The School Story by Andrew Clements

Guest Reviewer - Heddi, Grade 6W

Have you ever felt like you wanted to publish a book? I would like to introduce you to a fiction book called The School Story by Andrew Clements. The main characters in this book are Natalie, Zoe, and Hannah Nelson (Natalie’s mom). Natalie is a 12 year old girl who is a great writer. Her friend Zoe loves the book that Natalie writes. Zoe is Natalie’s best friend and when Zoe read the script, she became a number one fan of Natalie’s book and wanted to get it published. Then Zoe got the brilliant idea that Natalie should change her name so her mom wouldn’t recognize it. Natalie’s mom works at the big children’s book publisher, Shipley Junior Books.

"Cassandra …. Cassandra Day. I’ve always wished my name could be Cassandra. Do you think Cassandra Day is a good name?" Zoe grinned. "It’s a great name!" She stuck out her hand, and when Natalie took it, Zoe pumped it up and down and said, "Cassandra Day. I’m so glad to get to meet such a wonderful author!" I chose this passage because once I wanted to change my name to Grace. In second grade I got teased because "Heddi" sounded like Harry Potter in Korean.
The story takes place in a small city in the U.S. Natalie wants to get her book published by her mom but she doesn’t want to ask anything from her mom.

The reason why I read this book is because I like the book called The Janitor’s Boy by Andrew Clements so I thought this book would be fun too. I wonder what it would it like to be Natalie because usually kids in 5th or 6th grade can’t get an idea like getting a book published. Read this book to figure out what happens after they change their names and if they get the book published.