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    My Life as a Book
    My Life as a Book
    My Life as a Book
    Ebook174 pages1 hour

    My Life as a Book

    By Janet Tashjian and Jake Tashjian

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    About this ebook

    Summer's finally here, and Derek Fallon is looking forward to pelting the UPS truck with water balloons, climbing onto the garage roof, and conducting silly investigations. But when his parents decide to send him to Learning Camp, Derek's dreams of fun come to an end. Ever since he's been labeled a "reluctant reader," his mom has pushed him to read "real" books-something other than his beloved Calvin & Hobbes.

    As Derek forges unexpected friendships and uncovers a family secret involving himself (in diapers! no less), he realizes that adventures and surprises are around the corner, complete with curve balls.

    My Life as a Book is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJul 20, 2010
    ISBN9781429930321
    Author

    Janet Tashjian

    Janet Tashjian is a middle-grade and young adult novelist who’s been writing books for children for over two decades. Her first novel Tru Confessions was made into a critically acclaimed Disney TV movie starring Clara Bryant and Shia LaBeouf. The Gospel According to Larry series is a cult favorite and Fault Line is taught in many middle and high schools. Her bestselling My Life As a Book series is illustrated by her son, Jake. They also collaborated on the Einstein the Class Hamster series. Janet collaborated with fellow Macmillan author Laurie Keller on the chapter book series Marty Frye, Private Eye. Janet currently lives in Los Angeles and made her new home city the setting of the Sticker Girl series, which details the adventures of Martina who overcomes being shy with the help of her magical stickers that come to life.

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    Reviews for My Life as a Book

    4/5

    87 ratings18 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I rate this book 2 stars because it was very very boring. It was about a boy struggling through his summer holiday...... So what? I don't know but in my opinion it is a very boring book.
    • 2/5
      I read this book to my 9-year old son. He enjoyed it and asked immediately for the sequel. It's about a boy named Derek who would rather do almost anything than read a book (especially during the summer). He ends up finding stories everywhere, starting in his own attic. He finds a 10-year old newspaper clipping about a teenage girl who drowned on Martha's Vineyard. Investigating this story leads him to find out things about himself and his past.
    • 4/5
      This was a quick read for me, but I think it would be an interesting read for younger kids who might not enjoy reading as much as I do. Derek is twelve years old, and hates reading and school. When summer comes, he’s excited to have time to relax, do nothing, and goof around. Instead, his teacher assigns required reading, and his parents sign him up for Learning Camp. Derek finds ways to enjoy learning his vocabulary words, and even reads a book and does a book report for the next school year. This book is fiction, but has great ideas on how to get kids (I don’t want to say it’s just for boys) to enjoy reading and expand their horizons about making friends.
    • 3/5
      Derek is a reluctant reader who really does not want to tackle the assigned summer reading from his teacher, even though his mother bribes him with two chocolate chips per each page read. Instead, he spends his summer intrigued by a story that he discovers in an old newspaper in the attic, an incident that involved him when he was two years old. His technique of sketching the definitions of new vocabulary words may inspire other kids to try the same, and it's a nice touch that he recognizes that stories are a part of our lives (thus the title).
    • 4/5
      Pretty simple. If you like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, then you'll enjoy this book too. It's not as picture reliant or intensive as the Diary series. Instead it has doodles and scribbles of various words or actions within the margins. This is a good intermediate step for someone trying to ween a reader off of the Diary series or for someone desperate for more like it. I like that the doodles help develop the book's vocabulary. Very clever and a quick read.
    • 3/5
      Part mystery, part adventure, part comedy, as a mischievous twelve-year old boy struggles through his summer reading assignments.
    • 4/5
      A reluctant reader discovers the importance of stories. The illustrations, layout, and narrative of this story are obviously a nod to the Winpy Kid series and fans of those books should enjoy this one.
    • 5/5
      Tashjian, J. (2010) My Life as a Book. New York: Christy Ottaviano Books.211 pages.Appetizer: Derek's mom, dad and teacher are always trying to force him to read and to make vocabulary lists (although, he prefers to create images using stick-figures to represent the words. These decorate the margins of My Life as a Book.) He is less than excited about this. He's okay with reading, he just likes to read comic books and collections of Calvin and Hobbes (Sidenote--the book is dedicated to Calvin and Hobbes author Bill Watterson, how nice of a touch is that?). Why won't adults just understand that?When Derek discovers an old newspaper article about the death of a teenage girl on Martha's Vineyard in the attic, he can't help but be curious as to why his parents have kept it. Especially after his mom refuses to talk about it. All Derek wants to do is have an adventure over the summer, but his best friend, Matt, is set to go to Martha's Vineyard to solve the mystery without him. His mom won't stop bugging Derek about reading his assigned books and she even enrolls him for an educational day camp. How can he have an adventure now?There's a lot of heart to this story, especially as Derek struggles with the way that he is connected to the dead teenage girl. Plus, when he's stuck at an educational day camp with his class know-it-all, Carly, he is forced to get to know her better and discovers that they just might have interests in common and that his parents just might have some good reasons for wanting Derek to excel at school.My Life as a Book is the kind of middle grade novel that teachers absolutely love. It speaks to the experience of being a reluctant reader and uses a lot of humor. As Derek learns to appreciate literature, he's guided by various people through the process of visualizing stories, engaging with the characters emotionally and predicting what will happen. *Does a dance* Yay for a book helping to teach kids how to engage with a story!!!!!!! I'm so excited about the literacy dimensions of this book that, even though I talked about visualization with my undergraduates last week, I created a new class discussion so I could bring up the book with them later today.The doodles in the margins, (done by the author's own teenage son, I believe), will appeal to kids who love to draw and kids who had previously taken a chance on reading for enjoyment and gotten hooked on The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.I'd previously read Tashjian's young adult novel, The Gospel According to Larry and actually found myself enjoying this book a bit more. I think it was my teacher perspective that made the difference.The one aspect of the story that had me going, "hmm," was the fact that Derek is twelve-years-old. He feels much younger, like nine years old, perhaps. Making Greg behave that young actually makes a lot of sense though. Since many reluctant readers will probably refuse to read about characters who are younger than them, by aging Derek to be twelve it means a wider range of kids can try to pick up the book. Plus, even with the pictures of vocabulary words, there is some advanced vocabulary, even with some of the words that aren't defined with pictures. There's also a nice touch about companion animals who help people with physical disabilities, and training and fostering them. Derek's mom is a vet, so he gets to meet a companion monkey. And in his words, "I now have a new and exciting mission: talking my mother into letting us raise a monkey" (p. 138).Dinner Conversation:Page 1, My Life as a Book"The teacher places the reading list squarely in front of me. "I'm afraid you'll have to try and fit in three of these books during all that fun."I like Ms. Williams, but I wouldn't complain if she was kidnapped by crazed bank robbers in need of a getaway car.The reading list--unfortunately--isn't going away either. I stare at it and wonder what I've gotten myself into. One of the books is about a kid and his dog over summer vacation and all the exciting things they do together and the lessons the boy learns.I have a dog and--trust me--that stuff only happens in books." (pp. 8-9)"I still would rather be home, but I suppose there are worse things than doing sports all summer. I tell her I'll look through some camp Web sites and find a good one tonight.She shakes her head."Skateboard camp?" I ask."Not this time.""Rock climbing camp?""No.""Karate camp?""No again."I suddenly fear for my life."You have too much time on your hands," she says. "You're going to Learning Camp." (p. 63)
    • 4/5
      Good. Derek hates to read but has three books to read over summer vacation. His veterinarian mom and artist dad are supportive but Derek is a handful. There is a mystery woven with the humor and challenges of life for the main character.
    • 4/5
      A quick, fun read. I would definitely recommend this book to elementary school students who are reluctant readers. The vocabulary illustrations in the margins are cute, but sometimes distracting. The plot was not incredibly deep, but it was entertaining enough.
    • 4/5
      Fun and fast paced with enough interest, humanity and humor to keep going.
    • 5/5
      Grade 4-7th Twelve year old Derek is a reluctant reader and can't believe he has to read 3 books during the summer. Active is a key word to describe Derek and his actions push his parents to send him to Learning Camp. In the course of the summer, Dereck discovers an old newspaper article about a drowning on Martha vineyard and curiosity has him wondering why his mother saved this article. Good tips on helping reluctant readers and great drawings in the margin!! This will be a book I recommend for summer reading
    • 4/5
      Easy read about 12 year old that discovers he was saved by a young women who died while rescuring him.
    • 5/5
      As a Language ARts and Reading teacher, my number one goal has always been to get students who think they don't like to read, to discover they do like to read. Often it is because they have no say in what they read. Other times it is because it is too difficult for them.Derek is like this, he likes to read but not what others think he should read. He has been given a summer reading assignment. He is doing everything he can to avoid it. He stumbles across an old trunk in the attic with a newspaper article about a girl drowning at Martha's Vineyard. When he asks his mom about it she brushes the topic aside. Derek won't let it go until he finds out the absolute truth. Along the way to the truth he learns some tricks that will help him along the path to reading. I loved the way the book was set up and the little tips and tricks in there. I know a lot of reluctant readers who will really enjoy this book.
    • 4/5
      Dubbed a "reluctant reader" by his teacher, twelve-year-old Derek spends summer vacation learning important lessons even though he does not complete his summer reading list.
    • 4/5
      I admit, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book but the title captured my interest right away (surprise, surprise!). In fact I really loved this book! The drawings on the side of the text remind me of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid and I could see definitely capturing the interest of young boys (and girls).
    • 5/5
      Summer has arrived and the narrator, Derek, is pumped. He would exhaust me if he were my son because he gets into all sorts of wild mischief, which annoy his parents but they manage to take it all in stride. However, after he brings a monkey home from his mother's veterinary clinic and lets it run wild in the house with their family dog, they decide to put him into Learning Camp. One theme of the book is his attempt to read, or avoid reading, his summer reading book. He gets a few good tips for reading from his pretty cool camp counselor. Another theme is his search for why there is a mysterious newspaper article in the attic about a college girl's drowning ten years ago across the country in Martha's Vineyard. His mother acts strangely when he asks about it, piquing his interest. The voice has a nice breezy quality to it and kids will enjoy his hi jinks. Some good lessons are learned by the end but they aren't presented in a heavy-handed way. Another plus are the line drawings in the margins, which are his depictions of his vocabulary words. These are actually drawn by the author's 15-year-old son and do a fantastic job of conveying the meanings of the words with a few simple lines.
    • 5/5
      "My Life as a Book" dispells the rumour that books are not being written for boys. Janet and Jake Tashjian did a great job of writing and drawing a book that pre-teen boys will enjoy. The story is about a twelve-year-old boy with a summer vacation that is not at all what he planned. During those three months, he made a new friend, solved an old mystery, and helped his Dad up-date his job skills. Not bad for a boy whose imagination always gets him in trouble. Buy this book for every boy you know.I received a free copy of this book to review.

    Book preview

    My Life as a Book - Janet Tashjian

    Help!

    I DON’T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK!

    Ever since my teacher said I was a reluctant reader, I spend every waking minute avoiding my mother and her latest idea of how I should use my time. WASTE my time is more like it.

    The librarian said you’d love this book. Mom vaults over a basket of laundry, but I’m too fast for her. I dive out my bedroom window onto the roof of the garage. One chocolate chip per page, she calls.

    That’s the old rate. My price has gone up. As soon as my mother starts to climb out after me, I hoist myself through the open attic window. A few minutes later, I hear her at the bottom of the attic stairs.

    Two chocolate chips per page, but that’s as high as I’ll go, Derek.

    While my mother tries to bribe me down from the attic with chocolate, I rummage through the cardboard boxes to see if there’s a stick I can use to shoot my way out. Instead, I find a stack of letters my father wrote to my mother when they were dating—yuck—and some old newspapers. When I open one of them up, the headline reads LOCAL GIRL FOUND DEAD ON BEACH. The newspaper is from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and dated ten years ago. (I have to do the math in the dust with my finger.)

    I open the attic trapdoor and hang down by my feet. I’m facing my mother upside down, like Peter Parker and Mary Jane in the first Spider-Man movie, except we don’t kiss—OBVIOUSLY. I ask Mom about a dead seventeen-year-old girl on an island we’ve never been to, but she doesn’t know what I’m talking about. So I toss down the newspaper. When she picks it up, her expression changes.

    This has nothing to do with you, she says.

    No kidding, I answer. I just want to know why we have it.

    She yanks me down by the waistband of my jeans and catches me before I hit the floor.

    Instead of making up a story, you’re going to read one. She tucks the newspaper article into her back pocket, then shoves the library book into my hands.

    The thing is, I like to read. If everyone just left me alone with Calvin, Hobbes, Garfield, Bucky, and Satchel, I could read all day. But forcing a kid to do something as private as reading? My teacher, my mother, and the reading tutor—a nice woman named SATAN!—came up with a new reading system for me this year. They had me keep a list of all the vocabulary words I didn’t know. Because I like to draw—my father is a professional illustrator—I took their idea and made it my own. So instead of writing the vocabulary words, now I draw them. Anything to get out of reading.

    My parents insist I use this system all the time, so I usually pretend I’m a spy being tortured by Super Evildoers who force me to practice active reading or be killed by a foreign assassin. But if everyone thinks I’m spending my summer doing this, they are WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

    If my life were a book, I’d have my own cool adventures instead of reading about someone else’s. If I were the main character in an exciting story rather than some kid who has to sit around and READ all day, I’d spend the summer trying to find out how that girl in the newspaper ended up dead.

    Torture in the Classroom

    The next morning Ms. Williams picks up where my mother left off. She passes out the summer reading list, wearing a demented smile and acting as if she’s tossing out free candy. I pretend to smash my head on my desk.

    Ms. Williams ignores me. You’ll read three books from this list and write a report on one of them. The way our principal shifted assignments next year, I’m happy to say, I’ll be your teacher again in September.

    I swear I’m not a troublemaker, but it’s like an alien life-form has landed in the classroom wielding assault weapons in each hand. SOMEBODY HAS TO STOP THE MADNESS!

    Are you saying we have you again next year and we have a report due on the first day of school? I ask. "That’s reading and writing homework! For the summer! It’s just not doable on my schedule."

    My friend Matt thinks this is funny, but I know he’ll enjoy the show from the sidelines without backing me up.

    The teacher’s voice has that same weary tone as my mother’s. Please tell us about all these summer activities—I can’t wait to hear.

    That’s the whole thing, I say. You can’t plan when you’re going to pelt the UPS truck with water balloons or when you’ll dig up worms and put them in Mr. Parker’s mail slot or when you’ll dip your action figures in paint and flick them at your friend with a lacrosse stick until you’re both covered in painty stripes. Summer’s like a pajama-and-cereal day—if you try to plan it out ahead of time, you wreck it.

    Matt waves his fist in the air as if he’s the one giving Ms. Williams a hard time. The teacher places the reading list squarely in front of me. I’m afraid you’ll have to try and fit in three of these books during all that fun.

    I like Ms. Williams, but I wouldn’t complain if she was kidnapped by crazed bank robbers in need of a getaway car.

    The reading list—unfortunately—isn’t going anywhere either. I stare at it and wonder what I’ve gotten myself into. One of the books is about a kid and his dog over summer vacation and all the exciting things they do together and the lessons the boy

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