Minn and Jake (Bccb Blue Ribbon Fiction Books (Awards)) [Hardcover]

Janet S. Wong (Author), Genevieve Cote (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2003 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Bccb Blue Ribbon Fiction Books (Awards)

A surprising friendship

Do you ever feel like you've somehow lost your true best friend? Minn feels this way. So does Jake. But Minn and Jake have no intention of being friends. Minn's a string bean. Jake's a shrimp. Minn's a girl. Jake's a boy. And in fifth grade, who wants a best friend of the opposite sex? But Minn and Jake are forced together by circumstances, which only strengthen their resistance . . . until Minn takes Jake lizard hunting. There are lots of good ways to choose a friend.

This enchanting free-verse novel, accompanied by expressive, humorous black-and-white drawings, proves that sometimes friendship just happens.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-Minn, the lonely young narrator who has just lost her best friend asks, "Do you ever feel this way?" establishing a connection to readers on the first page of this short novel. Wong's free-verse writing suits this warm story of unlikely friendship between "odd- pigtailed- and very much alone" Minn and Jake, a newcomer to fifth grade who is short and "has a new spiky haircut/-that makes him look/like a baby crow." The connection for them is lizard catching, an after-school activity unique to their community of Santa Brunella. Minn is good at it, Jake is terrified of lizards. The plot twists through the few emotional tight spots successfully: Minn's determination not to "waste her time/on that city boy Jake," and, in turn, Jake's rejection of Minn when he bluntly hangs up on her. Just in time, the story develops tension through the class bullies, Vik and Henry, who make Jake's life miserable, tormenting him about his fears. Ultimately, however, Jake proves his mettle. Cote's whimsical, spare black-and-white sketches are reminiscent of drawings that might be found in a fifth-grade student's notebook and work well with this story.
Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. Chapters written in free verse make up this gentle, funny novel about "true best" friendship and the pain of sticking out and being different. Minn is the tallest kid in her class, and when her best friend, Sabrina, seems to desert her, Minn feels "pigtailed / and lizardy / and alone." Then small newcomer Jake comes to school. "How can a fifth-grader / be so short?" the class wonders. At first Minn, who lives to watch lizards and roam in the woods, dismisses Jake as a "city boy / slowest runner / laziest napper / and a good-for-nothing lizard catcher." But gradually the two form a fierce, unlikely friendship. Wong writes with kid-friendly humor (Minn's dad once caught cockroaches with barbeque tongs) and an appealing rhythm that captures, at times, a child's repetitive storytelling style. With simple, distilled details, she also creates full, lovable characters in Minn and Jake--tough, precocious oddballs who find a strong sense of themselves in each other's differences. Cote's appealing, whimsical sketches are a nice touch. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (August 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374349878
• ISBN-13: 978-0374349875
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,565,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Janet S. Wong (www.janetwong.com) is an award-winning author of 23 books for young readers and teens. One of the most distinctive things about her body of work is its variety: from picture books about family (THE TRIP BACK HOME, BUZZ) to poetry books about yoga and driving (TWIST and BEHIND THE WHEEL) to chapter books about friendship (ME AND ROLLY MALOO, MINN AND JAKE) to a "Meet the Author" book about writing (BEFORE IT WRIGGLES AWAY). Her fans span the entire age range, from toddler to adult.

Janet Wong's latest projects are eBooks designed specifically for the Kindle. Janet is particularly excited about eBooks because of their affordability and also because they make poetry easy to find. "Poetry is buried in the 811 section of the library," Janet says, "where you're not likely to stumble on it. But you can type 'poetry' into your Kindle and dozens of titles (with free samples, even) will magically appear." Her first eBook is ONCE UPON A TIGER: New Beginnings for Endangered Animals, which features illustrated poems and nonfiction notes about familiar animals such as the tiger and also unusual creatures such as the axolotl. Her second eBook is a group effort, a forthcoming anthology called POETRY TAG TIME (to be available in April 2011) which she compiled with children's literature professor Sylvia Vardell. It features a connected chain of 30 poems by 30 of the best poets in the world.

When Janet Wong is not writing, speaking at teacher conferences, or sharing writing tips with children in schools, she spends most of her time trying to grow blueberries at her home in Princeton, NJ.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read aloud book! says teaching student, December 2, 2009

By 

Book Worm13 (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minn and Jake (Sunburst Books) (Paperback)

I am reading this book aloud with a student that does not like to read aloud. We just finished chapter 10, and the student is loving the story, as do I. It is a gentle tale of being a 5th grader and feeling awkward and making friends.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Teaching Librarian's Review, January 10, 2009

By 

K. Kuhn - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Minn and Jake (Sunburst Books) (Paperback)

This is a sensitive story about the feelings of growing up ....wanting to be accepted, feeling inadequate because of differences, the importance of friendship, the struggle of coping, and the desire to do the right thing. It is funny in parts because the behavior of the characters is so typical of children of this age. I read it to my fourth graders and they loved the story.

5.0 out of 5 stars Catchy chapter book even for Kindergarten, August 26, 2011

By 

Noel (Kailua) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minn and Jake (Sunburst Books) (Paperback)

My child is entering Kindergarten and we started reading this book for bedtime. She loves this book and asked me to continue reading it each night. Catchy and rhythmic text was fun to read out loud. The story is humorous and engaging with a positive message about differences and feeling out of place.