The Schernoff Discoveries (Hardcover)

by Gary Paulsen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Two junior high boys lose their "uncool" status when they kiss girls and foil some football team thugs in this comedy set in the 1950s. "Joyfully unconventional thinking and quirky writing," said PW. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8. A slapstick novel about friendship set in Minnesota. The book includes autobiographical elements from Paulsen's own life (alcoholic parents, a stint in the army, running the Iditarod). Both the first-person narrator and his best (and only) friend, Harold Schernoff, are 14-year-old social outcasts. Harold also is a science whiz, complete with slide rule, who devises theories to solve all sorts of problems, from dating to dealing with bullies and learning to ski. The chapter on his solutions to first-date awkwardness is hilarious. Perhaps the best chapter is the one in which the boys, although underage, buy their very first car and drive it for a glorious eight miles before the engine explodes. Paulsen captures adolescent feelings perfectly; indeed, the novel becomes a survival story with a twist?survival of adolescence. Asides are interjected parenthetically comparing then and now. An afterword lets readers know what happens to the characters so memorably drawn in the story. Simplicity of style, humor, and great characterization make this another winner from a popular author.?Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland,
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; 1St Edition edition (May 12, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385321945
• ISBN-13: 978-0385321945
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,412,996 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious Harry, March 12, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Schernoff Discoveries (Paperback)

The Schernoff Discoveries is a quick moving, funny book about friendship. The story takes place in Minnesota, in two small towns called Hilard and Peat roughly 10 years ago. Gary tells the story about different hilarious challenges two good friends faced at fourteen years of age and what became of them.
I like The Schernoff Discoveries because it is about what happens in school and includes important issues like friendship and dealing with peer pressure. The main characters are Harold and Gary. They are two kids from different sides of the tracks. Harold is smart and daring; Gary is cautious and not so smart. One good example of Harold being daring and Gary being cautious, Harold decided that they needed to go skiing, because girls liked skiers. Harold read in a book on how, even though Gary was against this idea, he went along anyways. They should have listened to Gary. They enjoy school and like girls a lot. They figured out a way to change their schedules so that they would be the only boys in the Home Economics classroom full of girls. This worked for them because they could get to know the girls without competition or insults from other boys. On the downside, the boys were picked on for being the only boys in the room, especially by the football team. With the help of the Home Economics class, the girls and Harold were able to get even with the football team. They enjoy each other's friendship and play jokes on each other, even though others around them make fun of them calling them "geeks" and "nerds".
The story is very funny because during the story Gary talks about things he and Harold have done in the past. Gary is the one telling the story because Harold is the one who is always coming up with ideas for new ways to make money. Harold decided one day that they needed a car. It didn't matter that they weren't old enough to drive. Harold discovered a way for them to make a lot of money at a golf course, which they later used the money to buy the perfect car for a fourteen year old. All through the story Harold helps Gary with bullies and school by playing tricks on the bullies. Gary looks up to Harold because he is smarter than Gary. Gary comments, "Harold is good at everything, except fishing." Harold would try anything he had never tried before, but he would visit the library first. He had never tried fishing and decided he wanted to. He figured that Gary could teach him. Harold came equipped for a major fishing tournament; Gary came with string, hook and worms. This turned into a learning experience; Harold was able to hook everything, except a fish.
I would recommend this book to 6th and 7th graders because it is more at their reading level. Kids hate reading long books, so they will enjoy this quick paced, funny, short book.
This book showed how two friends could overcome bullying and has fun doing it. I like the way the story is being told in the present and the past. This book helps teenagers to relate with the characters. The things that Harold and Gary had to deal with are what so many kids these days deal with. This story shows kids that, you have to keep your head up and not give into peer pressure. Don't let anyone bully you, but most of all don't be a bully to anyone else. Most of all, that a true friend is a good friend.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Schernoff Discoveries, December 11, 2000

By	Alex Taylor (New York, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Schernoff Discoveries (Paperback)

The book, "The Schernoff Discoveries" by Gary Paulsen was very funny! It tells of Harold, a 14-year-old genius and social outcast, and his friend. Harold has an answer to every problem, from dating, to sports like skiing and fishing, to dealing with school bullies or making money. Harold finds a way to poison the entire football team, get the girls and buy a car while underage. Read on to find out more of Harold's embarassing, yet hilarious stories.

3.0 out of 5 stars Simple Story of Friendship, July 3, 2007

By	A. Luciano (Lowell, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Schernoff Discoveries (Paperback)

Harold Schernoff is a fourteen-year-old genius and outcast. He only has one friend, the narrator of this book and fellow outcast. Together these two teenagers investigate the world around them. Harold tries his hand at electricity and nearly electrocutes himself. The two boys set pins at a bowling alley, retrieve golf balls for money and try to learn to ski--most adventures leading to some sort of disaster.

The most important things in the lives of these two teens, though, are avoiding the bullies that plague their lives and trying to get close to the girls in their class who never seem to want to talk to them.

This is an entertaining story of being young and awkward, and of a tight friendship that helps to make the lives of these two teenagers more bearable.

I liked the lighthearted nature of this book. Everything was presented in a way that made it amusing rather than sad, as it could have been. I also liked that in some ways Harold and the narrator were able to get their revenge and to eventually get close to the girls they liked.

However, this book was pretty simplistic and seems to have been written for an audience much younger than the ages of the main characters. I don't think it would keep the attention of a middle-schooler.