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Nov 14, 2011

Henry rated it:

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Jun 27, 2011

Josiah rated it:

"(R)adio was a partnership. The radio furnished the sounds, and the listener supplied the pictures. TV and movie screens have shaded us from the evocative power of sound. Our eyes enslave us. 'Seeing is believing.' In contrast to TV, which asks us to merely turn it on and become a passive dartboard, radio asked us to meet it halfway, to co-create the moment. The resulting pictures in our heads had a depth of reality possible only when the camera is the person."

—Knots in More...

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Feb 07, 2010

DaNae rated it:

Every year I have a class, or few, wander in with the assignment of reading a biography. We have a pretty nifty selection in the 921s here in my school, if I do say so myself, but a good many of the choices fall in the picture book variety. The teacher in an effort to raise the bar for her students will usually demand the chosen book have a mandatory number of pages, usually 100. It is still no problem to fill the bill when it comes to matching books of this description at least 2 to 1 again More...

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Apr 11, 2011

Jonathan rated it:

This book is an autobiography about Jerry Spenelli. It talks about what lead him in his life tom what he is now. This book is a collection of short stories that were big moments of jerry's life. It gives you insight on what he has done and what he has accomplished to get as far as he is. Some of the things that he writes about Is his love for baseball which I haven't know before about him. I though this was a really good book even though I know it has been around for quite a while.
I rea More...

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Oct 13, 2009

Thomas added it

This was a great book about how Jerry Spinelli writes about how he grew up. What I also like about this book is that even though he is explaining about his life of growing up, he also gives you hints that explain what led him to become an author of children’s books. Its amazing how personal experiences influenced so much of his writing. He really shows connections between his life and his books. Overall I feel that this was a very interesting book that if your going to start to read his books More...

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Nov 28, 2010

Clarissa rated it:

Knots in My Yo-Yo String Biography/Non-Fiction/Childhood/Coming of Age/Sports

I love this book. Jerry Spinelli talks about his life as a kid, but he also weaves his experiences into how being a kid has helped him as a writer. Spinelli has said his best experience as a writer was being a kid and growing up. He beautifully captures what it's like to be a carefree kid. I long to return to those days even though they are far gone, but I find myself More...

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Nov 07, 2009

Daniel rated it:

An autobiographical piece by Jerry Spinelli covering mostly his formative years in grades K-12. Its mostly separated into chapters which each teach a specific life lesson through a personal anecdote or two and only occasionally spends time describing the how’s and why’s of Spinelli’s family and career. I personally enjoyed that it taught life lessons in parables and thus did not have to didactically confront the lessons head on. He gets the messages across by example and the personal nature o More...

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Sep 14, 2010

Katherine rated it:

man im so looking foward to this book after what sammi told me about the first chapter ~loads and loads of sarcasm included~

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 12, 2010

Tim rated it:

I found this book sitting dustily in my shelf and decided to give it a reread. I wasn't disappointed. Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee was one of my favorite books in elementary school. I didn't pick up his autobiography for the first time until much later. Reading of his childhood did everything to put me into his past without literally blasting me there. I saw his neighborhood, ran along his train tracks, waded in his creek, raced with his friends, played baseball on his field, and listened throu More...

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Oct 28, 2010

Jillian rated it:

A nice, casual read that covers the memories of a kid from "I empty my head like a box of cornflakes" (pg 13) to "I blew my prayers like bubbles into the air..." (pg 112) with the craft expected in the autobiography of a Newbery Medalist. The description of one of his acquaintances ("the little man who hands you soap") still lingers with me thanks to this statement: "...I have come to learn what he never knew he taught, that Garfield Shainline was not the teach More...

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Nov 08, 2010

Marcia rated it:

I enjoyed this peek into the childhood of one of my favorite authors. Funny, short chapters help paint the picture of how Maniac Magee, Wringer and his other books came to be. Rather than follow a chronology, he relates the stories that had the greatest impact on him. Hard to pick an audience for this book though--he is a children's author, but adults will enjoy the remembrances.
Particularly poignant is his discussion of not reading as a child. He was a good reader, and when he picked up c More...

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Mar 22, 2009

Thais rated it:

This book was a delight to read for many reasons. Although he is from a different generation from me, it was nostalgic and brought back a lot of my fun childhood memories. I also really enjoyed reading this because throughout the books he gives subtle hints that explain what led him to become a writer. As someone who dabbles with the idea of being a writer, I found this interesting. Last, it was fun to see how many of his own childhood memories he has incorporated into his other books and ho More...

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Nov 14, 2009

Sarah rated it:

Jerry Spinelli, the popular and award-winning children's book author, recounts the story of his life through this engaging and charming autobiography.

I pretty much adore Spinelli. His writing style is so simple, so easily accessible to kids and yet there are times when his prose is just dripping with beauty. His turns of phrase sometimes are pure poetry. This is pretty much straightforward autobiography but I love that he presents it as a series of vignettes, snapshots of his life. I More...

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Jul 12, 2009

Jen rated it:

Although it's really simple and very different from what I grew up with, this memoir is wonderful. Perhaps because of its simplicity, the kids that Spinelli talks about are people I could relate to others I knew, and he absolutely captures the magic of the boundless enthusiasm of kids. Also, it's a great window into the 50s and growing up with such exciting things as new televisions, the slowing railroad business, and a neighborhood where kids were perfectly able to run where they liked.
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Jul 26, 2011

Jobiska (Cindy) rated it:

Kind of jumps around chronologically--unnecessarily, it seems to me. If you like Jerry Spinelli's work and/or want to see what it was like growing up near Philly in the middle of the last century, it's pretty fun. Interesting that he has strong memories of the X-ray machine at the shoe store, just as my mom does, although she's older than he is. I'm younger, but it's more his experience as a very athletic, very social boy than the specific time period that makes it somewhat hard to relate to More...

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May 04, 2008

Terry rated it:

I have to say I found it a bit odd that this is labeled a "Young Adult" book. Hmm. I just am not sure who (I mean, among young adults) might be interested in this book. I think this would probably suit younger children, say, 4th through 6th grade. It's a very charming book, and it reminds me a lot of my dad's own stories of growing up in West Chester, PA, in the 1940s and 1950s. On the "down" side, I feel that the world Spinelli inhabits in the book would be completely, utter More...

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Jul 06, 2009

Marilyn rated it:

I love memoirs. This is a short intimate look into the idyllic boyhood of Jerry Spinelli spent in Norristown, PA. It's a perfect window into post-war life of the 50's. I have read probably 85% of Spinelli's books and even met him once. This would be a perfect classroom example of autobiography writing. I know for a fact that I will read the chapter on his first love to my 7th graders next Fall when we do our "annual" intro paper on twitterpation--my favorite essay of the year!

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Sep 14, 2011

Joseph rated it:

This book was an autobiography by Jerry Spinelli, the writer of many children's and teens books. He writes about his life, growing up, and it actually is not what I had expected it to be. Usually, I think of author's having a boring childhood cause all they write are books, but Jerry Spinelli is different, a more exciting life than me probably. I would recommend this book to anyone, but it isn't a great read, it's just a look at Jerry's past life.

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Oct 24, 2009

Susan rated it:

I identified with much in this book since it describes a small-town Pennsylvania childhood during the same general time frame as my own childhood. I like the way the book's arranged by topics like girls, neatness, Spinelli's relationship to words, rather than being simply a chronological narrative; this approach goes deeper and gives the reader a thorough introduction to the author's likeable boyhood self.

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Nov 13, 2011

Jeff rated it:

Knots in My Yo-Yo String, by Jerry Spinelli, tells a story of a boy, which is Jerry, who lives to become a writer. I found this story somewhat fun to read, and also a little boring at the same time due to the overexaggeration of him wanting to become a shortstop when he grows older. Personally, I do not understand the transition from shortstop to becoming a writer as his future job but it seemed to work out for him perfectly fine, since he became famous at something he loves to do. I thought thi More...

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Mar 31, 2009

Duane rated it:

This is a great biography on Jerry Spinelli. He takes you through his childhood and teen years in simple chapters. As an added bonus, he includes great photographs from his past. I really like the charm he brings to the memories that mean so much to him. His honest recollections vary from his faith, to his love of sports, to his trials with girls. A great read for any age.

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Dec 25, 2011

Zhenhao added it

I think this book is pretty funny like at the end where Jerry Spinelli said that he got his idea of writing kid's books, one day when his kids ate his fried chicken. When Jerry Spinelli is little his dream is to become a cowboy when he grow up. I learned something very surprising about Jerry Spinelli which is that when he's little he barely read any books mostly comics and he grew up to be a writer which is truly amazing.

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Feb 19, 2009

Nat rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jan 26, 2012

706ellis rated it:

This book is an autobiography about Jerry Spenelli. It talks about what lead him in his life and what he is now. This book is a collection of short stories that were big moments in Jerry's life. It gives you insight on what he has done, and what he has accomplished to get as far as he is. He shows how a normal kid can grow up to be a famous writer.

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Mar 06, 2009

Joyce rated it:

What kind of childhood produces a great writer of kids' books?
Jerry Spinelli didn't read books very much as a child, but he played outside with friends, and also spent time alone thinking about life. I enjoyed reading about Mr. Spinelli's family, friends and experiences.

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Oct 07, 2010

Rebecca rated it:

Knots in My Yo-Yo String is an autobiography of Jerry Spinelli, one of my favourite authors. I really liked how the story is not told in order of what happened (it jumps around), but it all seems to fit together. The story seems very real, and I would highly recommend it.

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Jul 29, 2009

Beth rated it:

I'm not sure how many kids would want to read an autobiography, but it's a good introduction to the genre. I liked learning how Maniac Magee came to fruition, since I teach it in my English classes. I will incorporate that section of the book into my lesson plans.

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Apr 16, 2009

Katie rated it:

This is a great autobiography. This book could be used by teachers or parents to teach their children about journal writing. Sometimes kids are hesitant to write about themselves but his book could be used as an example of how fun it is to read about a kid's life.

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Jan 08, 2011

Andrea Jean rated it:

Super-nostalgic for the good old days autobiography by children's author Jerry Spinelli. I think Spinelli's contemporaries would enjoy it more than today's kids. A sweet, gentle read -- I did skim through some passages describing athletic events.

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Feb 28, 2009

Reina rated it:

This book was so interesting. Jerry Spinelli is such an amazing writer as it is, and to hear how he remembers his life is just so cool. He wrote it in a book form, but not from age to age, but series in his life; from obsessions to family. I loved hearing his point of view and this makes me want to read more autobiographys and Jerry Spinelli books. (:

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