When her father begins a long-distance romance with a Washington, D.C. zookeeper, twelve-year-old Frankie sends fabricated email letters to the zoo...
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May 04, 2011
Heidi
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Sep 16, 2010
Marijn
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A lovely book. Frankie(10-11 years old) lives with her father and her two younger brothers. Her mother died a long time ago but Frankie stll misses her.
Accidentially Frankie reads an e-mail from a woman to her father in which she expresses her joy at meeting (AND kissing!) him.
Frankie is horrified. Her family is fine as it is and they don't need anybody! So she tries to tell this woman off in a whole series of e-mails in which she explains that her father is mentally unstable and h More...
Accidentially Frankie reads an e-mail from a woman to her father in which she expresses her joy at meeting (AND kissing!) him.
Frankie is horrified. Her family is fine as it is and they don't need anybody! So she tries to tell this woman off in a whole series of e-mails in which she explains that her father is mentally unstable and h More...
Jan 21, 2010
Sarah-Greenbeanteenqueen
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About the Book: When Frankie reads an e-mail sent to her widowed father from a woman he recently met and it appears there may have been kissing involved, Frankie decides to take matters into her own hands. She begins a correspondence with Ayanna, who is a zookeeper and caretaker of naked mole rats. Through the letters Frankie learns about growing up, family, and naked mole rats.
GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I read this book a few years ago when it was nominated for the Mark Twain Award (M More...
GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I read this book a few years ago when it was nominated for the Mark Twain Award (M More...
Dec 09, 2009
Katie
rated it:
The Naked Mole Rat Letters
5 out of 5 stars
Amato uses a large amount of humor in her writing to make light of difficult situations. I enjoyed how the author used misspelled words throughout the book; I often do this when writing notes or letters. The font was large, in my opinion, for this type of book. Although the book was not separated into chapters, it was classified into two different groups. One group was diary entries from the main character, and the other group was emai More...
5 out of 5 stars
Amato uses a large amount of humor in her writing to make light of difficult situations. I enjoyed how the author used misspelled words throughout the book; I often do this when writing notes or letters. The font was large, in my opinion, for this type of book. Although the book was not separated into chapters, it was classified into two different groups. One group was diary entries from the main character, and the other group was emai More...
Aug 11, 2009
Jackie
rated it:
The Naked Mole-Rat Letters begins slow, but in the end delivers a worthwhile message about judging people, friendship, and longing. Frankie lost her mother not too long ago and when her father begins having feelings for another woman, she acts out in strange ways. This star student lies, fails to do her homework, neglects her responsibilites at home, and starts hanging around with a boy who has a bad reputation. As she intercepts her father's email to "Ratlady", the new woman in his fa
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May 10, 2009
Barky
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Apr 02, 2009
Ann
rated it:
Ages 9+
Seventh grader Frankie is having a rough time. Living with her younger brothers, Skip and Nutter, is like living in a zoo. She learns that she didn't get the part she wanted in the school play. Worst of all, she recently discovered that her dad's secretly been emailing Ayanna, a zookeeper he met on a trip to Washington D.C. A zookeeper who takes care of naked mole rats - ew! Frankie is determined to put a stop to their communication. She starts sending her own emails to Ayanna More...
Seventh grader Frankie is having a rough time. Living with her younger brothers, Skip and Nutter, is like living in a zoo. She learns that she didn't get the part she wanted in the school play. Worst of all, she recently discovered that her dad's secretly been emailing Ayanna, a zookeeper he met on a trip to Washington D.C. A zookeeper who takes care of naked mole rats - ew! Frankie is determined to put a stop to their communication. She starts sending her own emails to Ayanna More...
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Aug 03, 2009
Susan
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This book proves that you can’t judge a book by it’s title! This is my favorite kind of book. It made me laugh out loud AND cry. Frankie's dad goes to Washington DC to attend a convention. There he meets a woman (Ayanna) who works at the National zoo and is responsible for the naked mole rats. After he returns home, they start up an email correspondence. Frankie intercepts the messages and tries to discourage the relationship from going any further. She pretends to be her father and tells
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Sep 06, 2009
Kara
rated it:
Frankie has just hit adolescence, and oh what a rocky road her teenage years look like they will be!
The author hits all her notes pitch perfect as she shows a girl struggling with the transition of going from child to teenager, learning to take responsibility for her actions, learning not to judge other people too quickly, and, most importantly, learning that its not always just about her, while keeping the reader laughing through out most of it.
There is some heavy bathos More...
The author hits all her notes pitch perfect as she shows a girl struggling with the transition of going from child to teenager, learning to take responsibility for her actions, learning not to judge other people too quickly, and, most importantly, learning that its not always just about her, while keeping the reader laughing through out most of it.
There is some heavy bathos More...
Mar 19, 2009
Christina
rated it:
I really liked this book! Frankie is a seventh-grader whose life takes a turn for the worse when her she discovers that her widowed dad is falling in love. She intersects his e-mails and tries to persuade the new woman, the mole rat keeper at the National Zoo in Washington D.C., to leave her family alone. The story is told through their e-mail correspondence and Frankie's diary. This book was really funny -- funny in a way that will amuse kids in grades 4-6 especially. Although I only finis
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Sep 26, 2009
Evely
rated it:
"The Naked Mole Rat Letters" is a very interesting and exciting book. This book is about a girl named Frankie she lives with her dad and her two little brothers. The problem starts when she finds a note in her dad’s email; it was from a woman named Ayanna. The letter said that she had a wonderful dinner that night and that she specially loved the kiss.
Then she remembered the day when her father told her and her brothers that he was going to a conference in W More...
Then she remembered the day when her father told her and her brothers that he was going to a conference in W More...
Feb 11, 2010
Sps
rated it:
Think the Alice books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor plus Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton. A familiar type of book (kid interferes with her single parent's romantic plans) but done so winningly. Did I read it on the bus even though that inevitably makes me nauseated and I could predict exactly what would happen? Yes, yes I did. Because D'Amato writes characters who are nutty and imperfect and connected, and you want to see how they fare.
The SLJ review noted its "solid relationships More...
The SLJ review noted its "solid relationships More...
Sep 21, 2010
Sandie
rated it:
This book was such a surprise. I picked it up with not much hope for it. It started off very slow for me and I didn't think that would change. I am not even sure what point the book changed for me, but it did. Despite the slow beginning I enjoyed this book very much.
Its actually a very sad little story about a family that is trying to deal with the loss of a mother and a father that is trying to raise 3 kids, two of them very young on his own. When the oldest daughter thinks h More...
Its actually a very sad little story about a family that is trying to deal with the loss of a mother and a father that is trying to raise 3 kids, two of them very young on his own. When the oldest daughter thinks h More...
Jul 26, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
My future mother-in-law, a science teacher, put this book in my hands while I was visiting her. She liked it after a student gave it to her. It is an intermediate-level book and a quick, easy, enjoyable read. The protagonist, Frankie, is an incredibly self-absorbed seventh grader and not a likable character; however, she is also a typical seventh grader in many ways. By the end of the novel, she is much more likable.
The book presents in an engaging way many facts about the naked mol More...
The book presents in an engaging way many facts about the naked mol More...
Mar 06, 2009
Jessica
rated it:
Couldn't put it down!
Frankie is worried when her father comes home from a business trip and she discovers that on the trip he Met A Woman! Frankie's mother passed away a few years ago, and she worries that her father will remarry now, and everything will change. In her fear, she starts to lie, to cheat on her homework, ignore her younger brothers, and email the woman in an effort to destroy the budding romance. As Frankie's life starts to spiral out of control, her father has to t More...
Frankie is worried when her father comes home from a business trip and she discovers that on the trip he Met A Woman! Frankie's mother passed away a few years ago, and she worries that her father will remarry now, and everything will change. In her fear, she starts to lie, to cheat on her homework, ignore her younger brothers, and email the woman in an effort to destroy the budding romance. As Frankie's life starts to spiral out of control, her father has to t More...
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Jul 20, 2009
H
rated it: 
Frankie is in 7th grade, struggling with learning to be a middle schooler, and upset that her beloved dad (its another dead mother book!) just might have met someone special, a woman who is the naked mole rat keeper at the National Zoo. Her life starts spiraling out of control in a series of lies as she tries to sabotage her father's new friendship. Told in e-mails and diary entries, this is a fairly straightforward family story, and girls in 4th-5th grade who like family stories will like it.
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Aug 31, 2009
Ingrid
rated it:
Frankie sees an email that her widowed father has written to a women that he met at a conference in Washington, D.C. She is horrified and worried that this woman will take her mother's place. She tries very hard to get rid of Ayana, the rat lady by emailing her terrible things about her father and family. Frankie has always been a good student, but now she is has taken to telling lies and skipping school. Although I can understand that Frankie is upset about her father meeting this woman, her q
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Dec 10, 2009
Christopher
rated it:
Advanced 5th grade - high school
The Naked Mole-Rat Letters is a great story that covers a wide range of emotions of growing up in a one parent home. The book is 266 pages long. Although, each page has no more than 23 lines of text, there is a lot of whitespace on each page and the font size is 18 point making this a chapter book that will challenge young readers but not overwhelm them. I really enjoyed the style of this book, it is told entirely through diary entries and e-mails. More...
The Naked Mole-Rat Letters is a great story that covers a wide range of emotions of growing up in a one parent home. The book is 266 pages long. Although, each page has no more than 23 lines of text, there is a lot of whitespace on each page and the font size is 18 point making this a chapter book that will challenge young readers but not overwhelm them. I really enjoyed the style of this book, it is told entirely through diary entries and e-mails. More...
Sep 26, 2009
Andy
rated it:
Frankie finds out that her widowed father is developing a long-distance relationship with a zookeeper. The story, told through diary entries and email messages, focuses on Frankie's attempts to thwart the budding romance. Frankie's efforts are tiresome to read about (she starts lying, getting into trouble at school, neglecting her responsibilities at home, bottling her feelings, and alienating her friends), but they ultimately create a realistic intimacy and empathy for her character. Frankie
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Mar 02, 2009
Chloe
rated it:
This book was good. I read it in sixth grade for a book project for Mrs. Fukushima. I loved it, but I don't remember what it was all about... I remember it was about, um, a girl's dad who is in love with this chick he meets on a "meeting" for "business," because I read the beginning and it refreshed my memory. She tries to stop their love by writing e-Mails from [supposedly:] her dad to her, since they all have one e-Mail address for the whole family. But her and her dad are
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Oct 04, 2011
Jasmine
rated it:
I remember i read this book in 5th grade I do believe. And it inspired me enough to actually write a 5 page report on naked mole rats. I don't remember the book as well as I would like to but It was a very good book from what i do remember. I plan on re-reading this book soon to re-fresh my memory. I believe this book is for younger kids, it was a easy read for me in 5th grade. So if you have a younger sibling or a child looking for a good animal to research I would recommend reading this book i
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Feb 09, 2010
Cfett
rated it:
Twelve-year-old Frankie, has a tough time when she realizes that her father is involved in a long-distance romance with a zookeeper from Washington D.C. Frankie corresponds with the zookeeper through emails trying to sabotage the relationship. Frankie gets deeper and deeper into trouble skipping school, lying, not doing homework) as she becomes more preoccupied with the emails. The true communication is occurring at the zookeeper tries to help Frankie deal with the changes in her life. A gre
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Jan 02, 2009
Kathy
rated it:
This book rocked! What a believable character Frankie is -- she reminded me of my soon-to-be thirteen year old niece on every page. It is a real skill to be able to create such an authentic voice. Every situation and description was dead on: from Frankie's first crush to her narrow-minded focus on herself. This is what a girl this age thinks and feels. She might not always be likeable, but who was at that age? The story moves along at a fast clip and it's a joy to see how things unfold. I
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Mar 14, 2011
Davina
rated it:
Frankie--who lost her mother some years before--is a bit perturbed when her father secretly finds a long-distance romance. Frankie decides to thwart their online correspondence through a few nasty schemes: posing as her dad, deleting emails, and writing to the new love directly to try and scare her away. Problem is, she is too busy lying and scheming to realize that she has pushed friends and family away.
Frankie's attitude and lies get really old in this book, and dad's new love is a More...
Frankie's attitude and lies get really old in this book, and dad's new love is a More...
Feb 21, 2011
Liz
rated it:
My daughter recommended this book to me, and I really enjoyed it. It's an email conversation between a teenage girl and her widowed father's girlfriend. She wants to get rid of this woman and goes to great, dishonest lengths in her attempt. A very good example of the "tangled web we weave" when we dip into deception, but even more so, the challenges of loss and adolescence and parent-child communication. I especially enjoyed how she came to appreciate a student who had been misjudged a
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Aug 11, 2009
Jackie
rated it:
The Naked Mole-Rat Letters begins slow, but in the end delivers a worthwhile message about judging people, friendship, and longing. Frankie lost her mother not too long ago and when her father begins having feelings for another woman, she acts out in strange ways. This star student lies, fails to do her homework, neglects her responsibilites at home, and starts hanging around with a boy who has a bad reputation. As she intercepts her father's email to "Ratlady", the new woman in his fa
More...
Apr 12, 2009
MrsB
rated it:
2010 list-Read this in one day due to the excessively large print. I liked the format of the emails and diary entries although I didn't think I would. This would be great reading for tweens. It touches on the issues of a dating parent and email privacy. I felt it was very well-written, but I can't give it more than a three because I don't enjoy such realistic looks at middle school girls. I lived it once, and I don't need to live it vicariously through thirteen year old characters.
Nov 22, 2010
Stephanie
rated it:
Had a hard time with the main character. For someone who claims to "never lie" it sure does come easy to her. Frankie never entirely won me over, but by the end of the book I liked her a bit better than I had earlier.
I did like the story, and although I don't think any kid (or most adults) actually writes such detailed diary entries, I still enjoyed the way the story was told. I also liked how the ending was still a little up in the air.
Loved the idea of the Hum.
I did like the story, and although I don't think any kid (or most adults) actually writes such detailed diary entries, I still enjoyed the way the story was told. I also liked how the ending was still a little up in the air.
Loved the idea of the Hum.
Jun 07, 2009
John
rated it:
Rebecca Caudill 2010: I liked it a little better than a Crooked Kind of Perfect. I really didn't like Frankie because even though she was a "good" kid, she deserved to have her door removed on page 15. I know, I know, if her dad just paid attention to her all of the bad stuff wouldn't have happened. I'm glad she got it all figured out at the end. Ayanna should have been put up for sainthood because she took too much venom from Frankie in my humble opinion (IMHO).
May 13, 2010
M.
rated it:
2010 Rebecca Caudill nominee—Frankie’s mother died and Frankie is upset when her father meets a biologist working for a zoo, a lady whose specialty is naked mole rats. Frankie sends e-mails to the lady ostensibly from her father to discourage the relationship, and the book goes from there. The zoologist is patient, understanding, and very gentle in her ability to educate Frankie and calm her fears.
