Jake Drake: Teacher's Pet with CD (Chinese-English)

Author: Andrew Clements
Paperback with CD: 224 page(s)
Age Range: 7 - 10
Ontario curriculum: Language - Reading

Book Description:

Mrs. Snavin looked right past all those waving hands. She looked right at me and she smiled and said, "I think I'll have Jake take it." Then Mrs. Snavin said, "but be sure to hurry right back, Jake, because we're going to work on our number-line project, and you have to be my special computer helper, okay?" And I could feel every kid in the class looking at me. They weren't saying anything. They weren't even whispering. But right then, I heard what they were thinking anyway. They were thinking, teacher's pet.

School Library Journal
Jake Drake looks back on the most terrible experience of his third-grade life-the week he was teacher's pet. Readers familiar with the fourth grader will recognize his unintentional progression into the jam. In this case, his helpful suggestion to his computer-illiterate teacher makes him her new star. Within a few hours, he is praised-and worse yet, patted on the head-by his coach, his art teacher, the principal, and even the bus driver. The boy feels the scorn of his schoolmates, and knows he can't survive much longer in the role. He implements a plan to be bad, but it doesn't work; to his credit, he finds it is more difficult than it looks. His second plan-to be direct-is more successful. Jake embodies the average boy who seldom draws attention to himself, but who is quietly observing and tries to do the right thing. He thinks through his dilemmas, and often finds support from his parents and teachers. Avenda-o's expressive pen-and-ink illustrations capture the flavor of the text. With the character building that adults approve of and Jake's realistic voice, this novel is made-to-order for the beginning chapter-book crowd.