Third Grade Angels [Hardcover]

Jerry Spinelli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2012 | Age Range: 7 - 10 years | Lexile Measure: 390L (What's this?)

The long-awaited prequel to the bestseller FOURTH GRADE RATS

George, aka "Suds," has just entered third grade, and he's heard the rhyme about "first grade babies/second grade cats/third grade angels/fourth grade rats," but what does this mean for his school year? It means that his teacher, Mrs. Simms, will hold a competition every month to see which student deserves to be awarded "the halo" - which student is best-behaved, kindest to others, and, in short, perfect. Suds is determined to be the first to earn the halo, but he's finding the challenge of always being good to be more stressful than he had anticipated. Does he have to be good even outside of school? (Does he have to be nice to his annoying little sister?) And if Mrs. Simms doesn't actually see him doing a good deed, does it even count?

A warm, funny return to elementary school from master storyteller Spinelli.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-In keeping with the rhyme, "First grade babies! Second grade cats! Third grade angels! Fourth grade rats!," Suds Morton's new teacher considers each of her students an angel. She has high expectations, and the prize-spending a week as boss angel while wearing a cardboard halo-has Suds and his classmates falling over one another to prove just how angelic they are. Everyone wants to earn the first halo of the year-especially Suds. He picks up trash, holds the door for others, and even treats his little sister kindly. Will Mrs. Simms notice his hard work? This beginning chapter book moves at an enjoyably brisk pace; readers will appreciate the familiar school and home settings, and they'll look forward to meeting the characters again in a forthcoming book. A story kids will relate to, with valuable, down-to-earth messages about character and motives.-Amanda Struckmeyer, Middleton Public Library, Madison, WIα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

Reflecting on a school-yard rhyme, “First grade babies! / Second grade cats! / Third grade angels! / Fourth grade rats!,” Suds happily leaves babies and cats behind to start third grade as an angel. His cheerful teacher explains that her third-graders can earn their halos by doing good deeds. Suds is determined to be the first to win his halo, but the competition is fierce and his anxiety level rises. Just when the outcome seems clear, surprises come from both his classmates and his teacher. Spinelli works in some interesting concepts, such as levels of niceness (positive actions versus cessation of negative actions) and the questionable value of goal-oriented goodness. A prequel to Spinelli’s Fourth Grade Rats (1991), this accessible chapter book features a simply written, first-person narrative and believable, true-to-third-grade characters. Illustrations include plenty of black-and-white pictures (most not seen in final form) and a clever, eye-catching image on the jacket. For discussion, pair this with Claudia Mills’ Perfectly Chelsea (2004), featuring a child who strives for goodness in a religious context. Grades 3-4. --Carolyn Phelan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 7 - 10 years
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (September 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545387728
• ISBN-13: 978-0545387729
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Growing up, Jerry Spinelli was really serious about baseball. He played for the Green Sox Little League team in his hometown of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and dreamed of one day playing for the major leagues, preferably as shortstop for the New York Yankees.

One night during high school, Spinelli watched the football team win an exciting game against one of the best teams in the country. While everyone else rode about town tooting horns in celebration, Spinelli went home and wrote "Goal to Go," a poem about the game's defining moment, a goal-line stand. His father submitted the poem to the Norristown Times-Herald and it was featured in the middle of the sports page a few days later. He then traded in his baseball bat for a pencil, because he knew that he wanted to become a writer.

After graduating from Gettysburg College with an English degree, Spinelli worked full time as a magazine editor. Every day on his lunch hour, he would close his office door and craft novels on yellow magazine copy paper. He wrote four adult novels in 12 years of lunchtime writing, but none of these were accepted for publication. When he submitted a fifth novel about a 13-year-old boy, adult publishers once again rejected his work, but children's publishers embraced it. Spinelli feels that he accidentally became an author of children's books.

Spinelli's hilarious books entertain both children and young adults. Readers see his life in his autobiography Knots in My Yo-Yo String, as well as in his fiction. Crash came out of his desire to include the beloved Penn Relays of his home state of Pennsylvania in a book, while Maniac Magee is set in a fictional town based on his own hometown.

When asked if he does research for his writing, Spinelli says: "The answer is yes and no. No, in the sense that I seldom plow through books at the library to gather material. Yes, in the sense that the first 15 years of my life turned out to be one big research project. I thought I was simply growing up in Norristown, Pennsylvania; looking back now I can see that I was also gathering material that would one day find its way into my books."

On inspiration, the author says: "Ideas come from ordinary, everyday life. And from imagination. And from feelings. And from memories. Memories of dust in my sneakers and humming whitewalls down a hill called Monkey."

Spinelli lives with his wife and fellow writer, Eileen, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. While they write in separate rooms of the house, the couple edits and celebrates one another's work. Their six children have given Jerry Spinelli a plethora of clever material for his writing.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#93 in Books > Teens

#93 in Books > Teens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book for young readers especially boys! September 12, 2012

By Lori Katz

Format:Hardcover

Suds is a boy entering third grade. Mrs. Simms, his teacher, challenges her students to be kind, considerate, hard working and to behave in and out of school and will reward those that abide with a halo. While this charming story focuses on Suds, aka George trying to be the first student to get the halo I enjoyed the relationship between Suds and his mom even more. Loved the fact that he earned his nickname from the enjoyment of relaxing in the tub. Loved the limited but important things the dad had to say and totally loved his mom and her words of wisdom. The writing is perfect for second grade and up and reluctant readers will enjoy the humor, the illustrations and the short chapters.
Readers will enjoy Jerry Spinelli's newest book and will probably search for his Fourth Grade Rats (Third Grade Angels is actually a prequel) to continue reading about Suds. Read as an ebook arc courtesty of Scholastic via Netgalley.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars My Son Loves It January 27, 2013

By Brian Snipes

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

My eight year old son loves to read. We are always looking for good books, not just comics, but reading books for him.
He has read this book four times and he wants more from the author!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Third Grade Angels April 18, 2013

By Anna McCarthy

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love the book and I think kids should read it it was so good I finished in 2 days and I don't finish a book in 2 days