Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1182686 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-14
• Released on: 2005-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7–George Clark would be the first to tell you that he is gifted. He is about the smartest eighth grader in his school and has science-fair ribbons to prove it. For someone so smart, though, his social skills leave much to be desired. Most of the time he is protected from bullies he annoys with his mouthiness since his father is the school principal. Now, however, he is going on a class trip without his dad. The journey to the camp is relatively uneventful; even the football team isn't picking on him for a change. George thinks that just maybe the guys are coming around. They talk him into the game of smearing mustard all over the teacher chaperone; however, George gets set up big time and has to do chores for punishment. To retaliate, he locks the Bruise Brothers in an unused bunker–then he's glad to be around the teachers. The story takes a hard-to-believe turn when the campers must evacuate due to a hurricane warning, the abruptness of which, in light of recent events, stretches the imagination a bit. No one knew about the storm before the trip? In the chaos of leaving, George is attacked and left behind. He finds shelter and, in the storm, finds one of his tormentors severely injured. George helps him and, in the process, has a change in attitude. No longer lonely and dorky, he tutors the football team and runs track. Overall, the story is a light read with an obvious moral.–Diana Pierce, Running Brushy Middle School, Cedar Park, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 5-8. Everybody knows a kid like George R. Clark--a gifted student, and well aware of it. Obnoxious. Pompous. It's hard to write a successful book with an unlikable protagonist (especially when it is narrated in his voice), but that's what first-time author Evangelista has done. When his father (the school principal) insists that he go on the eighth-grade camping trip, George worries that his tormenters, known collectively as the Bruise Brothers, will corner him, and he'll have only his best friend, Anita, to protect him. Yet at first Worm (George's nickname) seems to have turned lucky. Do the Bruise Brothers want to be his friends? Well, no. Their kindness is a ruse to make George responsible for a joke that infuriates one of the teacher-chaperones. George determines to fight back, but he has few resources. It takes a hurricane for him to understand who he is, why people loathe him, and what to do about it. Evangelista avoids pitfalls throughout; the characters could easily have been stereotypes, and the hurricane adeus ex machina. The bullies are of a piece, but George's teacher--with whom he unexpectedly bonds and with whom he shares more than a few characteristics--is exceptionally multilayered. And because George is such an individual, other characters seem real juxtaposed against him. Because the description of the hurricane is so carefully crafted, it never seems a canned event; consequently, George's turnaround is believable. Fresh and funny. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Customer Reviews

a gifted story landing you right into crazy teen world
What to think about George? He's the main character who is totally funny, lovable, obnoxious and a definite survivor. His best friend, Anita is such a loyal and unusual friend. This story drops you right back into middle school.... this amazing field trip week is exciting and will also keep you laughing. I love how this author writes and I feel like I've been to Camp Rose. Mr. Zimmerman, the music man is hilarious. My kids all enjoyed this book.... I look forward to George and Anita's high school adventures. And I'm dying to know what trouble George will get himself into, which is bound to happen. Will Anita and George be together? So many of kids books are in the fantasy realm. It's nice to see a story dealing with real life, because so many times truth is stranger than fiction. and we all need to laugh at ourselves!!!!

Interesting
George Clark is a genius who happens to be in the eight grade.Because of his intellect he is constantly being attacked by a group of boys at school called the "the bruise brothers". Because his father is the principal the boys always get into trouble for bothering him. George is the narrator of this book and he begins the story of the eight grade science trip in where his father is not going along and how the "Bruise brothers are finally going to get him. In the book George goes back and forth with whether the "Bruise brothers were actually going to get him, for awhile they even befriended only to find out it was a set up. I felt the author went on to long about the fate of the main character and his nemeisis. Overall it was an okay read could have drawn its conclusion sooner.

Gifted - a MUST read for realistic fiction lovers
This is a fast and exciting read about an adolescent boy who finds himself the victim of bullying just because he's smart and, of course, the school principal's son. The action takes place during an overnight school trip at a beach-front educational camp. Lucky for the "Bruise Brothers" the principal is NOT going along; unlucky for George, the nerdy main characer, he's going alone. In the end an unlikely hero emerges as the story takes an interesting twist. The story moves quickly and is laced with humor and typical "kid" interactions. You will certainly enjoy this read!