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Sonnenblick, Jordan

The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell

224 pp. | Scholastic | February, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-338-64723-5 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-338-64724-2 $10.99
(2) 4-6 Young Jordan hasn't always had the best luck when it comes to teachers, but he's fairly sure his fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Fisher loathes him. His mother gets the same impression during their parent-teacher conference, but things come to a head when Mrs. Fisher slaps him. He transfers to another school on Staten Island, one that is bigger and more diverse--he's not the only Jewish kid in his class--and his new teacher, Miss Tuff, unlocks Jordan's creative potential. A strong reader with a love of comics and music, Jordan discovers magic in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising and aspires to be a writer one day. That day comes sooner than he thinks when Miss Tuff invites him to write and perform skits for the class, and his comedic talent shines bright. There are genuine moments of hilarity throughout ­Sonnenblick's (Notes from the Midnight Driver, rev. 9/06; The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade, rev. 9/17; and others) memoir: pranks with friends, plenty of self-deprecation, and a running pet-snake situation. These are balanced with some pathos as well: health problems, tension between his parents, and big events in the background (the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island, the American Airlines Flight 191 crash, the Iranian Revolution). Sonnenblick's trademark blend of wit and sensitivity mines even the darker elements for humor and imbues this memoir with a sense of hope and optimism.
Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

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