Mind Games (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "MR. ENNIS SAYS THAT THE INTRODUCTION IS SUPposed to be short, because this is not the interesting part of the project..." (more)
Key Phrases: Mad Science, Waverly Times, Joanna Robles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Six seventh graders find themselves working together on a science-fair project on ESP when they all sign up for an elective called "The Mad Science Club." This novel, written as short entries told in alternating voices, is a collaborative effort submitted to their teacher, complete with hypothesis, research, recorded experiments, and personal commentary. Through the students' narratives, readers learn about their families, problems, and relationships with one another. Club members include identical twins; Claire is in all honors classes, while Kathleen is in special ed. Claire explains, "The first thing I did in this world was to almost kill my sister-." Ji used to be Claire's best friend, but has moved on in middle school causing awkwardness and resentment between them. Marina is a Russian immigrant who has only been in the country one month. Brandon is dealing with his mother's death and firmly believes in ESP as his younger brother foresaw the accident that killed her. Ben, a "science geek," is wrestling with his own demons. His mother left the family, remarried, and now has a new baby. It is his idea to put the group's ESP skills to the test by purchasing a series of lottery tickets. Not only do they win $500, but they also capture first place in the county fair. The book, which includes charts, newspaper clippings, and test data, is a fast-paced and fascinating read. It's safe to predict that it'll be a winner, too.
Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. The students in the science club at Clearview Middle School decide to work on a science fair project involving ESP. Notes, journal entries, and reports tell the stories of the club's six members, giving readers a sense of the students' deepest concerns and the overlapping events in their lives. Among the characters are the brainy, nerdy guy (the type you'd expect to end up in the science club); twins, one in special education and the other on a standard academic track; and the new kid who ends up in the club by mistake. Interspersed with their stories are press clippings and science project notes. By the end of the novel, the students have made connections, but most of these are of the nonpsychic variety. Grunwell's story not only realistically captures the concerns of middle-school students but also presents the characters' stories in an original and imaginative way. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (April 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618176721
• ISBN-13: 978-0618176724
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,098,901 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant school story, May 26, 2003

By	Esme R. Codell "planetesme.com" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book. I am so impressed with the author's prowess, using so many different voices (no easy feat), and so cleverly using a science fair experiment to talk about many important things in the world from a seventh grade point of view. This is a creative and original work and a very fresh voice in children's literature. I am still wiping the tears from my eyes and hoping that, like the kids in this story, the author goes on to win a lot of prizes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MIND GAMES: candy for the intellect, May 2, 2003

By A Customer

MIND GAMES brilliantly juxtaposes the voices of six different seventh graders as they attempt to solve their science premise along with their relationaships with each other.

With precise language, featuring an economy of words, the author deftly moves from one character to the other in this tightly woven novel.

The imaginative format found both inside and outside the book itself add immediately to its charm and originality.

Jeanne Marie Grunwell is master of her material with each sentence of each paragraph on every page. The varied format, including exhibits, adds interest. The characters are neither simple nor stereotypical. Each is an individual with distinct needs to be met. The resolution is gratifying and complete.

Personally, I have rarely been so moved by such excellence in a novel which may be aimed at a middle grade audience, but is profoundly satisfying for the 'older' reader as well.

3.0 out of 5 stars ESP Investigation, June 10, 2007

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

Every middle school student has to sign up for an extra class, called Club. Some clubs are athletic, like basketball, and some are for crafts or for putting together the school's television news program. All of the students in this book, though, chose or got stuck with mad science for their club time. Their club teacher tells them that they will use their club time to come up with a group project that they will be able to enter in the science fair.

Right away there is tension. Brandon doesn't want to be in the science club at all. His grandmother is the school's principal and she thinks this will be better for him than basketball. Marina has recently arrived from Russia and didn't really understand what she was signing up to do. Kathleen, a student with serious learning disabilities, was having a crisis when it was time to choose, and her identical twin Claire was handling the crisis, so they were stuck in the science club by default. Ji joined the club by choice, as did Ben, who is very intense about science and impatient with the rest of his group members.

After some initial conflict, the group settles down to do their project on ESP, attempting to figure out if there is such a thing and, if so, how it works. Through their work together it becomes clear that there is some serious tension between Ji and Claire, who used to be best friends. There has always been tension between Claire and Kathleen, the result of Claire feeling like she constantly has to take care of her sister. Ben and Brandon both have family problems, and Marina is doing all that she can just to follow along with what is going on. Will this group be able to pull it together and come up with a project for the science fair?

I liked having the different points of view of the different characters in this book; it helped me to see the ways in which they all related to each other. I especially liked seeing the relationship between Claire and Kathleen develop and get a little better.

Although I liked having the different points of view, I thought I could have learned a lot more from a different writing format--the science report didn't leave much room for personal comments, even though the characters included them.