Reviews

Please read these reviews and responses. You can e-mail me to respond to whatever a person says, or write your own.

From Sharon Creech:

When I began to write, I was living in England and I was missing the States. I was also missing my grown children who had just gone off to college there. I wrote Walk Two Moons from the notion of a parent/child separation, and I decided to do it from the child ’s point of view. These were the kinds of things rolling around in

my mind.

"An Interview with Sharon Creech,1995 Newbery Medal Winner,"The Reading Teacher ,February 1996

Walk Two Moons

Name	Response or summary
Danielle	I took a road trip last month to North Carolina. We traveled by car. We went to North Carolina to see my great aunt before she went to the hospital. We passed the time by playing hand clapping games, other games and by just talking. The book was sad but interesting. My favorite part was when Phoebe found out that she had a brother.
Andrew	(Andrew will be away for our chat session. He wanted to feel part of it, so he wrote a long response. Thanks Andrew, for being so conscientious!) 1.The quote judging a man seems to mean to me don't judge someone until you know about them or have experienced what they have. Sometimes people act the way they do because of what they have been through. 2. Sal doesn't want to think about her mother because it might be too painful for her and it may hurt. Maybe she does know what happened but can not face it. I can relate to Sal, in that when you loose someone that you love sometimes you don't want to bring it up because it hurts too much. It seems to me that that's why Sal doesn't talk about it. 3. In the book, Phoebe thinks that Mrs. Cadaver is the murderer because she was carrying that large plastic garbage bag that was really lumpy to the curb. So she assumed or that it could be a dead body. 4. In chapter 12 about the marriage bed. I liked this chapter because of what grump's father and brother did at the wedding. Bringing the bed that he was born in had a special meaning to him and it was kind of like a tradition. I especially liked it when Sadie the dog was included. 5. Sal had a special relationship with her grandparents. She not only went with them on a long journey but she shared her stories and experiences with them and they did the same with her. She told them all about her best friend Phoebe and things that were important. Grandparents have a lot of knowledge and life experiences and I know for me, I have learned a lot from my talks with my grandma and grandpa. They used to tell me things about the war and their life stories that sometimes made me feel sad and other times made me realize that when my grandma was growing up she had a close family. A lot of Sal's experiences were similar to mine. Mrs. Stein I liked this book, the only hard thing that was a little confusing to me was there was so many different things going on at once in the book. I think if I read it again I would get it better. I understood everything but maybe I would pick things up that I missed. I didn't mind that the book was about a girl. My mom always tells me to have an open mind about things. Hi, Mrs. Stein, here is something else I forgot to add. Like Sal took a trip across country with her gram and gramps, I too have taken long road trips with my family. Last year we took a short trip to Montauk and along the way we talked about a lot of different things we stopped at a lot of farm stands and antique shops. But something that was so funny to me stays in my mind. As I would look at all of the farms and nice houses and the beach and coastline, every time we would pass a farm stand and my mom would see sunflowers she would say to my dad, oh, honey, let's stop. Joseph and I would laugh because she must have said it ten times. My dad would tease and say how many sunflowers do you need? We joked around and laughed about a lot of things, and most of all like Sal she spent time with her grandparents. I realized that now when my mom wants to stop and look at flowers and sunflowers I get out of the car with her and look with her. If you really look at a sunflower they are happy looking flowers. My mom smiles, and we laugh a little, plus Joe and I usually get a piece of candy, too.
Shaina	8/16 I was very sad at the end of the book Walk Two Moons I started to cry I thought that it was going to be her mother waiting at the top of the hill but when I figured out that it was her mother's grave I was really sad. I thought that the author did a great job by making the characters very interesting but I did not like what happened to the characters. That is what I think of the book. I would not recommend the book to anybody though.
Christopher	NO RESPONSE
Anthony	NO RESPONSE
Jessica	I am up to chapter 22. "Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins." I think the statement means don't judge a man until you see what he does. It was weird that Sal and her grandparents were talking about Phoebe Winterbottom on their way to Idaho and they met her there. They thought that she was gone and looking for her mother too. If I were Sal, I would not talk or say hello to Margaret. I would run away. 8/4 ~ If I slept over a friend's house and they were bothering me I would automatically leave. When Phoebe's father dashed into her room to wake her up he told her she was late for her first day of school, she told him she was sick. She was lying. I think she was tired from getting in and out of bed that night. I read on and read that she was worried about her kidnapped mother. I guess her mother only gave her the dictionary when she did not understand a word. She did not like it when her father gave it to her to look up the word "Malinger." I thought it was weird when Sal said the rabbit was alive one second ago, and she said that when her sister died.
Maria	I'm on chapter 11 and I think Ben likes Sal . Why didn't Ben want Sal and Phoebe to call the man a lunatic? I wonder why the man is so nervous? This story reminds me of Tuck Everlasting because there's a man that nobody knows who he is. I wonder why Sal flinches every time somebody touches her? I wonder the same thing that you're wondering, Mrs. Stein, what does Huzza Huzza mean. I wonder if Sal's grandparents like kids because Sal's grandma said it's like you're on a hot grill. I think the messages are for Phoebe because Phoebe judges Mrs. Cadaver. I think the other message is for Sal because Sal never talks about her mother. I can relate to Sal when she got scared and didn't know where Gram went. My Mom and I were in Wal-Mart and I was looking at shampoos and my Mom went down the other aisle and I got scared and didn't talk about it for the rest of the week. I think Sal's mother died and the father knows but is not telling Sal and Sal is going to Lewiston, Idaho and she's going to be even more hurt. If I was Sal's father I would have told Sal that her mother died. I like the book so far. 7/25 I finished the book and I loved it. Now I know why you cried Mrs. Stein, I cried too. I had a feeling the end was going to end that way. I also now know who the lunatic is. When I found out who the lunatic was I was shocked. In some of the parts I didn't know that was coming. I'm glad that I finished the book. Now I'm going to start the Whipping Boy. I hope the Whipping Boy is as good as Walk Two Moons. I really enjoyed Walk Two Moons.
Linda	NO RESPONSE
Mr. Ventura	Dear Mrs. Stein, I have my book and will begin reading today. As you know, I have already read this book, but it was so good that I am looking forward to reading it again.
Mrs. Stein	Great book! I'm enjoying the story within the story format of Walk Two Moons. I wonder what, Huzza Huzza means? I have never heard that before. I was wondering if the boys enjoyed the book as much as the girls? Please let me know.

The Whipping Boy

The Whipping Boy
by Sid Fleischman

Special Activity

Imagine you have been given the job of grading either Prince Brat's or Jemmy's character.
(Choose one.)
Consider the character traits listed below and give the character of your choice a grade (A, B, C, D, or F) in each of the areas.

E-mail your grades to Mrs. Stein with comments explaining why you gave your character the grades that you did. I will post these on our response page in another section.

Laura: Jemmy's character trait

Character Trait	Grade	Comment
Determination	A	I am writing about Jemmy. I gave him an A because he thought of many plans and wanted to do them very well.
Study Habits	A	I gave him an A because he seemed to be very smart. He learned what the prince should have been learning from the tutor.
Creativity	A	He came up with a tons of plans to save the prince and himself.
Friendship	A	No matter how many times Jemmy tried to walk away from Prince Brat he couldn't because he knew Prince Brat couldn't defend himself.
Leadership	A	He made good plans and taught Prince Brat to trust and learn from him.

The Whipping Boy
by Sid Fleischman

Special Activity

Steven's Report Card: Jemmy

Character Trait	Grade	Comment
Determination	A	Jemmy was determined to get Prince Brat away from Hold-Your-Nose-Billy and Cutwater. He did this by going into the sewer and banging and banging a birdcage to send Billy and Cutwater in another direction
Study Habits	B	Although Jemmy has very good study habits, he doesn’t get an A because they aren’t outstanding. For example, Jemmy isn’t outstanding at writing, but he’s very good.
Creativity	A	I think Jemmy was very creative to hide in the sewer from Billy and Cutwater. Jemmy was the only person to think of doing this.
Friendship	A, F	I would give Jemmy an A and an F for friendship. He was being mean to Prince Brat in the beginning. For example, when Prince Brat came into Jemmy’s room and told Jemmy to run away with him. Jemmy said, “Leave me here. Run away with one of your other friends.” He was nice to Prince Brat at the end of the book because they started to help each other.
Leadership	F	He wasn’t a good leader because he didn’t lead Prince Brat, and he didn’t want to. Prince Brat just followed Jemmy anyway. Although Prince Brat followed Jemmy, he did it so he wouldn’t get lost, but he didn’t do it because Jemmy was a leader.

E-mail your grades to Mrs. Stein with comments explaining why you gave your character the grades that you did. I will post these on our response page in another section.

Name	Response or summary
Maria	The Whipping Boy reminds me of a friendship I have with a girl named Malika. I've known her since dance Pre K. She is dark skinned, but I don't see her dark skin. Her interest is dance like mine. Mylika is very kind. When the kids in my old dance school made fun of me, she would be there and would stick up for me 100%. But the bad part is she is still at my old dance school. The good thing is that we still keep in touch. Next year we are going to Florida when Mylika has a competition and I am going to cheer her on! Oh, boy I can't wait until then! I am glad I have a friend like Mylika. I hope we stay friends forever. I think Prince Brat never learned discipline because the king always disciplined Jemmy instead of Prince Brat. I think Jemmy and Prince Brat are going to become friends. I didn't understand why Billy and Cutwater grabbed Prince Brat and Jemmy? 8/20 I think that Jemmy deserves a D because Jemmy is putting up with the abuse from King Horace and Prince Brat. If I was Jemmy I would tell King Horace if your not allowed to whip a Prince then start putting him in the dungeon.
Jessica	No Response
Shaina	No Response
Andrew	No Response
Laura	See character trait above.
Jennifer	I decided to write about my friend Raychel because we are very close and we’re B.F.F. (Best Friends Forever). She’s my age, four days younger than me and we’ve know each other since pre-k, when we were four years old. Raychel is a little shorter than me, has brown, wavy, angled hair and blue eyes. She likes to swim, play with her friends, and bowl. She is kind, funny and playful. I remember one time when Raychel slept over and we were playing in the dark trying to scare each other. I went to the bathroom and when I came back in she scared me. Ah! Ah! Ah! Then I fell on the cup of apples and grapes and they flew on our heads and we couldn’t stop laughing for one hour. One time when I crawled under the deck to get my favorite shell and came out and the flat side of a nail scratched my back. I couldn’t talk clearly, so Raychel got my mom and Raychel also helped me get inside. My mom put a band aid on it, but I still have a scar. In the story The Whipping Boy, I think that the prince was unhappy because Jemmy didn’t yell when whipped and Jemmy feels unhappy because the King orders him to be whipped when the prince does something bad. Prince Brat didn’t learn to behave because the whipping boy got disciplined, not him. The outlaws are funny because they were easily tricked and the whipping boy and the prince got them to believe they were each other.
Joshua	My best friend’s name is Jeffery. Jeffery resembles Jemmy because they both are smart, brave, and both make good friends. Jeffrey has brown hair, and is very tall. He loves to play sports, and play video games. He’s really funny, and real smart. I think the prince was unhappy with Jemmy because he wouldn’t scream when he was whipped, but Jemmy wouldn’t scream because he didn’t want to give the prince pleasure in seeing him whipped. I think Jemmy was unhappy with the prince because he was just getting in trouble so that he could enjoy seeing Jemmy whipped. I think that they both had one thing in common; they both didn’t like each other, until the end of the story, where they become friends. I think the prince never learned to behave because when he did something wrong, all he’d have to do is watch Jemmy get whipped and listen to his father lecture him. Billy and Cutwater were funny because they weren’t smart. You could tell because they were broke, and they got tricked really easily! I like this story. My favorite part was when they were in the sewer, and Billy and Cutwater got bitten by all those rats!
Steven	Steven is currently entering the third grade. I think he did a superb job!!! I read The Whipping Boy, and I really liked it. I liked this book because it showed me how real friendship is made. The way the book showed me how real friendship is made was when Prince Brat and the Whipping Boy helped each other as best they could. For example, when the Whipping Boy was going to get whipped Prince Brat promised to everything that was needed to become a king. The Whipping Boy reminds me of the Prince and the Pauper. In both books the prince ran away from home. Also in both books there was a Prince and a kid from the streets. Both kids from the streets were whipped. My favorite part of The Whipping Boy was when Prince Brat didn’t want to be a prince. That made me think of the times that I didn’t want to be myself. For example, the time when I was mad at my mom because she was yelling and screaming at me is a time when I didn’t want to be myself. I noticed that Prince Brat wanted to be noticed, so he did bad things like spitting spitballs at his teacher’s head and running away. That reminds me of my brother when he wants to be noticed. He gets very annoying. My brother often spits at me because he wants to be noticed.

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As of June 20, 2003