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119th out of 799 books
—
753 voters
Zen and the Art of Faking It
From masterfully funny and poignant Jordan Sonnenblick, a story that will have everyone searching for their inner Zen.
When eighth-grader San Lee moves to a new town and a new school for the umpteenth time, he doesn't try to make new friends or be a loner or play cool. Instead he sits back and devises a plan to be totally different. When he accidentally answers too many que...more
When eighth-grader San Lee moves to a new town and a new school for the umpteenth time, he doesn't try to make new friends or be a loner or play cool. Instead he sits back and devises a plan to be totally different. When he accidentally answers too many que...more
Hardcover, 264 pages
Published
October 1st 2007
by Scholastic Press
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*I just had a kid ask me today if I'd read this book... it's in our class collection... I couldn't remember. To me, that's a bad sign for a book that I read less than a year ago... Maybe I should bump my review down to 2 stars after all...* *edit Sept. 7, 2011*
-Original Review-Dec. 1, 2010-
You know how sometimes books try to trick kids into thinking they're fun books, but they're really these boring books with teachery morals that kids see right through?
Well, I felt that way for the first half o...more
-Original Review-Dec. 1, 2010-
You know how sometimes books try to trick kids into thinking they're fun books, but they're really these boring books with teachery morals that kids see right through?
Well, I felt that way for the first half o...more
In the exciting romanic/comedy book Zen and the Art of Faking It by Joran Sonnenblick, San moves to a new school, which means he gets a new identity. his father, who is in prison, always taught him to fit in, never stand out, but, he does.
In all of the schools he's been in, he learns a lot about the same kinds of stuff. So, he takes his knowledge of Buddism and puts it into action. He becomes the "Budda Boy" and learns so much more about it so he can really pull it off. He meets a new friend,...more
In all of the schools he's been in, he learns a lot about the same kinds of stuff. So, he takes his knowledge of Buddism and puts it into action. He becomes the "Budda Boy" and learns so much more about it so he can really pull it off. He meets a new friend,...more
1 like · like · see review
"People are always telling kids to be themselves, but either they didn't mean it or they didn't tell you how to go about doing it when everyone was trying to push and pull you into line."
8th grader San Lee is once again the new kid in town. He's moved from school to school so many times he doesn't even know who he is anymore. There are so many cliques and labels to choose from at school, he loses track. It doesn't take him long to fall in love with a gorgeous, guitar-playing classmate. What wil...more
8th grader San Lee is once again the new kid in town. He's moved from school to school so many times he doesn't even know who he is anymore. There are so many cliques and labels to choose from at school, he loses track. It doesn't take him long to fall in love with a gorgeous, guitar-playing classmate. What wil...more
3 likes · like · see review
Eighth grader San Lee just moved to Pennsylvania and started a new school. He's moved around a lot, from Texas to California to Alabama... and in each place he's assumed a new identity, heeding to his father's advice to "do as the Romans do". Now, with his dad (somewhat mysteriously) out of the picture, San has to decide how he's going to present himself at school. When he finds out that his social studies class is studying Eastern religions, which he studied the year before at his Texas school,...more
When San Lee moves to a new school he sort of gives everybody the impression that he is a Zen Master after answering one too many questions. Before he knows it, people are looking at him in a whole new light and San has to study up on Zen to keep his fake image, all the while juggling his "poverty" home life and trying to get the attention of the girl he likes, all in a very zen sort of way. Will San Lee be able to pull everything off? Sort of....
I absolutely love Jordan Sonnenblick. He has defi...more
I absolutely love Jordan Sonnenblick. He has defi...more
Sonnenblick did it again- stole my heart with his wonderful characters and carried me away to a different school where I just wanted to reach out and give San Lee a big hug.
San Lee is the protaganist of this book, and is wonderfully witty, flawed and sweet, all at the same time. Starting at a new school after his family is torn apart by his father's lies, San doesn't intend to lie to his new classmates. It just sort of happens that they think he is a hot shot mystical and wise Zen Master. And b...more
San Lee is the protaganist of this book, and is wonderfully witty, flawed and sweet, all at the same time. Starting at a new school after his family is torn apart by his father's lies, San doesn't intend to lie to his new classmates. It just sort of happens that they think he is a hot shot mystical and wise Zen Master. And b...more
Zen and the Art of Faking it
Jordan Sonnenblick
Realistic Fiction
264 Pages
San Lee has moved several times in his lifetime because of his father, who is moving from prison to prison because of crimes he commited, and forces his family to move with them. This time, San moves to a new school in Pennsylvania. After moving so many times, San is tired of trying to fit in at every new school. Instead he decides to pretend to be something different (although he cannot make up his mind). His answer comes i...more
Jordan Sonnenblick
Realistic Fiction
264 Pages
San Lee has moved several times in his lifetime because of his father, who is moving from prison to prison because of crimes he commited, and forces his family to move with them. This time, San moves to a new school in Pennsylvania. After moving so many times, San is tired of trying to fit in at every new school. Instead he decides to pretend to be something different (although he cannot make up his mind). His answer comes i...more
Sweet story about eighth grade boy, San Lee who reinvents himself every time he moves. He's had a bit of a rough family life with his dad currently in jail and his mom struggling to get by. At his new school his knowledge of "zen" from a social studies unit at his old school suddenly labels him as "Buddha Boy", so San decides that's who he will be. He soon finds himself labeled as the "Zen Master" and forging friendship with romantic interest, Woody, who doesn't really know the real San. As with...more
Apr 07, 2013
Wendy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
teens, boys and girls, reluctant readers
This is the third Sonnenblick I've read, and the first that didn't culminate in a concert. Instead, there was a zen basketball game.
Having read three now, I can definitely say that Sonnenblick uses a bit of a formula for plots. However, the characters are well-developed, their motivations are intriguing, and I feel the formula may just be Sonnenblick's :signature: rather than a crutch. He definitely writes a lot of himself into the stories, and his narrators all possess a certain snarky nature....more
Having read three now, I can definitely say that Sonnenblick uses a bit of a formula for plots. However, the characters are well-developed, their motivations are intriguing, and I feel the formula may just be Sonnenblick's :signature: rather than a crutch. He definitely writes a lot of himself into the stories, and his narrators all possess a certain snarky nature....more
So what do you do when you’re in 8th grade, have been moved all over the U.S., and have now landed in Pennsylvania? Yes, you can go with the flow or you can become a Zen Master! Welcome to San Lee world. He’s a kid of many hats and with every new town, he’s wore a new hat to try to help him fit in. While San’s teachers have tried to teach him life’s lessons, his father’s words have spoken the opposite and San it trying to move forward with his mother while his father is sitting in prison. This n...more
San Lee, an eighth grader with a father in jail and a lonesome, overprotective mother, has to move around a lot due to his father's behavior. In the story, he moves to a small, almost deserted town in "nowherseville", Pennsilvania. With all of the family's moving, San Lee feels he doesn't really have an original character. so every time they move, he recreates himself. This time, he decides to be a fake Zen master. This begins to go well for him- he already knows a bit of Zen theories, and to bo...more
Dieses Buch habe ich von "buchbotschafter.de" als Rezensionsexemplar zugeschickt bekommen. Lange Zeit stand es nur in meinem Regal, doch dann fing ich an.
Die ersten Seiten zogen sich beachtlich in die Länge und es kam erstmal wieder weg - ich hatte gerade viel interessanteres im Regal zu stehen.
Irgendwann griff ich dann doch wieder zu - und dann, ein paar Seiten weiter, konnte mich das Buch dann doch in seinen Bann ziehen.
Die Reallife-Geschichte um den 14-jährigen San Lee war wirklich interes...more
Die ersten Seiten zogen sich beachtlich in die Länge und es kam erstmal wieder weg - ich hatte gerade viel interessanteres im Regal zu stehen.
Irgendwann griff ich dann doch wieder zu - und dann, ein paar Seiten weiter, konnte mich das Buch dann doch in seinen Bann ziehen.
Die Reallife-Geschichte um den 14-jährigen San Lee war wirklich interes...more
I've loved all of the Sonnenblick books I have read so far, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, After Ever After, Curveball; the year I Lost My Grip, but Zen and the Art of Faking It just wasn't up to the level of those. It was the typical story - boy goes to a new school, creates a new identity for himself, gets everyone believing in him, gets caught in the lie, loses everything, is forgiven in the end. I liked the character of Woody a lot and I wished too that more was done with the social studie...more
After his father is jailed for dubious acts, eighth grader San Lee moves to a sleepy Pennsylvania town with his mother. San, who alters his identity each time he moves, which is often, contemplates which identity to assume at his new school. Should he reinstate Skater-San? Punk-San? Preppy-San?
One day in history class, San somewhat inadvertently becomes Zen Master-San. Having recently studied ancient religions at a school he attended previously, San easily answers each of his teacher’s questions...more
One day in history class, San somewhat inadvertently becomes Zen Master-San. Having recently studied ancient religions at a school he attended previously, San easily answers each of his teacher’s questions...more
This book was very... unique. It was a good unique, not a creepy "unique", but a good one. Most teens like to read about books with romance, wild action, realistic problems that people face in real life, and e.c.t. but this was a novel about a boy who changed his outside "Image" every time he moved away to fit in. For example, he was a surfer in California.
It was cool because the guy in the book, "San Lee" gives his opinion about his review on his life, and school. But he falls for a girl in hi...more
It was cool because the guy in the book, "San Lee" gives his opinion about his review on his life, and school. But he falls for a girl in hi...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
San Lee has spent most of his life packing up, moving, and starting at a new school. He can tell you "A school is a school is a school". They all look the same, smell the same, are the same. Now he's moved to Nowheresville, PA with his mom and without his dad, who was recently arrested and thrown in jail. San's biggest decision? Who is he going to be at this school? The answer presents itself in the form of a school assignment. San will be a Zen Master, in the tradition of his ancestors. Althoug...more
Apr 22, 2012
Scott
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone looking for a good realistic YA novel.
When I read a book I don't like, it's easy to point out it's flaws. When I read a good book, it's much more difficult to say what I like about it. Case in point: Zen and the Art of Faking It.
The characters are believable. The main character, San Lee, is a Chinese boy adopted by white parents, and he's trying to define his identity at his new school. Though his conscious efforts to fake his own persona is a character flaw, he's still very likable. It reminds me of how difficult — and important —...more
The characters are believable. The main character, San Lee, is a Chinese boy adopted by white parents, and he's trying to define his identity at his new school. Though his conscious efforts to fake his own persona is a character flaw, he's still very likable. It reminds me of how difficult — and important —...more
Another Sonnenblick. Can you tell I like his writing?
Follow the adventures of a boy who finds himself in a new town. His father is a bit of a swindler, and it always means that the family has to relocate and start again. The boy has gotten good at reinventing himself in each new town. In this town, inspired by a chance to shine in his social studies class, the boy decides he's going to be a Zen master. He goes to the library (imagine that...a librarian liking a book where the main character mak...more
Follow the adventures of a boy who finds himself in a new town. His father is a bit of a swindler, and it always means that the family has to relocate and start again. The boy has gotten good at reinventing himself in each new town. In this town, inspired by a chance to shine in his social studies class, the boy decides he's going to be a Zen master. He goes to the library (imagine that...a librarian liking a book where the main character mak...more
Zen and the Art of Faking it
**** In this novel Jordan Sonnenblick captures how difficult moving to a new school can be with amazing insight.
San Lee has just moved to Harrisburg with his mother after his father is convicted for a multitude of crimes. He is use to moving around and only living in a place for a short period of time because his dad was always moving them before he could get caught. Now San is looking to reinvent himself so when he gets labeled as a Zen master, he goes with it. San s...more
**** In this novel Jordan Sonnenblick captures how difficult moving to a new school can be with amazing insight.
San Lee has just moved to Harrisburg with his mother after his father is convicted for a multitude of crimes. He is use to moving around and only living in a place for a short period of time because his dad was always moving them before he could get caught. Now San is looking to reinvent himself so when he gets labeled as a Zen master, he goes with it. San s...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Summary: San Lee isn’t thrilled about moving- yet again- to a new town in a different state. The first thing he does is invent an identity. No harm, right? Wrong. Before the year ends, he becomes popular, helps the 2nd string basketball team improve their foul shots, and wins the girl. Since his success is built on a house of cards, everything comes crashing down around him and he must face the consequences for his actions. All ends well and he wins the girl.
Some great parts:
p. 10: “On my secon...more
Some great parts:
p. 10: “On my secon...more
When San Lee moves to Harrisonville, Pennsylvania he wants to fit in with the other eighth graders. In social studies they’re doing a unit on Ancient Asian religions, something he’d learned about at his previous school in Houston. A cute girl named Woody is impressed with his knowledge of Zen, so he decides to play it up, to fake being a Zen master. The next thing he knows he’s being called Buddha and is revered classmates, but it’s all based on a lie. San worries he’s following in the footsteps...more
San Lee has moved once again and once again is starting at a new school. There are benefits to this: his new classmates don't know his dad is in prison or that his dad has cheated his way across the continent. However, his classmates also don't know anything about San himself, so San decides to invent a new persona once again. San's new "self" is a Zen Buddhist, and San himself has some serious studying to do if he is going to be a proper Buddhist. But what will his classmates say when they disc...more
Zen and the Art of Faking it is a likable story that is well told. San Lee, the protagonist, narrator and sometimes villain, is an adopted Asian eighth grader whose father was recently put in prison. Hoping to start a new life, his mother relocates the family--San and herself--from Texas to a small town in Pennsylvania.
Through a series of comical mishaps, the students in San's knew school mistakenly come to believe San is Buddhist and he decides to play along when he discovers that the charade j...more
Through a series of comical mishaps, the students in San's knew school mistakenly come to believe San is Buddhist and he decides to play along when he discovers that the charade j...more
Light-hearted and fun. San Lee is moving to yet another new school and is ready to re-invent himself. Turns out the identity comes to him the easy way: everyone assumes he's a Zen master since he answers just a few too many questions in class (oh, and he's Chinese, so that helps too). In the process of attempting to live up to his identity, he develops a crush on a fellow classmate who genuinely believes in his Zen abilities. Naturally, as in so many other tales that involve the protagonist bein...more
I'll admit that there've been some books I picked up just for the cover - in this case, it was the title alone that drew me in.
San Lee, adopted Chinese son of two screwed up Anglos, has changed schools a lot in the course of his life since his parents move around a lot. So when fate (or karma) gives him an opening to pass himself off as being deeply into Zen at his latest school, he goes along with it. Because faking being a master at a tradition that's all about being authentic - what could go...more
San Lee, adopted Chinese son of two screwed up Anglos, has changed schools a lot in the course of his life since his parents move around a lot. So when fate (or karma) gives him an opening to pass himself off as being deeply into Zen at his latest school, he goes along with it. Because faking being a master at a tradition that's all about being authentic - what could go...more
This is a story of a new guy in the school. After answering way too many questions about religion on his first day, San accidentally gets the "Zen Master" label. But instead of revealing that he already learned about ancient religions in his previous school, San decides to go with the flow, never knowing that his cover will eventually get blown...
This book has the greatest creativity and plot twists I've ever seen. It's hard to find a book that has many pages and yet seems so short. That's exact...more
This book has the greatest creativity and plot twists I've ever seen. It's hard to find a book that has many pages and yet seems so short. That's exact...more
This book is one of the most educational, very funny, and plot-twisting books I've ever read. The basketballs make sense on the front cover when you read the book. This is the third book I've read on Jordan Sonnenblick's series. His books are perfect for teenagers like me. When you read this, it's like, whoa, yeah man, I know where've you been, and all that. These books actually make me feel more relaxed, and read it for pleasure more. It's not too long to read, which makes it easy for me, but,...more
Hannah Chamberlain
Mrs. Romaniuk
Reading/L.A: Book Review #9
17 February 2011
San Lee:
Zen Buddhist or Liar?
Have you ever heard of an animal called a chameleon? They are reptiles that have the strange ability to change their appearance in a matter of seconds in order to blend in to or stand out from their surroundings. In the book Zen and the Art of Faking It, San and his mom move to Harrisonville, Pennsylvania in present times, where this realistic fiction novel by Jordan Sonnenblick takes place....more
Mrs. Romaniuk
Reading/L.A: Book Review #9
17 February 2011
San Lee:
Zen Buddhist or Liar?
Have you ever heard of an animal called a chameleon? They are reptiles that have the strange ability to change their appearance in a matter of seconds in order to blend in to or stand out from their surroundings. In the book Zen and the Art of Faking It, San and his mom move to Harrisonville, Pennsylvania in present times, where this realistic fiction novel by Jordan Sonnenblick takes place....more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| discussion | 22 | 9 | Jan 19, 2012 06:47pm |
I am the author of seven books for children and young adults, including Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie. So if youʼre looking for info about some other guy named Jordan Sonnenblick, youʼve got the wrong website.
Anyway, I know a lot of people are looking for stuff they can use in reports for school, so Iʼll just get this out of the way right up front:
My favorite color is blue.
I have a wife and two...more
More about Jordan Sonnenblick...
Anyway, I know a lot of people are looking for stuff they can use in reports for school, so Iʼll just get this out of the way right up front:
My favorite color is blue.
I have a wife and two...more
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“Note to self: It's hard to attain a state of no-mind when you're incredibly pumped up on tea and sugar and have to urinate every three and a half minutes.”
—
27 people liked it
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Feb 06, 2011 10:38am