Stanford Wong Flunks Big-time [Hardcover]

Lisa Yee (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Stanford Wong is in big trouble--or as he would spell it, "trubble"--in this laugh-out-loud companion to the award-winning MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS.

Stanford Wong is having a bad summer. If he flunks his summer-school English class, he won't pass sixth grade. If that happens, he won't start on the A-team. If *that* happens, his friends will abandon him and Emily Ebers won't like him anymore. And if THAT happens, his life will be over. Then his parents are fighting, his grandmother Yin-Yin hates her new nursing home, he's being "tutored" by the world's biggest nerdball Millicent Min--and he's not sure his ballpoint "Emily" tattoo is ever going to wash off.

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7–A companion volume to Millicent Min, Girl Genius (Scholastic, 2003). From birth, when his father named him for his alma mater, great things have been expected from Stanford Wong. When his lack of interest in academics causes him to fail sixth-grade English and lands him in summer school, his star status on his school's basketball team is endangered. It is a summer of turmoil and family tension. Stanford's father is working longer and longer hours to try for a promotion, and a host of other changes are occurring. Stanford must come to grips with missing out on basketball camp, grit his teeth through tutoring sessions with Millicent the genius, see his beloved grandmother moved to an assisted-living facility, and try to hide his summer-school attendance from his buddies. His observations on his overachieving father and sister can be hilarious, and the loving close-up of his grandmother's dementia is wonderfully drawn. Stanford's days are narrated one by one, so readers are privy to all his musings, from the odor of farts to the rush of a first crush. There's much here for boys to identify with, including Stanford's need for parental approval and his single-minded pursuit of the sport he loves. His growth as a person as the summer unfolds is warmly satisfying. The conclusion has Stanford's workaholic father undergo an unexpected and unsubstantiated change of heart, but kids won't mind the surprise happy ending.–Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. Yee, who won the 2004 Sid Fleischman Humor Award for Millicent Minn, Girl Genius (2003), offers an equally funny sequel, switching viewpoints to Stanford Wong, who, after flunking sixth-grade English, must forgo celebrity basketball camp for summer school and afternoon tutoring with Millicent. During their sessions, the former adversaries grudgingly discover that they have more in common than just their grandmothers, who are best friends, and each helps the other move through messy predicaments grounded in their own embarrassment and lies. Yee weights the lively sparring between her young characters (and Stanford's new crush on Millicent's friend) with Stanford's worries at home: his grandmother, recently placed in a nursing home; his parents'fights; and his remote, hard-to-please father. Young readers will find themselves chortling over comedic scenes, delivered in Stanford's genuine, age-appropriate voice, even as the well-drawn, authentic heartache about family, friends, and integrity reaches directly into their lives. Young sports fans, particularly boys, will appreciate a portrait of a wholly likable underachiever in the classroom who shines on the court. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439622476
• ISBN-13: 978-0439622479
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,405,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa's been a TV writer/producer, written labels for bean cans, and penned a speech for a president of the United States.

Her books include BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY) and BOBBY THE BRAVE (SOMETIMES) and YA novel, ABSOLUTELY MAYBE. All are published by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic.

Other novels include the MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS, SO TOTALLY EMILY EBERS and STANFORD WONG FLUNKS BIG-TIME. Plus the American Girl books, GOOD LUCK, IVY, ALOHA KANANI and GOOD JOB, KANANI.

WARP SPEED, the Stanford Wong spin-off about a Star Trek geek who gets beat up everyday, debuted on March 1, 2011.

Lisa has been named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start, Thurber House Children's Writer-in-Resident, USA TODAY Critics Pick, and more. Help Lisa procrastinate at her Live Journal blog http://lisayee.livejournal.com or her myspace www.myspace.com/lisayeeblog. Or or visit her website http://lisayee.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stanford Wong Gets an A, November 7, 2005

By 

Debra Garfinkle "author of books for teens an... (Orange County, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stanford Wong Flunks Big-time (Hardcover)

This is a really fun, fast-paced, moving novel about Stanford Wong's summer. Instead of going to basketball camp like he had planned, his parents make him attend summer school. By the end of the book, Stanford opens up his mind and heart to different types of friends, the joy of reading, and a strong belief in himself.

The book is filled with humor and poignancy and wonderful characters such as Stanford's dim sum-obsessed grandmother, his silent best friend, and the nerdy genius Millicent Min. This book is a joy to read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stanford's Story!, February 13, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Stanford Wong Flunks Big-time (Hardcover)

Which of the following summer activities does not fit with the other three?
a) Hanging with your best friends
b) Impressing the new girl
c) Attending summer school and being tutored by a geek
d) Taking part in a basketball camp coached by your favorite NBA player

The obvious answer is c, right? Well, Stanford thought the same thing, but he was forced to attend Mr. Glick's summer school class because Stanford flunked his class earlier in the year. He even had to be tutored by Millicent Min, a genius/nerd in order to get a better grade so he could be the only sixth grade player on the basketball A-team. Unfortunately, that is not his only problem!

In Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time by Lisa Yee, Stanford is a normal seventh grade boy, but he is an "academic underachiever," according to his father. That doesn't bother Stanford, of course, because he has a one track mind of basketball, basketball, and more basketball. Stanford's ever feuding parents cancels his camp with the amazing Alan Scott and hires him a genius to enhance his intellectual ability so that he can pass and live up to his perfect older sister, Sarah. Stanford is in complete disbelief because he hates school, but, with the help of Millicent, Stanford becomes a tiny little bit more interested in grades and a lot more interested in Millicent's best friend, Emily. In addition, Stanford's parents have placed his grandma and friend, Yin-Yin in an assisted living home. Finally, Stanford's friends, The Roadrunners, are getting suspicious of his daytime whereabouts. Summer is supposed to be fun, right? Wrong!

This book is not exactly a slam dunk, but it makes the grade. There is not one huge plot, but rather a collection of many problems. I liked how the book was written in first person journal format. It perplexed me, although, how Stanford writes awful in school, but perfect in his journal. I wish that the author incorporated more surprising twists and turns into the text, because I felt the story was somewhat predictable, which made it boring at times. On the positive side, Stanford, Millicent, Emily, and the other characters were often hilarious and conveyed the personalities of seventh graders well. Lisa Yee wrote a book from Millicent's view entitled Millicent Min, Girl Genius before portraying Stanford's outlook, but it does not need to be read prior to this book. I would recommend this book to all middle school students, especially for kids who do not normally enjoy reading, because they will relate easily to Stanford.

Overall, Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time is a worthwhile read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yip-Yee! Lisa Yee Does It Again!, October 16, 2005

By 

K. J. Defatte "Cocoskeeper" (WI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stanford Wong Flunks Big-time (Hardcover)

Lisa Yee's debut middle grade novel, Millicent Min, Girl Genius rocked my funny bone! When I heard her sequential novel was soon to be released, I honestly had my doubts. How could she top Millie? Really, Lisa Yee didn't need to outshine her first novel; she needed to maintain that literary glow. And she did. She most certainly did. Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time is the story within Millicent Min, Girl Genius spun around and turned on its head. Now it's Stanford's turn to share his life with us-feelings that range from fear of an impending divorce between his parents, to insecurities with friends, to his very first crush. Lisa Yee brings out the soul, the heart, the mind of what it is to be "boy." Bring on Emily's story, Ms. Yee, I'm ready!