Product Description

Patriotism or practical joke?

Harrison, NH -- Ninth-grade student Philip Malloy was suspended from school for singing along to The Star-Spangled Banner in his homeroom, causing what his teacher, Margaret Narwin, called "a disturbance." But was he standing up for his patriotic ideals, only to be squelched by the school system? Was Ms. Narwin simply trying to be a good teacher? Or could it all be just a misunderstanding gone bad -- very bad? What is the truth here? Can it ever be known?

Heroism, hoax, or mistake, what happened at Harrison High changes everything for everyone in ways no one -- least of all Philip -- could have ever predicted.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #210432 in Books
• Published on: 1993-09-01
• Released on: 1993-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 213 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780380719075
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Structured as a series of journal entries, memos, letters and dialogues, this highly original novel emerges as a witty satire of high school politics, revealing how truth can easily become distorted. After Philip Malloy, a clownish, rather unmotivated freshman, is punished for causing a disturbance (humming "The Star Spangled Banner"), facts about the incident become exaggerated until a minor school infraction turns into a national scandal. Philip's parents, several reporters and a neighbor (who happens to be running for the school board) accuse the school of being unpatriotic. Philip gains fame as a martyr for freedom; his homeroom teacher, Miss Narwin, however, faces dismissal from her job. After gleaning the points of view of many characters, readers will side with Miss Narwin and will recognize the hollowness of Philip's eventual victory. It is clear that Avi ( The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle ) is attuned to the modern high school scene. With frankness and remarkable insight, he conveys the flaws of the system while creating a story that is both entertaining and profound. Ages 11-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9-- Ninth grader Philip Malloy finds himself unable to participate on the track team because of his failing grade in English. Convinced the teacher, Margaret Narwin, dislikes him, he concocts a scheme to get transferred from her homeroom: instead of standing "at respectful, silent attention" during the national anthem, Philip hums. Throughout the ensuing disciplinary problems at school, his parents take his side, ignore the fact that he is breaking a school rule, and concentrate on issues of patriotism. The conflict between Philip and his school escalates, and he quickly finds the situation out of his control; local community leaders, as well as the national news media, become involved. At this point, the novel surges forward to a heartbreaking, but totally believable, conclusion. Avi carefully sets forth the events in the story, advancing the plot through conversations between students, Philip's parents, school personnel, and community politicians, while Philip's point of view is revealed through his diary entries, and Margaret Narwin's through letters to her sister. Also enriching the narrative are copies of school memos and newspaper articles, transcripts of speeches delivered, and copies of letters received by both Philip and his teacher; each document provides another perspective on the conflict and illuminates the many themes that beg to be discussed--most notably the irony of lives destroyed because of the misuse of power and the failure of people to communicate. Admirably well crafted and thought provoking. --Ellen Fader, Westport Public Library, CT
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Ninth-grader Philip has never been in trouble, but he's upset because his English grade is keeping him off the track team. Meanwhile, though the rule is ``respectful, silent attention,'' he hums along with the daily playing of the national anthem--a habit ignored by his jocular homeroom teacher. Then he's moved to the homeroom of Miss Narwin, his English teacher- -well-liked because she's fair but rigid, humorless, and out of touch with modern kids. When she tries to enforce the silence rule, Philip responds with offhand rudeness borne of his distress about track plus his chronic tongue-tied style; the ensuing confrontation escalates into a two-day suspension followed by national media attention based on the erroneous belief that Philip has been denied the right to express his patriotism. Skillfully composing his story from school memos, news clips, dialogues, and Philip's diary, Avi shows how well-meaning people can generate misinformation through a combination of interrupting or simply not listening, shaping facts to suit their own goals, letting preconceptions muddy thought, or just lacking the will and the skill to get things straight. The garbled conversations here are all too believable; only one reporter makes an intelligent effort to find out what really happened, and his story is never printed. Nobody wins: Philip transfers to a school that doesn't have track, and Miss Narwin is forced to take leave. Wryly satirical: nothing but the deplorable truth about our increasingly inarticulate, media-driven society. (Fiction. 11+) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

So help you God
Let's say you're a well-known children's author who wants to write a book criticizing the one-sided quick response nature of our media saturated society. And let's say that you'd like to show this nature in the form of a boy and the Star Spangled Banner. Now, there are two ways to go about this. The easy way would be to write a book in which a boy refuses to sing the Star Spangled Banner in class and his silent protestation is blown out of proportion and becomes a major national scandal. There are plenty o' books with this plot, or some mild variation. And while they are all well-intentioned, they're not particularly original. The more difficult method would be the one offered here by Avi. In this book you have a boy who is supposedly punished for singing the national anthem and his self-centered approach to this punishment ruins a whole lotta lives, including his own. Heard that story before? You will.

Philip Malloy is just your typical high school jerk. He goofs around, wants to be on the track team, and generally is as normal a guy as you could wish for. Of course, Phil's not exactly tops in his English class. In a clash of personalities, Philip tries to be lighthearted and silly when in the presence of Miss Narwin. Miss Narwin, on the other hand, is a truly dedicated teacher who tries as hard as she can to get her kids interested and serious in the great works of English literature. When Philip is disruptive and silly, she reacts strongly, trying to reach him. This all comes to a head when Miss Narwin is made Philip's homeroom teacher and asks him to remain silent (as per the school rules) during the daily playing of the Star Spangled Banner. Philip, who cannot try out for the track team due to his poor English grades, ups the ante by singing and continues to badger Miss Narwin until he finally ends up with a suspension. And all of this would remain in the closed sphere of a single public high school, were it not for the fact that the idea of a boy being suspended, "for singing the national anthem", is just the kind of hot topic the pundits love to play with. In the end, no one could predict the insanity that would result from a stupid boy just acting out.

The danger with a book like this is that it would be all too easy to strain credulity. I mean, the idea that America at large would get wrapped up in a debate as to whether or not a boy was "allowed" to sing the national anthem is a bit grandiose. Then again, high school has always been the symbolic battlefield, both in art and life, where real world conflicts are played on. Better still, Avi knows just exactly how to pull the strings on this puppy. Why does Phil's father push him to continue to act out in class? Because Mr. Malloy is being hounded at work and is feeling powerless personally (something he doesn't want Phil to feel). Why does the neighbor of the Malloys take such an interest in this topic? Because he's running for the school board and needs a hot button topic like this one to get elected. For every burst of press this story gets, Avi has a perfectly good reason for it in his back pocket. And I loved the characters in this story and how they reacted. If nothing else, Avi has a wonderful feel for the weaknesses of human beings. His villains are simply the kinds of people who hear the story they want to hear and proceed with willful ignorance, doing everything they can to avoid listening to the other side. I loved that the man running for the school board used Phil's act as a way to say that the school didn't need to receive additional funding for new computers since they weren't even patriotic. Beautiful.

The book is written in an engaging style as well. Part script, part play, the book's like a mature (and remarkably better written) version of "Regarding the Fountain" or (similarly well-written) Walter Dean Myers's, "Monster". It's as if you're reading a collection of transcripts and recorded diary entries meticulously pieced together by an interested unknown party. The result is a book that's as interesting to look through as it is to read.

"Nothing But the Truth" has one last element in its favor. It presents the number one best kicker of a last line ever put in a children or teen novel. Read the book and see if you agree with me. Read the book and see if you disagree with me. For crying out loud, just read the friggin' book. It'll a wonderful piece of subversive literature that every kid should be familiar with. Sweet sedition light.

Non-traditional story shows point-of-view is everything
This book is a story told indirectly, through diary entries, letters, memos, news clips, dialogues, and telegrams. As the reader pieces together these different materials, the story of a controversial episode over the course of several weeks in a high school emerges. Freshman Philip Malloy is struggling in English class and homeroom with his teacher Miss Narwin. Due to a failing grade in her class, he is unable to join the track team, his greatest ambition and likely only route to college. In a fit of unruliness, Philip sings along to the national anthem as it is played over the PA for morning announcements during homeroom. Warned twice over two days about breaking the rule to observe "respectful, silent attention" during the anthem, on the third day Philip willfully pushes Miss Narwin's limits until she sends him to the principal's office where he is promptly suspended. When relaying the day's events to his parents, Philip tells only part of the story, noting that he was suspended for singing the national anthem. Outraged at this supposed affront to a young man's expression of patriotism, a local politician and the media catch wind of the story and spread the story - full of misinformation and factual errors - across the country creating a huge media storm, which eventually results in the end of Miss Narwin's teaching career and similar unfortunate consequences to Philip himself. The story examines the variations a mistruth can go through when filtered through person after person and illustrates how different people can have multiple perceptions and interpretations of the same event. The various types of material offer the reader several points of view and provide insight in to the story that none of the characters alone possess. This dramatic irony gives the reader a feeling of privilege as well as frustration as the events unfold. The resolution of the story is deeply unfair (though true-to-life) and may be unsettling and unsatisfying for many readers. Near the end of the story, the politics of education may be above the heads of some readers or simply dull to others. Some readers will find the non-traditional structure of the story hard to follow and slow to read. For avid readers, this book is a good tool for media literacy instruction, offering insight into how personally damaging misinformation can be and perhaps inspiring healthy skepticism of what they read and hear second-hand.

A Teacher's View: Almost Shakespearean
"Nothing But the Truth" is better than all but a very few of the adult novels I've read lately. I'd recommend it highly to adults (my wife loved it too), and it's well worth teaching to the right age group (roughly grade 9-11).

Avi's approach to character seems almost Shakespearean to high school--teachers, students, administrators, parents, politicians--and shows how their different goals and biases keep them from understanding and the protagonists' minor but significant character flaws lead to grievous consequences that ought to induce fear and pity. (This might be a nice book to pair with "Julius Caesar"--the characters could be generally writes in a workmanlike, clear prose that shouldn't intimidate younger readers.

Based on the other reviews I've read here, and thinking students who are too young (7th grade is too young). (2) Students will need help in discovering that the characters behave the way they do because they see the same incidents in very different ways. All the characters think they're telling "nothing but the truth," but their various "truths" are contradictory. If you can get students to see this, it could be a valuable lesson about why real-life political issues are so difficult to resolve. (3)Students find the ending a let-down, so teachers have to help the students see why a more conventional ending wouldn't have been right for the book.