Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You by Barthe DeClements

They're not sure if they want to be treated like children or teenagers, and take a great deal of pride in pulling things over on adults (particularly their parents) when they can.

This is important, not only because it makes the characters believable, but because it is an honest portrayal of the sort of power struggles that kids at this age have with the adults around them. Her sixth graders talk like sixth graders, and act like sixth graders, without ever lapsing into the sort of self consciously good behavior that makes it obvious that they were written by an adult. Marshall), Helen makes the difficult decision to start taking special ed classes in reading-even if it means getting made fun of by her classmates.Īlthough many of the references in the book are more than a little out of date-the students talk about playing Van Halen albums and use Pee Chee notebooks-DeClements does an excellent job of creating a relatable pre-teen world. With the sympathetic guidance of some understanding adults (her father, uncle, and new teacher, Mr. Although Helen works for hours after school every day with her mother on her homework, she can't fake her way through reading assignments and tests all year, and soon she's in danger of failing the sixth grade. At the start of the year, she's assigned to the classroom of Mrs.Lobb-'Blob' to those who know her-a teacher with very little tolerance and a lot of rules. She's also known as one of the biggest troublemakers in school. Helen Nichols has a reputation for being one of the best pitchers, and worst readers, in the sixth grade.

Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You by Barthe DeClements