Charlie Joe Jackson's guide to extra credit : Charlie Joe Jackson #2 / Tommy Greenwald ; illustrated by J.P. Coovert.

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Title:

Charlie Joe Jackson's guide to extra credit : Charlie Joe Jackson #2 / Tommy Greenwald ; illustrated by J.P. Coovert.

Author:

Greenwald, Tom, 1962-

Coovert, J. P.

ISBN:

9781250016706

Edition:

1st Square Fish ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Square Fish, 2013.

Physical Description:

265 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.

Series:

Charlie Joe Jackson #2

General Note:

Originally published: New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2012.

Abstract:

Bright but unenthusiastic middle school student Charlie Joe Jackson signs up for the school play in an attempt to get straight As on his last quarter report card in order to avoid having to go to Camp Rituhbukkee over the summer.

Subject Term:

Middle schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Theater -- Juvenile fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Juvenile fiction.

Humorous stories.

Added Author:

Coovert, J. P.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library	Juvenile Fiction Book Paperback	120791002300299	J GRE	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Charlie Joe Jackson, the most reluctant reader ever born, made it his mission in the first book to get through middle school without reading a single book from cover to cover. Now he's back--and trying desperately to get straight As in order to avoid going to academic camp for the summer. To do this, he will have to betray his friend, lose the girl of his dreams, and end up acting in a school play about the inventor of paper towels. Charlie Joe's not exactly the "school play kind of guy," but desperate times call for desperate measures, in Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit by Tommy Greenwald.

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-7-In this followup (2012) to Tom Greenwald's Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading (2011, both Roaring Brook), a poor report card and a reputation for cutting up in school land Charlie Joe in his middle school counselor's office. Things go from bad to worse, causing Ms. Ferrell to recommend that Charlie Joe attend "Camp Rituhbukkee," a summer camp that focuses on academics and reading. Charlie Joe, a self-professed non-reader, is horrified, and he quickly offers a deal. If he gets straight A's for the last quarter of the school year, he won't have to attend "Camp Life-is-suckee." The deal is made and the boy must figure out how to raise his grades. The answer: extra credit. What ensues is a riot of middle-school mayhem, relationship issues, and teacher troubles all rendered hilarious by the author. McLeod Andrews reads with equal parts youthful exuberance and snarky sarcasm. He gets extra credit for turning a fantastic book into an A+ audiobook through his amazing and entertaining cast of character voices. Give this audio (plus the book, with illustrations by J.P. Coovert) to fans of the "Wimpy Kid" series. Even reluctant readers, like Charlie Joe, will be won over by this hilarious take on middle-school life, and will be clamoring for the next title in the series.-Lisa Hubler, Charles F. Brush High School, Lyndhurst, OH (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book Review

Charlie Joe Jackson gets involved in extracurricular activities to improve his grades in Extra Credit. In Summer, he goes to a camp for gifted kids (a.k.a. nerds) and tries to remake the campers in his own image. These second and third installments contain some caricatures, but Charlie Joe's middle-school wise-guy voice is entertaining. Black-and-white drawings add humor. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Charlie Joe Jackson learns that "being a perfect student is just really, really hard." Charlie Joe's parents mean business: He must earn all A's (he negotiates for one B) in his last quarter of school or he's headed to Camp Rituhbukee for summer school. Charlie Joe has spent so much time avoiding schoolwork and causing problems that he now has to spend any free time earning extra credit. Luckily, he has great friends who are willing to help him learn to be a student. He still needs help, so he asks his art, drama and PE teachers for some extra credit. While it's clear no one thinks Charlie Joe has what it takes, these three teachers come up with inventive ways to assist. In art, he poses for the art students (and meets future girlfriend Zoe). In drama, he uses his schmoozing abilities to land the lead role in the school musical. And in PE, he joins student government. But things do not always turn out as planned. Snappy, sarcastic middle-school humor lifts this overlong book, and the spot drawings and occasional very short pithy paragraphs are a pleasant surprise. No middle schooler wants to face a month at summer enrichment camp, but many will enjoy watching Charlie Joe work harder than he has ever worked before to avoid iteven if he fails. (Fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

In his 2011 debut, Charlie Joe Jackson offered his Guide to Not Reading. Now he has got to get his grades up if he wants to avoid the dreaded Camp Rituhbukkee (Camp Read-a-Bookie). But the only way to improve his grades is to try to get some extra credit not easy when you're barely getting credit in some courses. But Charlie Joe gamely poses for his art teacher, wearing a goofy costume; agrees to serve on student council to satisfy its advisor; and tries out for the school play to boost his drama grade. Naturally, all this effort comes with a downside (he doesn't even think about his crush for six straight hours), but there are some surprising pluses as well. Charlie Joe is a fun and funny character (as are the many entries in his handwritten Tip Sheet document), and readers will get a kick out of his evolution and his own shock at the ways he adapts to change. Comic line drawings add to the humor.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist

Excerpts

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit By Tommy Greenwald Square Fish ISBN: 9781250016706 1 Let's go back to the beginning: Report Card Day. 2 You probably already know that books and me don't get along. And I'm not exactly what you'd call the most studious kid in the world. In elementary school, that didn't really matter. I'd make my teachers laugh, and I'd participate in class, and I'd do just enough to get pretty good grades. But everything changed in middle school. All of a sudden, the teachers expected me to actually read all the books and to pay close attention in class. School turned out to be a lot more like school than it used to be. Which is how Report Card Days became my least favorite days of the year. "So what's the plan?" said my buddy, the ridiculously brilliant and unnecessarily hard-working Jake Katz. We were sitting at lunch. He asked me that every Report Card Day, as if I had some grand scheme to leave school in the middle of the day, go to my parents' computer, print out my report card (then delete the e-mail), find the nearest report-card-forgery expert and have him change all my C pluses to A minuses. "I don't have a plan," I answered. Jake looked disappointed. I was pretty famous for my plans. "My grades are definitely up this quarter," chimed in Timmy McGibney, my oldest and most annoying friend. "That's super," I said, "but I don't want to talk about report cards right now." I felt nervous, and I wasn't used to feeling nervous. I could usually get myself out of pretty much any bad situation, but going home to a lousy report card was kind of like going to a scary movie with your friends even though you hate scary movies. There was no way out. I took a big swig of chocolate milk and immediately felt better. Chocolate milk is like that. "Let's talk about something happy," I suggested, "like the fact that this is the last quarter of the year. Summer is right around the corner." Summer was my favorite time of year, by far. No school. No books. No report cards. There was absolutely nothing wrong with summer. Then Hannah Spivero came up to our table and put her arm around Jake Katz, and I immediately felt worse again. Hannah Spivero is like that. (Hannah, for those of you who have been living under a rock, happens to be the girl of my dreams. Only now, those dreams are nightmares, ever since she shocked the entire nation by deciding to like Jake Katz.) Right behind Hannah was Eliza Collins and her adoring gang of followers, who I like to call the Elizettes. Eliza is the prettiest girl in school and has had a crush on me since third grade. The combination of those two things didn't make sense to anyone, especially me. "Did I just hear someone mention summer?" Eliza asked. "What perfect timing! The girls and I have decided to form a Summer Planning Committee." Then she looked right at me. "It's coming up fast, and we need to make sure we have the best summer ever!" Everyone cheered. Eliza was used to people cheering in her presence, so she ignored it. "The first meeting of the committee is this Saturday at my house, and you're all invited," she added. Another cheer. Hannah looked at Jake. "We have plans to go to the mall this Saturday." I'll go to the mall with you , I thought. "Maybe we can go to the mall on Sunday," Jake said. "The Summer Planning Committee sounds fun." I couldn't believe my ears. Passing up alone time with Hannah Spivero went against everything I stood for as a person. "Okay, sure," Hannah said, but I could tell she was a little disappointed. "What's wrong, Charlie Joe?" Eliza asked cheerfully. Since she liked me and I didn't like her back, seeing me unhappy always made her happy. "Charlie Joe is feeling nervous about his report card," Timmy announced. He was another kid who enjoyed my misery. "I am not." Hannah put her hand on my shoulder, probably figuring she could help me forget my troubles and make me feel all warm inside from just the tiniest bit of physical contact. (She was right, but that's beside the point.) "Oh, Charlie Joe, I'm not worried. You'll probably figure out a way to convince everyone that C's are the new A's. I'm sure your parents will be taking you to Disneyland by the time you get through with them." Everyone laughed--it was a perfectly okay joke--but for some reason Timmy decided it was unbelievably hilarious, and instead of laughing he snorted apple juice through his nose and all over my fish sticks. Great. Not only was I going to be nervous the rest of the day, I'd be starving, as well. Timmy looked at the soggy fish sticks. "Are you going to eat those?" he asked. He'd eaten three of them before I could answer. Charlie Joe's Tip #2 YOU CAN'T GO THROUGH LIFE THINKING YOU'LL GET EXTRA CREDIT JUST FOR DOING NORMAL STUFF. There's extra credit ... and then there's just regular credit. Getting regular credit for something just means you've avoided getting in trouble. If you want to actually get rewarded, you have to do more than what's expected. That's where the extra part of extra credit comes from. Here are some things that I used to think would give me extra credit but didn't: 1. Wearing matching socks 2. Turning in homework 3. Not swearing 4. Brushing my teeth 5. Eating salad Text copyright © 2012 by Tommy Greenwald Illustrations copyright © 2012 Roaring Brook Press Excerpted from Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit by Tommy Greenwald All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher. Excerpted from Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit by Tommy Greenwald All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.