Product Description

Nick Swansen pretty much knows what it means to be Special Ed.: You can't drive, even if you're sixteen and your parents have two cars; the regular kids in school don't talk to you much; and even if you can memorize every fact about amphibians, it's hard to make sense of all the other stuff swirling in your mind. What he doesn't know is whether being Special Ed. means you shouldn't go to the prom. But since no rule says you can't, Nick decides to ask Shana.

But the prom doesn't turn out at all the way Nick expects it to, and everything bad seems to get all mixed up together: the prom, what Shana does, and the terrible thing that happened to Nick's sister nine years ago. Nick doesn't want to think about any of it, but he begins to realize that unless he makes peace with all the memories that trouble him, they will haunt him forever....

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #173854 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 151 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10 A strong, compassionate story about a student with minimal brain dysfunction. While all 16 year olds have problems, Nick Swansen's are unique: they involve his identity outside the Special Education classroom and coming to terms with the accidental death of his sister, Dianne, seven years earlier. Told from his viewpoint, the story follows the events of several seminal weeks in Nick's maturing. Readers come to identify strongly with him and with Shana, another Special Ed. student who has ``gone up'' to the regular classes. The parents of both students provide a revealing contrast: Nick's are warm and understanding, Shana's stumbling and confused. The brilliance in Wolff's book is that she never preaches: rather, through a series of involving events and through characterizations that are consistently sympathetic, she draws readers into Nick's life. Unlike many books that deal with disabilities, Wolff's story stresses the similarities between Nick and other teens rather than highlighting the differences. Constance A. Mellon, Department of Library & Information Studies, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, N.C.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Probably Still Nick Swansen by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Review By: Mr.Francesco Galardo

This book is about a "Special ed" student who goes through a rough period of time in his life. His name is Nick Swansen and he knows that he is special ed student. One day he decides to ask out a fellow classmate Shana to the prom. The thing is special ed kids don't go to proms. Shana had recently graduated from being in the class with Nick to a regular high school ciriculum. Nick asks out Shana anyways. Nick does a lot to make everything work out for the prom but that night everything went downhill from there. Shana doesn't show up the whole night or even call Nick to let him know she wouldn't make it. Nick started to have bad dreams again of his sister's death nine years ago and doesn't go to school for a few days. Nick was doing a report on amphibians for his end of the year project. After a while, he feels up to talking to Shana again after she stood him up. She puts a few things together on how Nick likes amphibians and knows so much about them. You'll soon see how everything comes together with Nick and he can finally put all his thoughts troubling him to rest.

Some literly elements used in the book were:

Suspense-the book kept you waiting for more and willing to know what will happen next.

Mood-the book really expresses on how charcters feel throughout the story.

Personification-Nick sometimes gives certain human attributes to things that are not human.

Overall I'd say this book was a great book. I liked it because it related a lot on how teens deal with problems today and how some overcome their differences to figure out solutions. There was only one flaw and that was there were intentional spelling and grammar errors that corresponded to Nick's vocabulary. The book isn't in his pint of view. You should read this book because it's easy reading and it's a good book to learn a lot from and relate to a lot of your own experiances.

I would make it assigned reading!
But I'm not a teacher, not yet, only a teaching assistant and in graduate school to get a teaching credential in special ed. A few things have changed in the field since Wolff published this in 1988, but the fundamental truth is there. However, if I were a teacher I would assign this book to struggling readers in a heartbeat. In fact, it'd probably even be more useful for "regular" kids. The cover of my copy reads: "Nick has a problem./ No... problems." How he deals with his problems should be instructive to everybody. Much more instructive than To Kill a Mockingbird, in my opinion.

Realistic portrayal of young adult problems
Provides a very real view of the world associated with special education and how the problems faced by these children are no different then any other adolesent. Only the way to the solution is somewhat different.