to the principal's office, and first humiliating sports experience, this is not merely an account of a highly unusual childhood. Rather, like Spinelli's fiction, its appeal lies in the  accessibility and universality of his life. Entertaining and fast-paced, this is a highly readable memoir-- a must-have for Spinelli fans of all ages.  

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this montage of sharply focused memories punctuated with b&w photographs, Spinelli (Maniac Magee; Wringer) reconstructs the experience of growing up during the '50s. His descriptions of his childhood universe (which does not extend beyond Norristown, Pa.) elicits the use of all five senses. He invites readers to gaze upon the same stars he studied as a child; to listen for the "not-very-loud" whistle of Mrs. Seeton calling not only her own brood but all the kids home to their suppers ("for a mother's call somehow touches us all"); to smell the "sour, vaguely rotten" aroma of the Adam Scheidt Brewing Company; to savor the taste of Texas Hot Wieners ("They had spunk. They fought back"); and to feel the "clack" of colliding teeth during his first kiss with Kathy Heller (in a game of Truth or Consequences). The audience might be content to bask in the warm glow of post-WWII reflections, but the author has other plans: he shows readers how the seeds of a writer were planted in his youth. Wedged between sometimes painful, more often hilarious scenes of preadolescent and adolescent angst are quiet, contemplative moments when young Spinelli develops his artistic imagination replaying the days' events and pondering such mysteries as time, space and the origin of knots in his yo-yo string. As Spinelli effortlessly spins the story of an ordinary Pennsylvania boy, he also documents the evolution of an exceptional author. Ages 10-13.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5 UpAA loving reminiscence of childhood. Although the first five pages are slow moving, detail laden, and rather puzzling in parts, the rest of the book takes off as Spinelli takes small, seemingly insignificant snippets of the 10 years he lived on George Street on the West End of Norristown, PA, and explains from his adult viewpoint how they were stepping-stones to his success as a popular children's book author. Even though he only read cereal boxes and comic books as a child, he displays and describes his "early leaning toward language." Phrases such as "music's bunkhouse" to define an old crank phonograph, and using "picturing" to "co-create the moment" to show how listening to the radio was interactive, are evidence of his talent with words. In a conversational tone, Spinelli fondly recalls neighbors, pastimes, and events of the 1940s and 50s. Black-and-white photos present amusing images from his past. Readers may not be familiar with all of the lingo (Bonomo's Turkish taffy) or personalities (Lash La Rue), but they will enjoy the humorous episodes. In the last chapter, the author states, "I mixed my memories with imagination to make stories, to make fiction, and when I finished writing, I had a book, my fifth novel....It became my first published book....I continued to write stories about kids and to rummage through the attic of my memories." Lucky for his readers!AKate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Library Binding: 160 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (April 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679987916
• ISBN-13: 978-0679987918
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,199,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Growing up, Jerry Spinelli was really serious about baseball. He played for the Green Sox Little League team in his hometown of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and dreamed of one day playing for the major leagues, preferably as shortstop for the New York Yankees.

One night during high school, Spinelli watched the football team win an exciting game against one of the best teams in the country. While everyone else rode about town tooting horns in celebration, Spinelli went home and wrote "Goal to Go," a poem about the game's defining moment, a goal-line stand. His father submitted the poem to the Norristown Times-Herald and it was featured in the middle of the sports page a few days later. He then traded in his baseball bat for a pencil, because he knew that he wanted to become a writer.

After graduating from Gettysburg College with an English degree, Spinelli worked full time as a magazine editor. Every day on his lunch hour, he would close his office door and craft novels on yellow magazine copy paper. He wrote four adult novels in 12 years of lunchtime writing, but none of these were accepted for publication. When he submitted a fifth novel about a 13-year-old boy, adult publishers once again rejected his work, but children's publishers embraced it. Spinelli feels that he accidentally became an author of children's books.

Spinelli's hilarious books entertain both children and young adults. Readers see his life in his autobiography Knots in My Yo-Yo String, as well as in his fiction. Crash came out of his desire to include the beloved Penn Relays of his home state of Pennsylvania in a book, while Maniac Magee is set in a fictional town based on his own hometown.

When asked if he does research for his writing, Spinelli says: "The answer is yes and no. No, in the sense that I seldom plow through books at the library to gather material. Yes, in the sense that the first 15 years of my life turned out to be one big research project. I thought I was simply growing up in Norristown, Pennsylvania; looking back now I can see that I was also gathering material that would one day find its way into my books."

On inspiration, the author says: "Ideas come from ordinary, everyday life. And from imagination. And from feelings. And from memories. Memories of dust in my sneakers and humming whitewalls down a hill called Monkey."

Spinelli lives with his wife and fellow writer, Eileen, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. While they write in separate rooms of the house, the couple edits and celebrates one another's work. Their six children have given Jerry Spinelli a plethora of clever material for his writing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes you want to read Spinelli's books!, December 4, 1999

By 

Allan Berliant (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knots in My Yo-Yo String (Paperback)

This book is so great! It tells all about Jerry Spinelli's childhood in big events in his life. It is very humerous and touching. It talks about his dreams and accomplishments as a kid and how they effected him as a person and as an author. I highly recommend you read this book!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous Book, July 11, 2006

By 

Khari - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knots in My Yo-Yo String (Paperback)

Knots in my yo-yo string is a great book.This novel is about the one and only Jerry Spinelli and his childhood.The most interesting chapter to me was, When I Was King.The reason that chapter was interesting to me was that,it fun to hear about a great author being elected for class president.I give this book 4 stars out of 5 because, first when i was reading the book, i didn't like it.But as i kept reading the book, i started to like it more when i got to the middle of the book. I recormmend this book to children and adults who likes to biographies.This is a great book about a childhood of the marvelous Jerry Spinelli.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If this book was a yo-yo the string would be knotless, July 8, 2004

By 

joey (Berwick, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knots in My Yo-Yo String (Paperback)

Knots in My Yo-Yo String is a book that tells of childhood memories. It is definitely geared towards younger readers; it would be the perfect read for a child around 12 years of age. The author, Jerry Spinelli, has done an exquisite job of capturing what most children experience during their short period of innocence. His memories are conveyed to the reader in a most descriptive way, and he requires the reader to think about what they have read. He never ends a chapter on a boring sentence; it is always a conclusive sentence that is usually quite witty. Some of his stories are so interesting that you wish you could go back in time and experience the same things he did but in your own childhood.
The majority of his most pleasant memories took place while he was in junior high school. I would say that he wrote of his preteen teen years, 10 to 12, more than any other time in his life. The author also wrote about his teenage memories but those were less pleasant and less numerous.
This book highlights how successful Jerry was among his fellow peers. He always seemed to be better than everyone else: he was athletic, he was very popular, and he was much more intelligent than the average student. The tale is constantly action filled with Jerry exploring and learning essential lessons in his childhood. The story is one big quest for Jerry to be happy and throughout the whole book it seems that he is happy and true to himself.
The book starts out with his dog being struck by a car; it then goes back to his early childhood and all the events that led up to the tragic accident. Then in the final chapter the story resumes at the point were Jerry is standing over the dead dog. The dog being slain represents the troubles Jerry encountered as soon as he enters high school. When Jerry reaches this new school, all his prior achievements meant nothing and he was forced to start from scratch. Several events happened to Jerry during this transition the drastically eroded his confidence. His girlfriend decided to discontinue the relationship, he struggle to grasps the concepts of his academics, and he was no longer the superior athlete. The worst thing that happened during those trying times was when his family departed from their neighborhood and decided it was time to move to another neighborhood.
Jerry then finds what he loves to do. He starts to write poetry in his 11th grade year and soon things turn around for Jerry, as he is happy once again. Jerry then goes on to tell about how he wrote the novel Manic Magee, a story based off of a childhood friend. The success of Manic Magee has made Jerry a financial secure writer.
This book connected with me because some of the events that he experienced as a child were similar to events that happened during my adolescence. Jerry Spinelli does a great job of making this book an interesting and eventful read for his target audience, children, while also telling of some important moral issues. The moral issues that occurred in this book made me remember of something dishonest I did as a child and it made my remember how bad I felt and how bad I still feel about the incident. So, I enjoyed this autobiography and I hope that you find a little bit of time to read this short adventure.