Customer Reviews

Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Barthe DeClements has created the most wonderful book for fifth-graders to read. Kids of all ages and grades would appreciate it as well, but I imagine that it is a target for most fifth-graders. There is humor, for sure. Cracks about Elsie Edwards' weight, such as when she's walking with Jenny, Diane, and Sharon, some sixth-grade boys say the bunch is "three flagpoles and a beach ball" and "three asparagus strings and a tomato". Elsie at first has no friends, and is disliked by everyone for stealing lunch money and scrounging at lunch time. But Jenny befriends her, and convinces Diane and Sharon to give her a chance as well. This is a read full of friendship, the real world, and fifth grade. And I declare one thing about the author of this book: Barthe DeClements is a genius!

I have read so many books in my life that I sometimes feel that I have warped my sense of reality. But of all the books I have ever read, and that has to be at least thousands, this is the book I have read the most. I am 21 now, I have been reading in since I was in third grade. But I don't just read it, or remember it as some cheexy book from when I was a kid. Barthe DeClements was a school psychologist for many years, and that comes through in her writing. There's not a character in this book that rings false, I could picture each one of them as someone I knew. All these years later, the story is so familiar to me that I should be tired of it. But I am not. This really is a classic for kids, because everyone dislikes and them relates to Elsie. Elsie, of course, goes on to become the heroine of two more of DeClements novels, "How Do You Lose Those Ninth Grade Blues" and "Seventeen And In-Between". These are also rich novels, and they bring a happy end to characters we've loved forever. But I know everyone else wants another sequel! Start with this incomparable work, and then get to know the rest of DeClements fiction. You'll never forget it, trust me.

Is nothing fair for you in fifth grade?If so,the book Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade is the perfect book for you to read. Another reason to read the book is because it is full of friendship,so for all of you who like friendship books, this is for you.

The story is focused on the life of Elsie Edwards, who goes to a new school and is not welcome there. Elsie is an overweight girl, who is on a diet, but still asks people for food. One day, she starts stealing money, and when the teacher and the principal find out, the classroom door has to be locked. Jennifer, and Diane, are two girls in her class who don't like her. A little later in the book, Jennifer and Diane...Find out when you read the book!

I would recommend this book to forth and fifth graders, because it tells people about being friends, and relates to real life. The reason I really likes this book is because I liked the technique that the author used (of really explaining the characters feelings), and also, I could relate it to one of my friends' life. I read this book in the end of fourth grade, and I knew I was ready to help new people fit in in fifth grade. For all the people who don't like to read, THIS IS FOR YOU!

While I enjoyed this book as a child, some parts made me very uncomfortable when I reviewed it as an adult. Apparently ALL of Elsie's behavioral, family and academic problems stem from the fact that she is fat, which is also a legitimate ground for the other children to hate her on sight (and evidently no-one else in the class is overeweight). I got the impression that the other students were doing nothing wrong by hating her, it was her own fault because she overeats so much, and to top it off she's a thief (in order to buy candy, which is again her fault due to overeating). But there are some positive lessons in the book: Elsie takes responsibility for improving her own situation rather than staying a victim, Jenny is respectful of her parents and kind to her younger brother, the girls are concerned about their grades, and, once they befriend Elsie, they are loyal and thoughtful. I think if this book had been written today and not in 1980 the fat-bashing language would have been toned down (i. e. she was "very overweight" instead of "looked like a circus-freak"). Overall, I'd check it out of the library rather than purchase it if you're interested.

I am absolutely appalled by this book. I read it as a child, and it encouraged my extreme fear of fat-ness. I remember thinking, after reading of this book, "There must be nothing worse in the whole world than being fat." After all, Elsie is labeled as "lazy", "undisciplined", "unworthy", "gross", "a pig", merely because she is a large person. No one in this book begins to accept Elsie for who she is until she loses weight. This book is only another vehicle of the lethal message of our culture that "fat is bad". I say "lethal" because for the past year, I have been in the hospital for the anorexia I developed as a child. I almost died. It's really time we all started asking ourselves "why must the human body be a source of shame?". After all, our body is our greatest earthly possession. It is the container of the human soul.

I'm surprised to know that this book is still in print. I read it in the third grade and loved it. Some things never change as to how we view others making judgements of what we see on the outside. Elsie Edwards was the new student in class. Her weight made the students uncomfortable and disgusted, including Jenny. Jenny was picked to make Elsie feel welcome which she found unfair. An attack of the flu and seeing Elsie in tears made her realize that Elsie wasn't a bad person after all.

Elsie's weight problem was a result of her parents marital discord. Food was given to her for comfort. Her mother, seeing how it affected her put on a stric diet. But Elsie's mother having no patience with Elsie, decides she is better off in a boardng school. Elsie's mother was not attached emotionally to Elsie. She saw her as something standing in her way. Jenny's friendship with Elsie changed not only Jenny, but her two friends Diane and Sharon. Elsie's self-esteem also improved.

The book is a good read. As people, we make hasty judgements towards others not by listening to others and worrying what others are thinking. Rather than going by instinct, we tend to hold back and limit ourselves. Nothing's Fair shows us that friendships don't matter in size and form.

... I'm 23 years old, and I still love this book. It was an ever present staple of my childhood reading library. This book was my first paperbackpurchase, which I bought after I became really obsessed with the book and was denied from taking it out of the library anymore, because it seemed that I -always- ahd it checked out. This book was absoulutly great because it shows how even "big fat theives" need friends too.

When a girl named Elsie Edwards is a new student in Jenny Sawyers 5th grade class, the class makes fun of her (behind her back of course) because of how heavy she is. When some of the class' lunch money starts disappearing, they discover that it was Elsie who's been taking it. After a while, after Elsie, a math whiz, tutors Jenny in math, Jenny befriends Elsie and so does alot of kids. The ending really shocked me when I first read it, and I know you'll be shocked too!

I highly recommend this book to any parent looking for great reading material for their kids. In fact, I was so shocked to see that Amazon carried this title, that I actually placed a copy of it on my OWN Wishlist, so that my children can enjoy it when they've grown

This is one of my favorite children's books. It was the first book that depicted a hostile parent despite feeding and sheltering her children and it was the first book that depicted children's relationships as less than trustworthy. After reading this book, I wished I had the author as MY teacher. I strongly recommend this book. It's better than the sequel but the sequel is worth reading as well. I picked this up in the supermarket because of the Botero-like cover art long before I learned who Botero was. I'm very happy to see that this book is still in print as the issues dealt with in the 1981 book are even more relevant today. Elsie Edwards is given lots of processed foods in lieu of affection and her single parent family uses consumerism and empty purchases as solace. She's fat and her mother has issues.

I also have Part 2 and just got Part 3. The sequels are not as enjoyable as the Nothing's Fair but I wanted to know what happened to Elsie Edwards. She also makes a cameo appearance in I Never Asked You to Understand Me.

The book I read was Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade which is about a girl named Elsie who tries to loose weight. The seting was a real place. The real place is Jenny's house and at school. The characters were believeable or like real people because some people are fat and try to loose weight just like the main character in this book. Yes, the main character was a likeable person because she helped her friend with problems so she wouldn't be sent away. I liked the story and it was exciting because in every chapter Elsie would loose weight or get in trouble. My favorite part of the story was when they took a ride in the back of a man's truck because it made you think the girl's were going to get kidnapped. The main character learned that as long as she was good enough for her mother she wouldn't be sent away. I would recommend this book for a friend because the book always has something exciting in every chapter that does not make you put the book down. If my friend likes this book he or she would also like Fourth Grade is a Jinx.

I read this book and I think it's great!!!! I think there should be more books for kids and teens, especially girls about kids and teens that are overweight because I myself have had almost 15 years experience of being overweight, I will be 15 in April and it's really painful to go through life like this and people that have always been skinny just don't understand me and other people like me, especially because I'm a teenager, people automatically assume that I should be like toothpick thin and I think that if there were more books like this, maybe a few more people would be more understanding, and I just really liked the book a lot!!! I could relate to it, probably 100 percent!!!!! I hope that in the future I will be able to go to the bookstore, and regular stores and find books on the topic of overweight and obese children and teenagers. I also think that there should be self help books for overweight, obese, and morbidly obese children and teenagers.