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1 of 1 copy available
When he learns that he is going to spend the fifth grade in the old high school–where his father works as a janitor–he dreads the start of school. He manages to get through a month without kids catching on. But, then comes the day when a classmate loses his lunch all over the floor. John the janitor is called in to clean up, and he does the unthinkable–he turns to Jack and says, “Hi son.”
Jack performs an act of revenge and gets himself into a sticky situation. His punishment is to assist the janitor after school for three weeks. The work is tedious, not to mention humiliating. But there is one perk–janitors have access keys, keys to secret places….
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 21, 2009 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780739372180
- File size: 81275 KB
- Duration: 02:49:19
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- ATOS Level: 5.4
- Lexile® Measure: 770
- Interest Level: 4-8(MG)
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
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Reviews
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Can you imagine the supreme embarassment of a fifth-grader who finds himself going to school in the building where his father is custodian? This is Jack Rankin's situation when construction forces a temporary move of his school. The tension between keeping his identity secret and initiating a prank to make the custodian's life miserable leads to an amusing and poignant adventure. It also leads Jack to a new appreciation of his father. B.D. Wong brings Andrew Clements's characters to life. The tone of the all-knowing assistant principal, the taunts of the students, the patience of Helen Rankin, and the quiet determination of John Rankin are distinctly and sincerely presented. And Jack! His heightened sense of smell, his love of watermelon Bubblicious, and his new views of his dad are vibrant in Wong's presentation. The modulation of his voice and reading speed create a spectacular effect. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine -
August 20, 2001
In a starred review, PW
said that Clements "effectively draws a parallel" between Jack getting to know his janitor father, John, and John's relationship with his own father. "The author's uncanny ability to capture the fragile transformation from child to adolescent and its impact on family relationships informs every aspect of the novel." Ages 8-12. -
Starred review from May 1, 2000
As he did in Frindle and The Landry News, Clements here puts an intelligent and credible fifth-grader at the center of a memorable novel. As the book opens, Jack, after much careful planning, is executing the "perfect crime": he assembles the biggest, stickiest wad of gum imaginable and affixes it to the desk in the back row of the music room. Why? The novel then flashes back to the moment when Jack's father, John, the head janitor, comes into his classroom to clean up vomit and calls Jack "son." At that point, "Jack felt like a giant letter had been branded on his forehead--L, for Loser." When Jack gets caught and the vice principal assigns him to three weeks' duty of scraping gum from school property after school, Jack decides, "There was only one person to blame for the whole mess.... Thanks again, Dad." Clements slowly builds an even, affecting narrative to reveal how Jack comes to better know and appreciate John, effectively drawing a parallel between this father-son relationship and John's relationship with his own father. The author adds a mystery to the mix when the boy discovers keys in the janitor's closet, which unlock literal doors to his understanding of his father. The author's uncanny ability to capture the fragile transformation from child to adolescent and its impact on family relationships informs every aspect of the novel. Ages 8-12.
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