The Last Holiday Concert [Hardcover]

Andrew Clements (Author)

Book Description

Winterhope.

It didn't sound like much, but it was a big idea. A very big idea.

It all started when Hart Evans zinged a rubber band that hit Mr. Meinert, the chorus director. Actually, it started before that, when Mr. Meinert learned he was out of a job because the town budget couldn't afford music and art teachers. Mr. Meinert got so mad at Hart that he told the sixth graders he'd had it -- they could produce the big holiday concert on their own. Or not. It was all up to them.

What happens when a teacher steps aside and lets the kids run the show? Not what Mr. Meinert would have predicted. And not what Hart Evans would have guessed, not at all.

Out of chaos, infighting, compromise, idealism, and finally, a fragile peace, the sixth grade choral concert was born. And they called it Winterhope.

But would it be the last holiday concert of them all?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–Sixth-grader Hart Evans's least-favorite class is chorus, where uptight Mr. Meinert makes them sing boring songs. When Hart shoots a couple of rubber bands at the teacher, the man overreacts and is angry when the smooth-talking boy gets off relatively unscathed. Although the class is not told, readers learn that Mr. Meinert will lose his job after January 1 because of budget cuts. When the students act up the next day, he snaps and decides to place the responsibility for the holiday concert in their hands. This sets in motion a series of events that leaves Hart running the show with the teacher watching, learning, and eventually helping out. The plot unfolds to encompass control issues, democratic procedures, and an end product that wows the crowd. Clements is a master at taking elements of relatively common school situations and turning them into masterful stories with truly engaging characters. Foreshadowing provides glimpses of the program during the chapters leading up to the conclusion, but the climactic description of the event will leave youngsters teeming with emotion. The book's accessible language and quick pace will also appeal to reluctant readers.–Debbie Whitbeck, West Ottawa Public Schools, Holland, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. After Hart shoots a rubber band at Mr. Meinert, he finds that the chorus teacher is not just annoyed but furious. Unbeknownst to Hart, all the faculty art and music positions have been eliminated, and Mr. Meinert will not be returning after the winter holiday concert. When the teacher unexpectedly turns the concert planning and preparation over to the students, they vote to make Hart their leader. This entertaining novel relates Hart's ups and downs in his challenging new role. The story also delves into the problems and emotions of Mr. Meinert and, to a lesser extent, Hart's younger sister. These shifts in viewpoints and sympathies are unusual and to some extent enlightening, but the narrative always reverts to Hart's thread of the story, which children will probably find most involving. Many school stories focus on underdogs; this one expresses the concerns of a boy who is popular, yet still under stress. Convincing in its portrayal of middle-school life, this accessible novel will find a ready audience. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689845162
• ISBN-13: 978-0689845161
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,038,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Most of my characters are fairly normal people who are dealing with the basics of everyday life--getting along with others, finding a place in the world, discovering talents, overcoming challenges, trying to have some wholesome fun along the way, and getting into some scrapes and a little mischief now and then, too. I guess I hope my readers will be able to see bits and pieces of themselves in the stories, particularly the novels that take place in and around school. School is a rich setting because schools and education are at the heart of every community. The stories that are set in school seem to resonate with kids, teachers, parents, librarians--readers of all ages. Everyone's life has been touched by school experiences. And I also hope, of course, that kids and others will enjoy reading, enjoy the use of language, enjoy my storytelling.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Could Be Clements' Best Yet, January 7, 2005

By 

George Buttner "Agent0042" (Dayton, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Holiday Concert (Hardcover)

The events of "The Last Holiday Concert" begin with a boy flinging rubber bands during a choir practice which he considers to be incredibly boring. Irritated at this childish behavior and upset because his position will soon be eliminated, the instructor decides he's had enough. When very little disciplinary action is taken against the student, he lays down a challenge --- organizing the upcoming holiday concert will be all up to the students and he's stepping out of the matter entirely.

The boy who flung the rubber bands quickly takes charge, feeling that he could manage things much better than what the teacher had been doing. He soon finds that matters aren't as simple as he thought and that without guidance, things are getting out of control. But with help, he and the class find themselves on the way to a holiday concert that will be one everyone in attendance will remember.

Those who have read many of Clement's past works will find that things go rather differently in this one than in some of his other stories. That's good thing and the ending of this book leaves a lot to think about.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Into the Sixth-Grade Fray, December 12, 2004

By 

E. S. Will "a new leaf" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Holiday Concert (Hardcover)

(This review first appeared in the "Ephrata (Pa.) Review.")

Clements possesses the unsettling ability to throw readers smack dab into the rebellious chaos that is called middle school. In this story, readers are "caught" up in a sixth-grade chorus. The music teacher, upset that his job has been cut in a selective "reduction in work force" and angry with some students' antics, turns over the holiday concert's production to the students.

The class elects as its director popular Hart Evans, who dislikes chorus and who has already gotten into hot water with Mr. Meinert. As Hart learns how to manage his fractious peers, Mr. Meinert sees that allowing students to create their own unique production may be more important than musical perfection.

One strand of this lively story illuminates the relationship between freedom (democracy) and peace, the messy self-interested "lobbying" and eventual compromise that makes for peace-even in the sixth-grade classroom. After all, peace is the hope of the holiday season.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He's done it again!, September 29, 2004

By 

George Eliot "Tess" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Holiday Concert (Hardcover)

Andrew Clements creates multi-faceted characters with all the foilbles and frailties of real human beings, which is what makes them interesting. Hart Evans starts out as a smart-alecky kid intent on doing the minimum required of him. When his exasperated and soon-to-be unemployed chorus teacher, Mr. Meinert, decides to put Hart in charge of the school's holiday concert while taking a break, everyone is in for some rough times. This book takes an editorial stance against budget cuts for the arts in schools but doesn't get preachy. The ending is not a surprise; after all, this is an Andrew Clements book. But, the process through which the characters develop leadership, teamwork, and creativity is a wonder.