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8th out of 22 books
—
43 voters
How to Survive Middle School
by
Donna Gephart (Goodreads Author)
Eleven-year-old David Greenberg dreams of becoming a TV superstar like his idol, Jon Stewart. But in real life, David is just another kid terrified of starting his first year at Harman Middle School. With a wacky sense of humor and hilarious Top 6½ Lists, David spends his free time making Talk Time videos, which he posts on YouTube. But before he can get famous, he has to...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
April 13th 2010
by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
(first published April 2nd 2010)
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I definitely expect this to appear on the Rebecca Caudill list in the next 2-3 years. This is a great book for grades 5th-7th. David struggles with all of the things that hit in middle school, shifting friendships, hormones, bullies, and a family split that occurred two years earlier. Throw in his web show to accentuate the difference between your "real" life and your "online" life, and I would say this is just the type of coming of age story you will find on lots of recommended reading lists. I...more
HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL
By: Donna Gephart
FIRST SENTENCE
“The first day of summer vacation is important, because what you do that day sets the tone for the rest of the summer.”
SUMMARY
from goodreads
David Greenberg dreams of becoming a TV superstar along the lines of Jon Stewart. But in real life, he’s just another kid terrified of starting his first year at Harman Junior High. Things aren’t looking any better when David gets duped by his best friend into breaking the dress code on the first day...more
By: Donna Gephart
FIRST SENTENCE
“The first day of summer vacation is important, because what you do that day sets the tone for the rest of the summer.”
SUMMARY
from goodreads
David Greenberg dreams of becoming a TV superstar along the lines of Jon Stewart. But in real life, he’s just another kid terrified of starting his first year at Harman Junior High. Things aren’t looking any better when David gets duped by his best friend into breaking the dress code on the first day...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Feb 17, 2013
Beverly
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
10-13 year olds
Recommended to Beverly by:
Indie Next List/indiebound.org
How To Survive Middle School, and its protagonist David Greenburg, are likeable and memorable. David's first few months of middle school are tense, funny and heartwarming. Most kids are apprehensive about starting middle school. Luckily, for most of them, their fears are calmed after the first few days. Not for David Greenburg. Middle school begins even worse than he feared. His best friend, and only friend from elementary school going to the same middle school, is now best friends with the scho...more
Protagonist David Greenberg is 12 years old and about to begin middle school. His best friend, Elliott Berger, becomes interested in girls during the summer before 6th grade and talks David into wasting those months hanging out at the mall, looking for a girl Elliott thinks has a crush on him, instead of producing their YouTube show, Talk Time. This leads to a big fit as summer ends and for most of the school year, Elliott is not only "friends" with Tommy Murphy, a bully, but also one of David's...more
2013 Rebecca Caudill nominee. Excellent book, well written. 5th grade and up.
David is starting middle school. His cousin has told him that the older bullies will stick the 6th graders' heads in the toilets and flush; he and his best friend have had a major fight and the "best friend" is actively trying to sabotage him; he's being majorly bullied by some older boys; and his mother ran off 2 years previously. (She's now living in a cabin with no electricity or phone, on an organic farm, in Maine,...more
David is starting middle school. His cousin has told him that the older bullies will stick the 6th graders' heads in the toilets and flush; he and his best friend have had a major fight and the "best friend" is actively trying to sabotage him; he's being majorly bullied by some older boys; and his mother ran off 2 years previously. (She's now living in a cabin with no electricity or phone, on an organic farm, in Maine,...more
David Greenberg hopes to one day have his own late night talk show, just like his idol Jon Stewart. He and his best friend Elliott have collaborated on their own “talk time” videos starring David’s hamster Hammy. Their comedic sketches include David’s own “top 6 ½ lists” as well as a “daily acne forecast” in which his older sister is unknowingly featured. As with most middle school students, however, David finds that his world is increasingly not lacking for problems. His mother has left to live...more
David Greenberg is eleven years-old and a huge fan of Jon Stewart, so much so that he makes internet videos called TalkTime where he provides a top 6 1/2 list and daily acne reports courtesy of an unsuspecting sister. He is also dealing with his mother leaving the family to go live on an organic beet farm. A place where she has no phone, no TV and no electricity. Where the only way she can stay in touch is through infrequent letters.
Luckily, David has his best friend, Elliot. That is until the d...more
Luckily, David has his best friend, Elliot. That is until the d...more
How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart is very enjoyable and very funny. But I should warn you, it’s a little sad in places, so you’ll be alternately laughing and sniffling. That’s the best sort of story and you’re going to have a good time. Here’s the lowdown:
Eleven-year-old David Greenberg idolizes Jon Stewart (me too) and wants to host his own talk show when he grows up. In the meantime, he hosts his own You Tube show from his bedroom. Each week he gives the very funny acne forecast, w...more
Eleven-year-old David Greenberg idolizes Jon Stewart (me too) and wants to host his own talk show when he grows up. In the meantime, he hosts his own You Tube show from his bedroom. Each week he gives the very funny acne forecast, w...more
David Greenburg is 11 years old and about to start middle school. He’s not too worried until his older cousin Jack tells him about the horrors he may face, including a toilet-bowl swirlie on his birthday. David has other worries on his mind too: his mom left the family to live on a farm in Maine that has no electricity or phone service, his best friend Elliott no longer speaks to him, and his older sister Lindsay is hostile a lot of the time. The only good thing he has going is his grandmother,...more
Mar 15, 2012
Brenda Proper
added it
Here's a little friendly advice about middle school. It can be the best time of your life or it can be the worst time of your life. Probably it will be both - at the same time. That's what it's like for David, the 6th grader in this book. He starts out on the first day of m.s. by getting pranked by his best friend and looks like a dork to the whole school. Plus gets suspended. Worst of all is that his best friend quickly becomes his ex-best friend. And his ex-best friend teams up with the school...more
David Greenberg is terrified of starting middle school and more so after his cousin Jack spews a list of dos and don’ts and inevitable mistreatment of students there. His ex-best friend Elliot who used to assist David with their Talk Time videos posted on YouTube starring David and Hammy, the hamster. But now Elliot is only interested in girls and hanging out with Tommy Murphy a bully who taunted David and Elliot last year. David is also without his mother, she left two years ago to find herself...more
Heartwarming story of a smart, endearing, but scared new sixth grader who finds he's a smash with his creative videos on You Tube, but a failure at fitting in at middle school. The brother-sister relationship between David and his older sister with the ribbing but concern rings absolutely true and is touching. David's realization that Internet fame doesn't fill the void missing in his day-to-day life is powerful. The loss of his pet hamster and his tortured feelings for the mother who left him p...more
David Greenberg has heard some frightening stories about middle school, so he’s justifiably nervous about starting 6th grade. Then his plans for a perfect summer go bust when his best friend Elliott hits puberty and only wants to spend time at the mall looking at girls. After a big fight, Elliott migrates to “the dark side” and starts bullying David. Luckily David has a few things going for him: his awesome skill at making talk show videos in the style of his idol Jon Stewart; his hamster Hammy;...more
Really cute and funny book about a boy entering sixth grade at the middle school and the perils that entails. His relationship with his best friend changes over no good reason, he gets bullied by the big Neanderthal loser at school, and as if that's not enough, David is also coping with his mom's having left the family to live in rural isolation on a farm with a new guy; they're so isolated they don't have electricity or telephones, so he can't turn to her for advice or comfort, only write a let...more
Ages 9+ (Middle school bullying and friendship trauma leads to giving the middle finger, etc)
David Greenberg is going into sixth grade. His mom moved to a beet farm in Maine, his sister Lindsey is a zitty bathroom hog, and his best friend Elliott is suddenly into going to the mall to see a GIRL instead of making videos and playing k'nex. By the time school starts, there's an irreparable rift with his former bff. Elliott starts hanging out with bully Tommy, and David's new best friend is a girl...more
David Greenberg is going into sixth grade. His mom moved to a beet farm in Maine, his sister Lindsey is a zitty bathroom hog, and his best friend Elliott is suddenly into going to the mall to see a GIRL instead of making videos and playing k'nex. By the time school starts, there's an irreparable rift with his former bff. Elliott starts hanging out with bully Tommy, and David's new best friend is a girl...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I gave the book How to Survive Middle School 5 stars because the author Donna Gephart left me hanging and would not let me stop reading. She left us begging for more at the end of the book. This book was about a kid named David Greenburg who is often referred to as Lameburg . David is really good at video tapping himself with hs friend Elliot. HE has his own show called Talk time . One day his friend he and his Elliot get into a huge fight and become Ex-friends. Then David meets a girl named Sop...more
This book is called “How to survive middle school” written by Donna Gephart and is about an Eleven year old David Greenberg who has a goal in life of becoming a famous TV superstar like one of his idol, Jon Stewart. But in life, David is just another one of the ordinary kid terrified of beginning his first year of middle school. When David and his best friend Elliot start to have a fight, David is very lucky enough to make a pretty cool new friend, Sophie who just happens to be a girl after Davi...more
This book was an awesome fun read. It's a kid named David Greenberg and he wants to be like his idol Jon Stewart.
David makes youtube videos trying to be Jon Stewart (like I said). But he has to do one thing SURVIVE!! Middle school!!
As the year approaches he and his best friend Elliot get into a fight. So David doesn't have a friend to be with. until one day in math he this girl named Sophie. As stuff progresses Things will all change during this book, but I really suggest you should read this bo...more
David makes youtube videos trying to be Jon Stewart (like I said). But he has to do one thing SURVIVE!! Middle school!!
As the year approaches he and his best friend Elliot get into a fight. So David doesn't have a friend to be with. until one day in math he this girl named Sophie. As stuff progresses Things will all change during this book, but I really suggest you should read this bo...more
Crazy video - must show.
David and Elliot are video nerds. They are always putting together videos until the summer before middle school when Elliot goes girl crazy. They when school starts, Elliot abandons David to hang with bullies who make it their mission to torment David.
David finds solace in his videos though sis is not amused when they go viral and she is a part of them. David finds his place in school on the video team and learns to deal with Elliot and Tommy. Hammy the Hamster helps Davi...more
David and Elliot are video nerds. They are always putting together videos until the summer before middle school when Elliot goes girl crazy. They when school starts, Elliot abandons David to hang with bullies who make it their mission to torment David.
David finds solace in his videos though sis is not amused when they go viral and she is a part of them. David finds his place in school on the video team and learns to deal with Elliot and Tommy. Hammy the Hamster helps Davi...more
I read this with my kids while we were on vacation and we all loved it. I was attracted by the references to Jon Stewart, Youtube and Middle school which are all very relevant topics in my family. My reluctant reader, kept asking for me to keep reading which tells you that it is even interesting to 13 year old boys. And we picked up a few new phrases that we say now like "Eat, Bubelah!" I think it was good at capturing some of the difficulties of the middle school years and how some things can b...more
David Greenberg was a star at Longwood Elementary. His teachers loved him, and his best friend, Elliot, was his constant companion and camera man for the "Talk Time" videos David produces and uploads to You Tube. David's goal is to be John Stewart one day, and "Talk Time" is his own version of The Daily Show. What should've been the perfect summer before the horrors of middle school is destroyed when Elliot wants to spend all his time at the mall hoping to catch sight of a girl instead of making...more
I didn't think I was going to like this book at ALL - the cover is LAME LAME LAME!! But I ended up really liking he main character and thought he was very real. He gets bullied to the nth degree, loses his best friend right before school starts and has the typical bratty older sister. Feeling what this kids feels everyday at school is a nightmare and that is exactly what happens when you read the book. Once you can get actual middle school kids to get past the cover, they will love this book and...more
In How to Survive Middle School, the main character, David Greenberg, is just beginning middle school. He loses his best friend, Elliot, because Elliot goes girl crazy. He's so focused on girls that he doesn't pay attention to David any more, he just uses David because David's dad will drive them to the mall, where Elliot can try to find girls.
David makes a new friend, a girl named Sophie. For awhile, Sophie is his only friend. She's really smart. She was homeschooled for awhile, so she's reall...more
David makes a new friend, a girl named Sophie. For awhile, Sophie is his only friend. She's really smart. She was homeschooled for awhile, so she's reall...more
This was a cute book, but a bit on the predictable side.
This is the story of David, who is just starting middle school! He makes videos and posts them to YouTube, and he wants to be like Jon Stewart. That part was awesome because he also mentions Stephen Colbert! Only once, but that's okay. When he makes a new friend, Sophie, she promotes his videos and he becomes a superstar famous person! But only online... in real life, his elementary school buddy is a major jerk to him, and he has a hard tim...more
This is the story of David, who is just starting middle school! He makes videos and posts them to YouTube, and he wants to be like Jon Stewart. That part was awesome because he also mentions Stephen Colbert! Only once, but that's okay. When he makes a new friend, Sophie, she promotes his videos and he becomes a superstar famous person! But only online... in real life, his elementary school buddy is a major jerk to him, and he has a hard tim...more
David Greenberg and his best friend, Elliott have big plans for the summer before middle school begins...too bad their plans aren't the same. Elliott wants to hang out at the mall and drool over Cara Epstein and David wants to do what they've always done...make Talk Time videos in the style of his idol, Jon Stewart. When they realize their plans don't match, they get into a big fight. Middle school starts with David and Elliott at odds...and to make matters worse, Elliott has become friends with...more
One of my students raved about this book last fall, and when I saw it listed as a 2013 Caudill, I decided I should read it right away. The main character, a scrawny sixth grader named David Greenberg, loves Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and aspires to have his own video talk show one day. But before that, he must navigate his way through typical middle school dilemmas like a fight with a best friend, first love, a bully, separated parents, and the death of a beloved pet. He finds that his online...more
These Juvie books that take the protagonist to that special level of hell known as social pariahdom make my chest hurt. This was a fairly good book that tempered its atrocities with a bit of humour, but I just can't get my head around the fact that the lame videos described in the book would garner Jon Stewart's attention. (this coming from a person whose current favourite video on YouTube is "What Am I? What Am I?" by ThoseLilRabbits, so there's a good possibility that I'm being too critical)
David is a typical middle school student, trying to fit in or at least go unnoticed. His life is complicated by the fact that his mom has left and he is the target of a bully. He escapes reality by creating and video taping his own talk show, which eventually becomes a Youtube sensation. The reader can really identify with the emotional roller coaster David experiences as he goes through his day to day experiences. A realistic view of life as a middle-schooler.
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| Poor David | 5 | 13 | Jan 19, 2013 07:39am |
