Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush? [Mass Market Paperback]

Jerry Spinelli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1986

Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush? Sibling rivalry at its finest! Whether it's on the hockey ice, at school, or at home, Greg and Megin just can't seem to get along. She calls him Grosso, he calls her Megamouth. They battle with donuts, cockroaches, and hair. Will it take a tragedy for them to realize how much they actually care for each other?

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Feuding siblings take turns narrating this snappy account of the woes and joys of junior high. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (March 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440994853
• ISBN-13: 978-0440994855
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,024,717 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Cobra vs. The Mongoose, July 15, 2006

By 

M. Keogh (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush? (Paperback)

Growing up in a family with five kids, I am very familiar with the topic of sibling rivalry- the constant squabbles, the nasty name-calling, and the occasional all-out brawl. However, the occasional fights between my siblings seem minor when compared to the non-stop warfare between the brother and sister characters in Jerry Spinelli's "Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush?"

"Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush?" details the lives of two suburban Pennsylvannian middle-schoolers: ninth grader, Greg Tofer, and his seventh grader sister, Megin. Spinelli gives each character a viewpoint with alternating chapters to allow Greg and Megin to discuss their lives. Greg's life revolves mainly around girls- his desire to impress his crush, Jennifer Wade, with a body toned and tanned by a summer of weightlifting and healthy eating, and his relationship with a much more available girl, Sara Bellamy. Greg also details his friendships with immature loudmouth, Valducci, and fourteen years old going on thirty, Poff. On the other hand, Megin's chapters present her as a hardnosed tomboy- whose life revolves around hockey, donuts, and a friendship with a lonely old woman. Megin has friends her age too- flighty chattermouth, Sue Ann, and the "exotic" Californian, Zoe.

However, the majority of the book deals with how much Greg and Megin literally hate one another. They battle over EVERYTHING and there is not one tactic they won't resort to in order to embarrass and annoy the other such as sticking a hair in a toothbrush. They won't even acknowledge each other's names- to Gregg, Megin is "Megamouth" and he's "Grosso" to her. They even use their four year old brother, Toddie, as an instrument in their warfare with each vying for the affections of the little boy. Oh, they also resort to violence against one another on occasion. Their good-hearted, jolly father and tired mother try to reconcile the two, but it seems hopeless because as Megin puts it the two of them are like a cobra and a mongoose- "natural enemies." However, events will prove that Greg and Megin do need each other.

Jerry Spinelli writes in an extremely humorous style which captures the emotional upheavals of the average middle-schooler so it was surprising to discover that he's a grandfather! In fact, "Who Put that Hair in My Toothbrush?" was first published over twenty years ago and it's age shows in spots- record players, leg warmers, Wayne Gretsky as an Edmonton Oiler, ect. However, it still captures the subject of sibling rivalry fairly well- although Spinelli at times paints the picture a little broadly and the characters little too unlikeable (Megin in particular can come across as an appallingly spoiled brat!) Overall, though, this is fairly amusing story and will keep one entertained.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will read this book over and over!, December 31, 2002

By 

Deanna L. Skultety (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush? (Paperback)

When I read this book, I found out that I couldn't put it down for several days! I know that you will love this book! It is about Megan and Greg (siblings) that have troubles with each other and their family. The chapters are written by Megan and Greg (they switch off every chapter). I didn't want this book to end!!!! I wanted it to keep going forever! Overall, you should read this book!

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read for teenagers, October 21, 2001

By 

"dude200_az" (Mesa, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush? (Paperback)

You always go through a book and in the end you think, "what would it of been like if the book was writen from a different character's point of view?" Well this book does both. You will read a chapter or 2 from the brother's point of view and then read from the sister's point of view for another chapter or 2! A great story with love, friendship, and the relationship between a brother and sister. I could relate to this book easly, except there isn't ice in Arizona. Surprise after surprise, you can't put this book down with out wondering what will happen next. All teenagers in Middle School or Jr. High must read this book.