While You Were Out [Paperback]

Judith Irvin Kuns (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Penelope wishes she were starting fifth grade with her best friend, Tim, who recently died of cancer. When everyone pairs off with friends from last year, Penelope is alone, with only her dad, the new janitor, to keep her company. Dad means well, but he keeps embarrassing her by acting more like a kid than a janitor. To ease her loneliness at school, Penelope begins writing secretly to Tim on "While You Were Out" notes. But when her messages mysteriously begin to be answered, Penelope realizes she’s not alone in missing Tim.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–"Today I started school with my dad instead of my best friend." Penelope Grant, fifth grader in a town so small that the local school has only three classrooms, has recently lost her best friend, Tim, to cancer, and her artistic, restless father is the new janitor. The title refers to those ubiquitous pink message slips, here used by the girl to send notes to Tim. This sweet and accessible story carries the protagonist through the difficult first few days of the school year. It shows her beginning to accept loss and change, and also beginning to see beyond her own narrow perspective. In short, it's a prepubescent coming-of-age novel with some comedy lightening the sorrow. Told in the first person, the story also emphasizes poetry in many ways: Penelope has been to Poetry Therapy (her mother wants her to learn to express her feelings), and she often sees the world as a series of metaphors (her father's "office" at school is compared to a kingdom, with a scepter, a throne, and a drawbridge). While this first novel is not without a few flaws (the father's behavior when he joins the children playing marbles or jumping rope can seem implausible), it is a touching story with an appealing main character and an underlying authenticity.–Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. It's been a rough year for fifth-grader Penelope. Her best friend, Tim, died of cancer during the summer, and her father has landed a job as custodian in her own school. Lonely and embarrassed, Penelope begins using pink "while you were out" messages to write notes to Tim in an effort to keep his memory close. There's just enough sense of Tim to make him feel like more than a plot device, but most of the story centers around Penelope working through the love and mortification she feels, and the bravery that comes with opening up to making new friends. This rambles at times, but Kuns has an evocative way with words, taking ordinary situations and painting nuance into them with his descriptions. Bits of humor lighten a story that tackles some sad issues. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142406287
• ISBN-13: 978-0142406281
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,515,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surviving 5th Grade, October 21, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: While You Were Out (Paperback)

While You Were Out is a great book for kids to read, especially those who have ever lost someone close to them. Can you imagine starting 5th grade without your best friend?
Penelope's best friend dies over the summer because of a type of cancer. Then to make matters worse, Penelope's own dad will be working in her school as the school JANITOR! All of this, plus the fact that she doesn't get to see her mother very often because her mom works at night, starts Penelope off to a rough start in 5th grade. Can she survive 5th grade?
As I read this book, I felt Penelope's sadness and understood her anger. Whether you have ever had someone close to you die or move away, kids of all character will enjoy this book.