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Jan 29, 2012

Catie rated it:

Well, if you’re looking to get deep into the mind of a bully, this ain’t it. (Go check out Courtney Summers instead.) That’s because Tod Munn isn’t really a bully. Or if he is, he’s a rather benevolent one. He’s also on the honor roll, has perfect attendance, and is a pretty talented seamstress (seamster?). He’s well-read, a fantastic speller, and doesn’t use drugs or drink or even swear.

And okay, yes, this book is written as a series of journal entries from Tod to his guidance More...

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2011

Andrewf rated it:

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

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Oct 12, 2011

Brooke rated it:

I think that this book is an excellent perceived veiw of a school from a teen bully. He may be a bully, but all that he has said about his grades give me the impression that he means to be tough on the outside but he secretly even says that he studys hard to meet his goals to get good grades. He crumples his papers before he turns them in, plays stupid or coy in class( Tod Munn is in all reading honors classes)while still being top person in class. His teachers do everything they can underhanded More...

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Jul 18, 2011

Peep (Pop! Pop!) rated it:

See I think the back of the book was misleading. I wouldn't describe Tod as an Angry Young Man, nor would I call him a bad boy. Misunderstood and just doing what he has to do is more like it. He's a bully, but not a horrible one. BUT, I know that we read this from Tod's point of view, so it made me biased. Plus, he got picked on, too. Though I didn't understand that part. Bullies aren't the ones that get bullied right? It's the losers that pick on ones that are smaller than them. So Tod is what, More...

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Jul 07, 2011

Heather rated it:

This is the story of a bully, told by the bully. Tod and his friends are caught committing a crime at school. Tod is given after school detention with a guidance counselor where he must keep a detention journal. Tod's friends, are punished with cleaning up trash on the school grounds. At first Tod is reluctant to spill his guts in his detention journal but after a couple of sessions he can't seem to help it. What is scrawled out is the story of a boy who doesn't see any light at the end of his t More...

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Jun 07, 2011

Linda rated it:

I didn't know what to think when I opened up this book. I've seen reviews that it's a great great book and I've seen some which say it lacks a plot, or that it's been done before.

Now I've read Scrawl for myself. I am firmly of the belief that it IS a great, great book.

To the readers who must have spies and explosions and palace intrigue: they're here in this book. They're just realistic.

To the readers who say it's been done before: it's true. A boy makes the More...

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Jun 06, 2011

Stevecrandell rated it:

So the juvie delinquent is really a misunderstood braniac. Tod’s an interesting main character, but he still beats up classmates and takes their lunch money. He essentially lives off petty crimes, both in and out of school.

Tod's teachers either shun him as a loser or bend rules in hopes of his redemption. Where are the ones working for a balance of responsibility and consequences? The counselor steps in, but she seems more of a dramatic ploy than sensible adult, especially given the More...

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Mar 23, 2011

Jono rated it:

Tod “Munnster” Munn is not your typical bully. He is a well-read, clever, and smart bully, one who has read not only Moby Dick and Oliver Twist but Clockwork Orange – and has learned much from such literary endeavors. Todd and his “droogs” have been caught vandalizing school property. His punishment is to write – or scrawl – in a journal his thoughts to the guidance counselor, Mrs. W. Told from a first-person narrative, it becomes clear that Tod is more humorous iconoclast than sociopath, but th More...

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Mar 02, 2011

Kate rated it:

It's tough to know where to start with this one... the pitch-perfect, sharp-edged smart-kid-bad-kid voice? The creative and believable "detention notebook" format, complete with quick exchanges between the kid doing time and the teacher-warden? Loved all that...but I think it's the heart of this book that really drew me in (author Mark Shulman might hate that I said that...he's one of those tough guys who probably eats books with "heart" for breakfast, but it's true.) The tr More...

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Feb 07, 2011

Carol rated it:

This book is a stunning achievement. Without realizing it, I had been taken through the mind of a tough "lost boy" who, magically before my eyes, went from bad to misunderstood to understood to appreciated. This is the kind of balancing act I rarely see from any YA author; these writers tend to overplay their hands by presuming their readers can't handle nuance.

And yet, Scrawl is just as important for adults to read as teens. Each of us thinks we know a child and has him or More...

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Feb 04, 2011

Carolina rated it:

Here's the thing about this book: I sort of didn't want to like it. It's about--and written in the voice of--a bully. And I can't abide a bully. So, I didn't want to sympathize with one. I certainly didn't want to like one. But you know, through the course of reading SCRAWL, I did both of those things. Something else happened too: I began to understand Tod.

But Tod isn't your average ham-fisted, blockheaded bully either. He's intelligent, clever, and ridiculously funny. His drip-dry hu More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2011

Susanhayeshotmail.com rated it:

I loved this book. Completely devoured it in one afternoon (spent prone on the couch with a sinus headache). I love Tod's voice and found plenty to love about this book, written as Tod's detention journal. It is not just a book about a smart underprivileged kid, though he is both smart and underprivileged. It's not just a book about bullying, though Tod is a bully. No overwrought teen angst in evidence though Tod's navigation of high school life is both amusing and flinch worthy as he hides More...

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Dec 30, 2010

Sarah rated it:

One word: AMAZING. The first thing I noticed was the voice in the book. The book is composed of Tod's "Detention Journal" entries - he has to write in this journal during detention for getting in trouble. It is evident that this author knows a thing or two about character development; the voice is so strong, you feel like you've known Tod for all your life. I wasn't planning on read this 200-something page book in one sitting becuase of only an hour of time to do it in, but it ended up More...

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Nov 13, 2010

Robert rated it:

Scrawl by Mark Shulman is a great book and well worth reading and/or purchasing. As you know, I try to get all of my books for free through this blog, but if I were going to pay money for a book, I would pay money for this one. Sometimes you pay $16.99 for a book (Scrawl’s cover price, which I looked up on my free copy) and you feel like you only got $8.99 worth of story. Not so here. I would say I got at least $50.97 worth of story, bare minimum, maybe more. That’s three times the value, at lea More...

1 comment like

Oct 07, 2010

Martha rated it:

Scrawl is a wonderful, intelligent, and funny book. I didn't expect anything from Scrawl when I picked it up. But the author had me from the first paragraph, when our "hero" Tod is busting another teenager's glasses, straight through to the ending, which was as enjoyable and surprising as any.

The book is told in journal form. Tod is in big trouble. We don't know why, and he's sure not going to tell us. At first. But like good, patient teacher, his guidance counselor slowly b More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 15, 2010

Shelley rated it:

Shulman takes a first person account of a bully, and turns it into a fantastic, learning adventure for anyone who picks it up. Tod is your average bully who has been sentenced to detention for about a month because of breaking in and "stealing" the camcorder from the school along with his buddies. While the other boys are sent to do "hard labor", Tod is trapped after school everyday writing his "scrawl" in a journal.

But what is so special about Tod? W More...

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Apr 05, 2011

Ashley rated it:

I actually feel kind of bad for giving this book 2 stars. Everyone else who's read this book seems to love it. I thought it was mediocre. It was interesting enough that I wanted to finish it, but not so fantastically amazing that I just couldn't put it down.

Things I liked about this book:
I liked the style in which this book is written. It's not formal writing. It's all a "journal" from a high school bully kid, so it's not written like a typical fiction novel. I also thou More...

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Jan 19, 2011

Jan rated it:

When eighth-grade school bully Tod and his friends get caught committing a crime on school property, his penalty--staying after school and writing in a journal under the eye of the school guidance counsellor--reveals aspects of himself that he prefers to keep hidden.

I liked the fact that Tod was not a stereotypical bully in many ways. The stereotype of bullies is a thuggish oaf with no brains, but this bully is very smart. You can relate to Tod and understand that he is a thinking, More...

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Jul 13, 2011

Meg-a-zine rated it:

I was introduced to this book from the 2011 Quickpicks list, my reluctant reading boy needed something that didn't feel fake or forced. What a winner!

So much, so fresh, so good! Great journal format, including tornout pages, rearranged pages, stuff stapled in so it mixes up the way we get information. This kid is too tough to start spilling his guts, at first. And some things we wouldn't know at all if his lovely teacher/guidance counselor hadn't asked, or urged the news out of him. More...

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Jan 01, 2011

Reader rated it:

Reminiscent of books like [Max Quigley, Technically Not a Bully] this is a YA novel set from the bully's point of view. Tod's a poor kid who, along with his friends, just barely manages to keep himself from being suspended by ending up in an afterschool detention where he must write every day. The result is this journal in which Tod recounts the events that got him in the room, his rough family situation, his droogs (or pseudo-friends), and the trials he encounters at the hands of the rich kid More...

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May 07, 2011

Alison rated it:

I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would. Tod, our bully of a protagonist, didn't really feel like the angry bad boy he was supposed to be. When you have angry characters like these, you need the character to be REALLY foaming-at-the-mouth raging mad. Tod came off as a misundestood loner who occasionally beats up people, although that was kind of the point. I found a lot of characters to be unbelievable, but I liked Tod's refreshingly smart-alecky voice. Two minor quibbles: When writ More...

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Apr 05, 2011

Brian rated it:

I like how you are taken into this kid's world, and you see why he does some of the things he does. Funny at times, "bad guy" portrayed all wrong emerges as "poor good guy", with character growth. I will get flack for my next statement, but there are these incredibly glowing reviews from mostly women about this book. Does the average woman feel the need to rehab. the bad boy? Does this resonate with their being?
The last book I finished before this one was Pearl Buck' More...

1 comment like

Aug 28, 2011

Donna rated it:

In this novel by Mark Shulman, Tod is a high school bully who has difficulty staying out of trouble. When he breaks into the school and vandalizes it, his high school guidance counselor comes up with a consequence for him - he must stay after school every day for at least a month with her, writing in a notebook "about anything." The book is in journal format, with Tod's entries dated from October to December. Through his writing, Tod reveals his homelife, his friends, and what schoo More...

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Feb 15, 2011

Ramarie rated it:

This was a little GEM of a book! Tod is one of those misfit students who gets in trouble, hangs with the wrong group of guys, and doesn't live up to his potential. So when he's sentenced to serve detention by "scrawling" in a notebook each day, he resents it, of course. But he's actually very articulate...an excellent writer with hidden talents. His smart, jaded voice really elevated the book for me as a reader. ("On weekends, or when I'm busy being suspended, I'm still breath More...

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Mar 17, 2011

Gatorgal21 rated it:

Tod Munn is not your average bully. Sure, he's big and mean looking. And maybe he does occasionally bully some rich snobs out of some money that they didn't need anyways. And yeah, he and his droogs do get up to some crazy things, not all of them legal. But Tod is different, very different. And you and his guidance counselor are about to get a small but informative look into his life through the journal he's being forced to write in detention this month. Scrawl is a clean, sometimes dark, someti More...

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Jul 05, 2011

Krista rated it:

I really liked the characters in this book. I'm always looking for books that will appeal to my high school reluctant/struggling readers. We're piloting this one this year with a small group. Tod surprises me; that's appealing. There's a lot more to him then meets the eye. I'd like to have seen some of the other characters fleshed out a bit more (his mom and step-father) and teachers come off badly. I have a hard time believing teachers/English supervisor would participate in the discrmina More...

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Jan 02, 2011

Kenny rated it:

Scrawl, by Mark Shulman is an interesting novel. It is about a boy named Tod, an eighth grade school bully who with his friends did a crime at school property. Tod is forced to face a punishment of writing in his journal that he keeps secret. Tod Munn has been writing in his journal and Mrs. Woodrow would check it. I thought Mrs. Woodrow was some kind of teacher who liked Tod Munn, but Mrs. Woodrow is the guidance counselor. I like how Tod made a reference to a book named Animal Farm. Wh More...

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Feb 13, 2011

Emily rated it:

When authors like Nancy Werlin and Chris Crutcher provide detailed blurbs on the back of a YA book, it's got my attention. Tod Munn is perhaps one of the most dynamic characters that I may have ever encountered in my reading for my students. He is funny, frightening and sometimes heart-breaking. The novel is constructed as Tod's detention notebook entries for his guidance counselor. He has to spend every afternoon writing in it as punishment for an unnamed crime which is revealed toward the end More...

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Dec 19, 2010

Kelly rated it:

Tod's a troubled kid and is being forced to spend his detention in a classroom with his guidance counselor writing in a notebook. She gives him a daily page count and he just writes.

We don't know why he's been punished, but little by little, he tells us what happened. We see an adult who cares about this guy and this guy who really and truly has a good heart buried inside. His life isn't easy, and we see it.

I liked this book, but it moved far too slowly for me. When I wou More...

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Nov 18, 2011

Cathy rated it:

Tod Munn was caught trespassing and vandalizing school. He was caught by the guidance counselor, Mrs. Woodrow, who gave him a break. Go to detention every day and write or scrawl in a notebook. He’s always honest because she’s sworn not to share what he’s written with others. She reads it and writes comments. Meanwhile his friends are outside cleaning the schoolyard. What's interesting is that we don't really know the circumstances of the original crime or why he gets "preferential" More...

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