Book Pull [colloq]: When a library assistant or staff librarian (at Scholastic) pools a list of book requests from writers, editors, etc. and journeys down to the archive to pull them from the archive shelves.
Sometimes life gets away from you. Sometimes, you forget how much you miss something until someone reminds you. Last week I opened a box that held a reprint of Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli. A day later, Morgan suggests that I write a Book Pull. It was meant to be.
The plot: Growing up is hard to do. Just ask Suds. First graders are called babies. Second graders are cats. Third grade, though, was perfect. They were angels. Suds liked being an angel. But that was last year.
This year Suds is a rat and he’s not too happy about it. That is what fourth graders are called: rats. Suds’ best friend Joey loves being a rat and knows all about it. Being a rat means pushing little kids off swings, no lunch boxes, and absolutely no crying allowed! That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to Suds but with Joey getting to be popular, does that mean that Suds has to be a rat too? Or will he just be invisible?
Confession time: I do remember this book, though looking back at the copyright date, it’s possible that I picked it up from something my sister was reading or somehow picked it up later. Regardless, I am really excited that this book has been released again with new artwork. It’s a great book about growing up and peer pressure. Somehow Jerry Spinelli has a way of covering the big important topics without becoming preachy.
Do you remember Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli? Tell us in the comments.
