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43rd out of 155 books
—
28 voters
A Week in the Woods
Collision course The fifth-grade Week in the Woods is a beloved tradition of Hardy Elementary, where Mark Chelmsley (the Fourth) is pretty much killing time before his parents send him off to an exclusive prep school. But then Mark realizes the Week might be a chance to prove to Mr. Maxwell that he's not just another of the slacker rich kids the teacher can't stand.
But it...more
But it...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
April 6th 2004
by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
(first published August 1st 2002)
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Clements is known for his school stories, and this one is no different.
This is a book about self-discovery and second chances through the novel's main character, Mark.
Mark is not a typical Clements sketch of a character, and yet he is at the same time. He is the stereotypical rich kid that gets a bad wrap. His parents are moving him to a new house, and a new school, and the last thing he wants to do is leave behind his friends.
If moving was not hard enough on Mark, he also has the label of "spo...more
This is a book about self-discovery and second chances through the novel's main character, Mark.
Mark is not a typical Clements sketch of a character, and yet he is at the same time. He is the stereotypical rich kid that gets a bad wrap. His parents are moving him to a new house, and a new school, and the last thing he wants to do is leave behind his friends.
If moving was not hard enough on Mark, he also has the label of "spo...more
Now, as some of you may know, I love Andrew Clements’ Frindle with all the pieces of my heart. It is magical. It is marvelous. I keep a copy on my "Love You Long Time" shelf at home, next to Redwall and These Old Shades and Daddy Long-Legs. That’s how fantastic it is.
A Week in the Woods... is not so fantastic.
It is, dare I say it, mediocre.
Mark is a smart loner child who moves to a new town and knows all the class material and doesn’t want to bother making friends since his uber-rich family wi...more
A Week in the Woods... is not so fantastic.
It is, dare I say it, mediocre.
Mark is a smart loner child who moves to a new town and knows all the class material and doesn’t want to bother making friends since his uber-rich family wi...more
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I expected this book to be mostly an adventure story about a week in the woods, but in fact the danger and adventure cover about two chapters quite late in the book. Rather, the focus is on how fifth-grader, Mark Chelmsley, adjusts to a significant change in his life when he moves from Scarsdale, where he attends private school (as he has always done), to rural New Hampshire, where he is finishing out the year in a public school. Interestingly, although there's some misjudgment of New Hampshire...more
Mark is a snobby, snotty rich kid whose parents don't have time for him. He's always had everything he wanted as soon as he asks for it. His parents decide to move to New Jersey out in the country by a small town. Mark has to attend the local school for a few months. Then summer will come and he'll go to different camps, and in the fall he'll go to the prestigious Runyon School. He enters 5th grade with a chip on his shoulder. The school is little and old. The students are country hicks. The cla...more
Good book: A story with adventure, and learning about yourself in a tough time.
A new, very wealthy boy moves to a small town, where every year the grade (5th I think) goes on a camping trip. He is not well-accepted by his peers, and even the teacher has an attitude about this boy's wealthy, privleged background. The reality, however, is that this boy has been moved around a lot, never sees his parents, never goes camping with them, and yet thoroughly enjoys the outdoors.
He takes the rap for havi...more
A new, very wealthy boy moves to a small town, where every year the grade (5th I think) goes on a camping trip. He is not well-accepted by his peers, and even the teacher has an attitude about this boy's wealthy, privleged background. The reality, however, is that this boy has been moved around a lot, never sees his parents, never goes camping with them, and yet thoroughly enjoys the outdoors.
He takes the rap for havi...more
Dec 17, 2012
Adam J.
is currently reading it
I am starting this book and I really like it so far. The author does a great job getting the characters very realistic. The book is about a boy who is moving to New Hamshpire from San Francisco. So far he is in his new house exploring.this book is very realistic and I love it so far.
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Next to Frindle this one was one of my all time favorites. I was sucked into the story and loved the way that the kid was so enthused about survival skills that he actually researched the topic that interested him to the extent that he was able to not only save himself in the woods but his teacher as well.
Oct 28, 2010
Erin
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
elementary school kids and their parents (and teachers)
Recommended to Erin by:
my stepson and husband
Shelves:
juvenile-fiction,
story-and-character-doorways
I bought this book for my stepson for Christmas last year, and it turned out to be one of his favorites (hooray!). Both he and my husband recommended I read it, and I can see why. Andrew Clements does such an excellent job of creating multi-dimensional characters, both children and adults. In fact, there is so much to this story, it's hard to know how to describe it. It's a story about a kid and some adults who make some snap judgments that turn out to be wrong. It's a story about a lonely kid f...more
Andrew Clements: Still hitting it strong as one of my favorite authors. This isn't actually a recent book, but I ration out his books to myself like tiny truffles. They take 45 minutes to read, and even the ones that don't become insta-favorites (this one, for example), are a true pleasure. His thoughtful characterizations of both children and adults (usually teachers) who are going through difficult times and striving to overcome obstacles, who are in conflict with each other because they are p...more
When rich-kid Mark joins the fifth-grade class, Mr. Maxwell has him pegged - he's a slacker and a punk. He's got it out for Mark from the start. And Mark is a slacker at first... why make an effort when he knows he'll only be at this school for a few months before he starts an elite prep school in the fall? It's not like his parents are around to care about it anyway...
Can a week in the woods change their opinions about each other?
I am a huge Clements fan and I really enjoyed this one. Mr. Cle...more
Can a week in the woods change their opinions about each other?
I am a huge Clements fan and I really enjoyed this one. Mr. Cle...more
All 4 of us in my family read this out loud together, for Generations_Read_Together. All of the Clements titles that I've read are good, and have great kid appeal, but he's definitely not my favorite as an adult!
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a week in the woods is about a boy named mat. mat and his class mates are to go on a camping trip.on the trip mat gets accused for doing something he didnt do.and on the way from when the teacher was taking mat home... the teacher had to run inside some sort of shack... mat stayed in the car and waited.whden the teacher got back to tell mat he was wrong mat was gone. so that started this whole comotion to find him.and well you have to read it to find out more! i would recomend this book for some...more
A Week in the Woods is about a rich boy, Mark, who attends a public school for the first time. His teacher, Mr. Maxwell at first tries to help him but soon gives up and completely ignores Mark. Eventually, Mark and his grade go for an exciting field trip called A Week in the woods. Only a few hours after arrival, Mark's friend shows Mark a tool with a knife that he smuggled in. Mark happened to be holding it when Mr. Maxwell walked in to the cabin and Mark gets blamed. When Mr. Maxwell is callin...more
I would rate the book A Week In The Woods a 8 out of 10.This is a fiction piece by Andrew Clements. Clements is most known for his fantastic story titled "Frindle".This book is about a young rich boy named Mark who moves to New hampshire, he hates it at first but when his fifth grade science teacher tells him about a class field trip to the woods, mark finds himself really enjoying the outdoors. It is a good story with many twists and turns along the way! I did not think I would enjoy this book...more
The only people Andrew Clements understands more than teachers are the children in their classes, & he proves his amazing empathy once again here. Teacher Mr. Maxwell has done "A Week in the Woods" every year since he first started teaching - it's exactly what it sounds like. The whole fifth grade goes to a state park near their New Hampshire town & spends the week learning in the outdoors. Mr. Maxwell immediately pegs new student Robert as a spoiled rich kid with an attitude problem who...more
Mark, the main character in the book, moves to another town, while his parents travel again. He goes to a new school and the one person that recognizes him immediately is Mr. Maxwell. He despises Mark and things don't look too great in their early relationship. Then, the whole fifth grade goes to a field trip called "A Week in the Woods". Everyone is excited, everyone that is, except for Mark. Then something goes horribly wrong, and Mark is in the wrong place at the wrong time. A new bond is dis...more
Sep 27, 2008
Erin Mullen
added it
It was a really good book! i had to read it over summer vacation.
1 like · like · see review
It was hard to get in to!! Endind was awesome!!!!!
Jun 23, 2009
Catherine1996
added it
The fifth-grade Week in the woods is a beloved of tradition of Hardy Elementary,where Mark Chelmsley is pretty much killing time before his parents send him off to an exclusive prep school.But then Mark realizes the Week might be a chance to prove to Mr.Maxwell that he's not just another of the slacker rich kids the teacher can't stand.
But it may be too late change Mr.Maxwell's opinion of him.On the first day of the Week,the tension between teacher and student explodes,and in a reckless moment,M...more
But it may be too late change Mr.Maxwell's opinion of him.On the first day of the Week,the tension between teacher and student explodes,and in a reckless moment,M...more
1 like · like · see review
This part of the book is about Mr.Maxwell taking the fifth grade classes on a camping trip. The camping trip was taking place at the end of the school year and the student were going to spend a week in the woods
This book is also about Mark and his family and their move to Massachusetts.Mark is now a student in Mr.Maxwell' class
At the beginning of this book Mark is a slacker. I predict that Mark will become a non-slacker ,because on page 23 it says "I will start paying attention in class".
I can...more
This book is also about Mark and his family and their move to Massachusetts.Mark is now a student in Mr.Maxwell' class
At the beginning of this book Mark is a slacker. I predict that Mark will become a non-slacker ,because on page 23 it says "I will start paying attention in class".
I can...more
Mark has such an attitude and it finally changes near the end of the book.It gets very exiting when he is in the woods.
this book has a lot of adventure mark has a problem with his attitude at the beggining of the book mark starts to change his attitude.
mark is lucky he has his gear when he got hurt he blew his whistle. mr maxwell sees some thing in mark. mr maxwell in the begging of the book thinks mark is lazy and a slaker. mark is a slacker at the begginig but at the end mark changes. mark is...more
this book has a lot of adventure mark has a problem with his attitude at the beggining of the book mark starts to change his attitude.
mark is lucky he has his gear when he got hurt he blew his whistle. mr maxwell sees some thing in mark. mr maxwell in the begging of the book thinks mark is lazy and a slaker. mark is a slacker at the begginig but at the end mark changes. mark is...more
Enjoyable story for the upper elementary age. I was interested in both Mr. Maxwell and Mark, and I liked how the author juxtaposed a chapter from the teacher's point of view with a chapter from Mark's. I like how Mark read Jack London, and a couple excerpts from his writing was included. I find it interesting that the author shows that someone might decide to change, but even if you do want to change, your former behavior may cause others to keep treating you based on how you acted before. The w...more
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Mark's parents are wealthy. He is taken care of by a kind Russian couple who act as housekeepers and babysitters. Mark's life takes an unexpected turn: from New York and an elite private school to small town New Hampshire and a public school. His parents have bought 450 acres (1.8 km²) rural and expensively renovated an old farmhouse. Mark is sent to live there - by himself with the housekeepers - because there are "tax advantages" to establishing residency.
At his new school, Hardy Elementary, M...more
At his new school, Hardy Elementary, M...more
Read this story to a grade 5 class and I found it a little dry. I think that this story could have been much more exciting, but the build up to the climax was very drawn out. The climax itself, just wasn't that great either. Tensions that had been building were resolved way too easily. This story is meant for middle grade children, so my complaints might be a little misguided. The class that I read it to seemed to enjoy it just fine, so maybe for this age, it is quite acceptable, maybe 3 stars.
I really enjoyed reading this book. The author did a tremendous job with word usage, but an even better job with excitement. I can't remember one time that I wanted to put the book down. I was never hoping to finish the chapter,or that the page would end so I could find a place to stop.The author gave me every reason to like the book,and that is why I gave it 5 stars. It was one of the best books that I have ever read, and I hope that one day you can read it to.
This book was better than I expected. It took me a while to get into it and to understand what was going on, but once I was reading it, it was really good. It has a lot of suspense and some twists and turns that I didn't expect while I was reading it.
I am again reading this one for my students at school. And I know the are enjoying it as one of my girls took it home and read 5 extra chapters because it was so good. So, like all other Clements books, this one is very suitable for 5th grade stude...more
I am again reading this one for my students at school. And I know the are enjoying it as one of my girls took it home and read 5 extra chapters because it was so good. So, like all other Clements books, this one is very suitable for 5th grade stude...more
A good kids' story about judgment, forgiveness and self-reliance. Lots of good detail about the wilderness and camping sprinkled through as well. Teacher and student, both basically good people, have a tough relationship at first because their flaws get in the way of them getting to know one another. But during the annual week in the woods wilderness event, things get a little out of control and both student and teacher learn about each other - and themselves.
Oct 27, 2010
Max Alfonso
added it
A Week In The Woods
The book A week In The Woods was scary. When i was reading it i felt scared for him, even thouggh it was a fiction book. the whole book page after page it got better. I thought it was going to be stupid, then it turns out its one of my favorite books! One time i got lost camping and i immediately made a self to text connection and started laughing because i was lost in the woods too. I would definately reccomend reading this it was a great book!
The book A week In The Woods was scary. When i was reading it i felt scared for him, even thouggh it was a fiction book. the whole book page after page it got better. I thought it was going to be stupid, then it turns out its one of my favorite books! One time i got lost camping and i immediately made a self to text connection and started laughing because i was lost in the woods too. I would definately reccomend reading this it was a great book!
The 5th grade Week in the Woods is a special tradition of Hardy Elementary School, where Mark Chelmsley is pretty much killing time before his parents send him off to an "exclusive prep school," but Mark wants to change his teacher`s Mr.Maxwell, that he is not another of one of those slacker kids that go to his school and don`t focus on there homework only there social lives. Mark puts on not only himself, but also Mr.Maxwell. Will two such unlike people get along?
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I was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1949 and lived in Oaklyn and Cherry Hill until the middle of sixth grade. Then we moved to Springfield, Illinois. My parents were avid readers and they gave that love of books and reading to me and to all my brothers and sisters. I didn’t think about being a writer at all back then, but I did love to read. I'm certain there's a link between reading good books an...more
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