Publication Date: June 1991 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Geek Chronicles (Book 1)
At first it seems as though Maxie, Rosie, and Earl have nothing in common. Maxie is too smart for his own good, Rosie is a born tattler, and Earl can't stop cracking up when he reads out loud in class. But when all three kids land outside the principal's office in disgrace, they can't help comparing notes.
Just when they think there's no chance of a reprieve, the fire alarm goes off. There's only one thing for three doomed nerds to do -- head straight for the exit doors and dive into the Dumpster!
This larky tale concerns three grade-schoolers--united by their abhorrence of matters academic--who meet outside the principal's office and forge a friendship that injects each with a dose of self-confidence. Ages 8-12. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Three elementary school misfits, thrown together by chance, find friendship and a bit of maturity in Park's latest effort. Rosie is a chronic tattletale, Maxie is the class brain (and therefore the butt of jokes), while Earl is the nervous newcomer who can't help getting silly in tight spots. All three find themselves waiting on the bench in the principal's office one Friday afternoon and end up cutting school together. A chance fire drill just as they are making their escape forces them to take refuge in the school dumpster (hence the grime); when they are finally able to flee, Earl realizes that the notorious kid-hating janitor has seen them. A weekend of worry and plotting follows, as they try to figure out how to silence Mr. Jim, or perhaps come up with a reasonable explanation to offer the principal on Monday. By the time things are sorted out, the three have become friends, and they have learned a bit about controlling themselves in situations that would formerly have led to trouble. The promising beginning, with a chapter devoted to the events leading up to the meeting in the office, should hook readers, but the story as a whole never quite takes off. The teachers and parents are not terribly understanding--indeed, they often seem a bit dense--but neither are they uncaring. None are fleshed out enough to seem real, however. Maxie, Rosie, and Earl do show some growth, but the process seems forced, and their actions over the weekend of worry even silly. The story is not told with the same skill found in Park's previous novels for a slightly older audience. The basic ingredients are here, but the end product is less than the expected sum of the parts. --Elaine Fort Weischedel, Turner Free Library, Randolph, MA Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
I grew up in Mt. Holly, New Jersey. It was a small town surrounded by farmland . . . the kind of town where you greet people by name on Main Street. It was only an hour's drive to the ocean. So every summer we spent family vacations on Long Beach Island. My brother and I would ride the waves during the day and play miniature golf at night. It's the kind of idyllic memory that stays in your head long after you've grown up and moved away. After graduating from high school and spending two years at Rider University, I transferred to the University of Alabama where I met my husband, Richard. Eventually his job brought him to Arizona. We both fell in love with the desert and wanted to stay here forever. Still, during the heat of the Arizona summers, those ocean memories would come rushing back. So-after years of sweaty summers-my husband and I finally built a house on Long Beach Island, the same island where my brother and I rode the waves as kids. In the story business, that's called "coming full circle." These days, Richard and I divide our time between the desert and the ocean. In the words of Junie B. Jones, I'm a lucky duck.
Q. What inspired you to start writing?
In my case, it was sort of "reverse" inspiration. I got a degree in secondary education. My plan was to teach high school history and political science. But, because of a scheduling problem my senior year, I ended up doing my student teaching in the seventh grade. The word disaster doesn't really cover this one. I'll spare you the details. But as I ran screaming from the school building every day, I knew that I would never be a teacher. My husband and I married after graduation, and started a family. A few years later, when I was ready to go to work, I was still haunted by the memories of student teaching. So I was "inspired" to try my hand at writing instead.
Q. How did you go about getting published?
The first children's novel I wrote was Operation: Dump the Chump. As soon as it was finished, I bought a copy of Writer's Market, found some addresses, and started sending it off to publishers who were accepting unsolicited manuscripts. It was rejected three times. All three rejections managed to work in the classic industry one-liner, "It isn't right for our list."
The fourth time I sent it to Alfred Knopf, Inc. A few weeks later, they called and said it was exactly right for their list. I felt like I'd hit the lottery.
Q: You've written middle-grade novels, early chapter books, and picture books. Which do you like writing best?
I can't really say which I like best. But after all the Junie B. books I've written, those certainly come the easiest. The middle-grade novels are more of a challenge. But in some ways, that makes them more rewarding. The last two I've written (Mick Harte Was Here and The Graduation of Jake Moon) were both about very sensitive topics, so it took a long time to get them exactly right. But I think those two books have made me the most proud.
Q. Tell us about your most recent picture book.
It's called, MA! There's Nothing to Do Here! It's about a baby in utero who is bored out of his mind. The idea for it was born (so to speak) when my daughter-in-law, Renee, invited me to my first grandson's ultrasound. Although I had never had an ultrasound myself, I'd seen pictures of other babies in utero. But I wasn't prepared for how amazing it would be to see my own little grandbaby on that screen. I felt like I was watching the Discovery Channel.
Q. How much did you continue to think about the baby after seeing the ultrasound? How did this develop into the idea for the book?
A. On the way out of the doctor's office, I remember thinking, Okay, so now we're all going back to our busy lives. But the baby is still in there just floating around. Except for an occasional kick or hiccup, he's got absolutely nothing to do.
A few months later-when I was getting ready to give Renee a baby shower-I wrote this poem, framed it, and gave it to her as a shower gift.
Q. Of the characters you've created, who is your favorite?
A. This would be a bit like picking a favorite child. I don't have a single favorite character, but again, I lived with the characters Mick and Phoebe Harte and Jake and Skelly Moon for a very long time. So those four are the most dear to me.
The characters I've had the most fun with have been the little ones. Little kids are so free to say whatever is on their minds. They aren't silenced by peer pressure and the notion that they have to sound cool. Molly Vera Thompson in The Kid in the Red Jacket is six, and Thomas Russo in My Mother Got Married and Other Disasters is five. They both were such fun to write about that they led to the creation of Junie B. Jones.
Q. Is Junie B. modeled after you as a child? Did you ever do any of the things that Junie B. does?
A. I was sent to "Principal" in first grade for talking. There were lots of notes sent home that year, as well. My father was on the Board of Education. Not good.
Q. There's been some criticism of the Junie-speak in the series. How do you answer concerns that Junie's grammar is not good for young readers?
A. Honestly, most of the grown-ups I hear from are writing to tell me that Junie B. Jones got their reluctant readers to read. I have drawers full of letters from parents and teachers that are so meaningful to me, I can't bear to part with them. These are adults who understand that fictional literature plays a whole different role in children's lives than a book of grammar or a basic reader.
That having been said, there are always going to be a handful of people who denigrate books that speak in a voice other than their own. I've stopped trying to explain the concept of literature to people like that. Wasted time better spent.
8. What makes you laugh?
My sense of humor is a little bit off-center, I think. In the movies, I usually laugh at parts that no one else seems to think are funny. Then there are movies like Young Frankenstein where I laugh from the opening scene straight through to the end.
Lots of other things make me laugh, as well. My husband and sons make me laugh. My dog. My grandsons. Friends. The absurdities of life. My lopsided cakes. The list goes on . . .
What advice do you have for teachers that are aspiring writers? For kids?
There's nothing revolutionary in my advice, I'm afraid. It's the same old stuff. Write as much and as often as you can. Try different genres to find your niche. Then rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. And-above all-be your own worst critic.
This review is from: Maxie, Rosie, and Earl-Partners in Grime (Geek Chronicles) (No. 1) (Paperback)
Maxie, Rosie and Earl are outcasts. Maxie Zuckerman is a brainiac; so smart that the other kids in his class make fun of him for getting all A's---but his problem could be solved if only the teacher agreed to move him to the front of the class. Rosie Swanson is a snitch; her teacher frequently has to speak to her about her habit of constantly writing notes... To him. She writes notes to him and tattles on everyone in her class. But she has her reasons. After all, her grandfather was a detective, of course... And Earl Wilber is overweight. Plus he's a wimp. And he's the new kid. All three wonderfully individual characters meet in the principal's office---Maxie because he finally got fed up with his classmates bullying him and got a little out of control with the craft supplies, Rosie because she was passing notes to the teacher again, and Earl because he refused to read in front of the class. (He has reasons, too. Last time he tried to it came out horribly wrong.) But, when the principal turns out to be too busy to see them and excuses them from his office until Monday... Their teachers think they're at the office. And the principal thinks they're in class. So they have the perfect chance to escape.
This book is hilarious. Barbara Park is a brilliant writer, humorous and capable of telling a story with genuine realism as a child. Children will relate to this book, to the feeling of being different... And sometimes just needing to get out. It doesn't actually encourage skipping school, by the way. In fact, it sort of even discourages it. Read it! The characters are quirky and funny and real. They could be actual children speaking to you. Also, it's just... Entertaining. There's no other way to put it.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe Geek Chronicels, June 11, 2003
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Maxie, Rosie, and Earl-Partners in Grime (Geek Chronicles) (No. 1) (Paperback)
Three kids in crime. One day three kids Maxie, Earl, and Rosie got in trouble for a little something that they did in homeroom so they got sent to Mr. Shivers office. But Mr. Shivers could't get to them so he said "come back early Monday morning". The secretary Mrs. Trumbull gave them a hall pass. Maxie said "lets leave, sense Mr. Shivers thinks that we are in class and our teachers think that we are still in the office". So they did but it took some brains to leave school. On Saturday they got together and thought about how they were going to tell Mr. Shivers about what they did. One kid said "lets just tell the truth". So early Monday morning they went to the office and Mr. Shivers took them one at a time and he didn't even talk about the dumpster thing so they were all off the hook.
I loved the book because I liked how the author put everything together and how the author only said about two days. I liked how they thought they were going to get in trouble but they didn't.
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