Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Landry News

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 4,157 ratings · 244 reviews

NEW STUDENT GETS OLD TEACHER The bad news is that Cara Landry is the new kid at Denton Elementary School. The worse news is that her teacher, Mr. Larson, would rather read the paper and drink coffee than teach his students anything. So Cara decides to give Mr. Larson something else to read -- her own newspaper, The Landry News.

Before she knows it, the whole fifth-grade cla...more

Paperback, 144 pages

Published September 1st 2000 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers (first published May 1st 1999)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

best books of all time!!!

44th out of 143 books — 28 voters

Nate Rocks the World by Karen Pokras Toz

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Cool Books for Grades 4-6

119th out of 250 books — 286 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 25, 2008 Soccerplayah07 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: school-stories

Cara seems headed for trouble with her teacher, Mr. Larson, when she prints an editorial criticizing his teaching. But instead Cara and Mr. Larson find themselves joined in the fight of their lives against the principal and the school board. Once Mr. Larson was a great teacher. Now he is burned out, and spends his class periods hiding behind a newspaper while his students do as they please.

Cara Landry is new in school. She expresses her anger over her parents' divorce by creating a viciously ac...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 15, 2013 Jimster rated it 5 of 5 stars

Cara Landry, a girl in fifth grade, seems like a very quiet and independent person, but the only thing that isn't independent about her is her ability to write amazing (and mostly "mean-hearted") newspapers and share them with the class. When Cara enters 5th grade, she is in Mr. Larson's class, the laziest teacher of all teachers. So when Cara starts to write a story on Mr. Larson, she lays out all the facts, which makes him angry. After she apologizes to him the next day, she decides to keep ma...more

like · see review

Jan 25, 2012 Kimber Carnahan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: eced-221

In this book by Andrew Clements, the main character Cara is a student that could be best described as a wallflower. Other students at her new school don't seem to notice her because she blends in so well, which is something she doesn't mind. In the first chapter, Cara has been placed in a history classroom of a teacher that doesn't teach. This provides her with an opportunity to write a newspaper about things that interest her - the same newspaper that got her into trouble at her old school.
As a...more

like · see review

Sep 27, 2011 Luke rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was my first Andrew Clements book that I've read, and I intend to read more after this. The story is in an elementary school setting in the Indiana/Chicago area and a new student needs to find a way to fit in. She was a trouble student in her 4th grade year, but for very unique reasons. She starts a newspaper (Landry News) and it stirs up some controversy. Almost every student has, at one point or another, a terrible teacher. Sometimes it takes just one student to really put a passion back...more

like · see review

Oct 07, 2010 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My little brother had this book years back, and I decided to pick it up and read it out of curiosity.

The story was a little strange. There's a burnt-out teacher who just sits back and lets his students do whatever they want, and one student who decides she's not going to take it. So she writes a little essay badmouthing the teacher and tacks it to the wall. Upon seeing this, the teacher angrily takes it down, but later decides to do something positive with the situation. He decides to let the k...more My little brother had this book years back, and I decided to pick it up and read it out of curiosity.

The story was a little strange. There's a burnt-out teacher who just sits back and lets his students do whatever they want, and one student who decides she's not going to take it. So she writes a little essay badmouthing the teacher and tacks it to the wall. Upon seeing this, the teacher angrily takes it down, but later decides to do something positive with the situation. He decides to let the kids make their own newspaper.

The book goes into some detail about what it's like to make the newspaper, giving us a view of Cara Landry's excitement and the effect the newspaper project has on the class. It was pretty neat. But then, the book began to get heavy-handed.

When Cara writes a very personal editorial on divorce, the principal, having always hated this teacher and looking for a reason to fire him, decides to use the editorial and its "inappropriate" content as his excuse to do so. This results in the teacher deciding to preach to his kids about the First Amendment to the US Constitution, and finally inviting them all to witness the disciplinary hearing that he'll stand in, where he may or may not be fired.

I felt the book was a little ridiculous in its presentation. I found the story interesting up until it decided to turn into a lesson.

In an attempt to tell an adult story in a way that kids can understand, it gets a bit clumsy. We're told at one point that the principal calls his secretary - who's right next door to him and who he could easily walk over to - on the phone merely because using the phone makes him feel more important. An adult character quirk some of us could appreciate. Later, we're told that the principal uses certain language to try to make the teacher look bad when writing his request to have the teacher removed - examples of "big words" are used to show that he means business.

Probably the most glaring example of the gap in understanding of the audience, though, was when the teacher is explaining to the class that he's about to go to a disciplinary hearing and may be fired from his teaching position, and in the telling, "[doesn't] paint himself as a victim." Excuse me? As an adult reading this, I know what that expression means, but what about the kids this book is ostensibly written for? I realize that explaining how the teacher basically admitted that, yes, he did wrong and was a lousy teacher for years and is only now getting what he deserved back then, but it's not his fault, so don't think he wants pity, can be a little time consuming to write. But still, to use the expression "paint himself as a victim" to sum up that point shows to me that this author was at a loss in trying to appeal to the savvy adult audience who might walk away with a moral from the tale, and the kids whose level it was allegedly written at.

The moral is apparently the value of the First Amendment, represented by Cara's "controversial" editorial about divorce, that proved to be meaningful to one of her classmates. Or maybe it's how even a lousy teacher can earn a second chance by finding something important and meaningful that gets his kids to think and learn. Or maybe that schools should let kids write about important issues that affect their lives, and give them an outlet to do so. All good messages, I think many will agree.

If that's the case, however, this probably should have been a book for adults. The story is certainly very "adult", and I think a book like this would be better written at an adult or YA level, maybe in short story form. As a kids' book that tackle "adult" themes in ways that likely will go over many kids' heads, I feel it's just too clumsy to really work. As an adult story, I think it could have been written in more detail and put into Reader's Digest. Hence the 2 star rating.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 20, 2012 Andrew Foster rated it 5 of 5 stars

Grade Level: 3rd to 5th

This was a great book. I liked the theme and the way the book read, it seemed easy and could appeal to many children. A teacher could easily use this book to open up a unit on newspapers and journalism. Reading the book, I had many ideas about what lesson plans I could write using this book as my guide and I am excited to try some of them.

Overall, the book deals with a young girl that writes a newspaper to vent her frustrations. As the book moves along, she gets the whole...more

like · see review

Apr 05, 2009 JACLYN☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻♥♥♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Cara Landry is a new kid at Denton Elementary School.Her fifth grade teacher is none other than, Mr. Larson, who reads newspapers instead of teacher the kids. He believes that the children learn best when they learn by themselves and he believes in having an opened classroom. Cara doesn't mind having an opened classroom but what she does mind is having a teacher that doesn't teach. Cara always had loved to write her own little newspaper. So she wrote a classroom newspaper, which she hung on the...more

1 like · like · see review

May 06, 2012 Maureen Milton rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: intermediates, juniors

While it contains an introduction of sorts for middle readers to censorship and the First Amendment to the Constitution, this story is only adequate. Because of its brevity, there's not much room to develop characters, but the discussions on the First Amendment, especially as they apply to student writing, create more heft and momentum. The book does, like its titular newspaper, contain truth and mercy, but it also provides a primer as to why so many writers skirt technology. The passages about...more

like · see review

Oct 16, 2011 Alex Blose rated it 3 of 5 stars

Cara Landry, Editor in Chief of The Landry News, is a shy fifth-grade student who really does not like to stand out in her classes. After being put in Mr. Larson's class, where anything goes - the teacher sits and reads the newspaper and sips coffee all day and the students sit around and chat with their friends, Cara writes her first edition of The Landry News. Cara's favorite part of the newspaper is the editorial, and Cara takes great pride in what she writes here. In her first edition though...more Cara Landry, Editor in Chief of The Landry News, is a shy fifth-grade student who really does not like to stand out in her classes. After being put in Mr. Larson's class, where anything goes - the teacher sits and reads the newspaper and sips coffee all day and the students sit around and chat with their friends, Cara writes her first edition of The Landry News. Cara's favorite part of the newspaper is the editorial, and Cara takes great pride in what she writes here. In her first edition though, Cara writes something that sets Mr. Larson off. Then, Dr. Barnes, principal at Denton Elementary School gets wind of this paper, and because of his distaste of Mr. Larson, wants to shut this newspaper business down.

What Cara writes sparks something inside or Mr. Larson and he suddenly starts to teach his class little by little again. Then Cara gets a little help from her fellow classmates in writing The Landry News and is fully supported by Mr. Larson. What is written in the ninth edition though suddenly puts Mr. Larson's job on the line and The Landry News is finally shut down. Will Cara and her classmates be able to help Mr. Larson keep his job? What was the article that was so controversial that Dr. Barnes shut The Landry News down? Will Cara stop writing newspapers forever? Find out in this touching story about a teacher and a student who learn a little bit about truth and mercy.

This book was a very easy read and I had it finished in just a few short hours. The chapters are set up like a newspaper, with the chapter titles formatted like those of a newspaper, so it was a neat way to tie that in to the whole story. I felt that there was a lot missing to the whole story. I think that there could have been more about how Mr. Larson became a teacher 'again'. It seemed that the story was all about the newspaper (which most of it should have been), but there were underlying things going on that probably could have (and I think should have) had more of a part in the overall picture.

It was nice to see that a group of students could come together and work collaboratively to produce such a wonderful thing. I also liked how Cara really started to understand what the "heart" of a newspaper is and she understood just how to make a newspaper good-hearted with the help of Mr. Larson. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a quick read and who likes books that are actually set in a school classroom. If you like a somewhat touching story about a student who helps a teacher 'become a teacher again', then you will really enjoy this quick and easy read.

As a future teacher, I would probably use this book during a lesson in language arts about different formats of writing, particularly a newspaper. I think it would be neat to use to have the students think about creating their own classroom newspaper, and this could be a project that could easily be completed. Struggling readers would easily be able to read this book because the chapters are short as well as the overall book is not that long, and it also includes some illustration along the way.
(less)

like · see review

Nov 15, 2012 Sofia A. rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really enjoying this book. This book is about a girl who doesn't really fit in with the others but she is always happy because everyday she writes her own little newspaper that has every little thing that is going on in the school. The main character is Cara and I think Cara is smart because that is a really good idea to have a school newspaper that goes to every student. I would really need that because I tend to forget a whole bunch of stuff I am supposed to remember. Cara said that she didn...more

like · see review

Sep 01, 2010 Fifth Grade rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mr. Larson has taught for 20 years and he's burned out. His idea of the open-classroom method is to start his fifth graders on a project and then sit back and relax with coffee and a newspaper. So when Cara Landry writes a newspaper with an editorial about the lack of teaching going on in room 145, the former "Teacher of the Year" gets very upset. Realizing that the girl is stating the truth, he starts a unit on journalism and the class enthusiastically begins a newspaper. With Cara as editor, t...more

like · see review

Oct 06, 2011 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished-midl221-books

Cara Landry, is fifth-grade student at Denton Elementary School in Chicago and the Editor in Chief of The Landry News. After being placed in Mr. Larson's class, where any teacher would cringe at the noise level and the classroom activity, Cara writes the first edition of The Landry News. What exactly is The Landry News? Is it a newspaper telling stories from Cara's perspective or is it a truth-telling factual newspaper? In the first edition of The Landry News, Cara writes something that upsets M...more

like · see review

Nov 02, 2010 zabarj rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, realistic-fiction

Title: The Landry News
Author: Andrew Clements
Illustrator: Salvatore Murdocca
Interest Level: 3 - 5
Grade Level Equivalent: 6.1
Lexile® measure: 950L
DRA: 40
Guided Reading: R

Summary: Fifth-grader Cara Landry has a passion for journalism and publishes "The Landry News" in her new school. When Cara publishes a searing editorial about her teacher's inability to teach, changes are inevitable. When "The Landry News" is expanded to a class

Review: A great reader for a higher-level third grade student. Four...more

like · see review

Dec 16, 2011 Needleroozer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-chapter-books

This book follows the same format as the other books by Andrew Clements that I've read lately. A kid in middle school rebels (in a thoughtful, mature, academic, kid-smarter-than-adult sort of way) against the status quo. A teacher or school administrator tries to put a stop to the rebellion, but the kid perseveres, shows that he or she is right, and wins in the end. Everyone learns a valuable lesson. I guess that's a pretty good plot, but it got a little tiring for me after a while.

The main cha...more

like · see review

Apr 24, 2013 Theo kids rated it 2 of 5 stars

I struggled with this book somewhat, and I think it is because of the conflicts portrayed. I was just uncomfortable. The disgusted principal waiting for his chance to remove the burnt out teacher, the student who "called out" her teacher in front of her class, (Although he certainly deserved it, I was still uncomfortable with what I can only describe as a lack of respect for her teacher. Slacker though he was, I thought it could have been handled with more regard for his feelings.) and even the...more

like · see review

Sep 15, 2011 E19hesse rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Landry News is a book about a girl named Cara and she decides to write a newspaper and she posts it in the on the board in the back. The problem is that her teacher Mr.Larson has to talk to the principal about the news paper.

The book is a really good book because it has some unhappy and some happy parts. It had a really good plot and I really really enjoyed it. There are some parts of the book that I really did not like and they are when Mr.Larson went to the principals office it was really...more

like · see review

Mar 27, 2013 Raevyn rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Realistic fiction fans who are somehow related to a writer or something like that.

Cara seemed thoroughly unlikable at first, but as you come to know her, you really think, 'hey, she's alright!' The opposite is true of Dr. Barnes- he starts out as a slightly overbearing principal, not the smartest, but trying, at least, to do the right thing... until the part where he ACTUALLY WANTED MR.LARSON FIRED AND LOOKED FOR THE RIGHT ARTICLE! HE SMILED WHEN HE FOUND THE ARTICLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can see what I think of him... So anyway, a warning: If you're in middle school, then this j...more

like · see review

Dec 07, 2012 Sieun Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is good story. I like Cara Landry more than Mr.Larson.

Best part was ending. I don't like Dr.Barnes 'Cause he was worse person in this story!!

Evil and mean, try to fired Mr.Larson!!

I don't get why Mr.Larson didn't teach class and only read newspaper.

I get the part that he changed.And... He really did.

Honestly except ending part,(The part that Michael read his mom and Dad's story.And Mr.Larson was not fired.) I think ather part was bo...dull.

But school teacher love this book. So do I. (...more

like · see review

Sep 11, 2010 Nathan Robinson rated it 3 of 5 stars

A bright, brief young adult novel about writing, freedom of speech, dynamic learning, and truth and mercy. Approachable at 138 pages with generous margins, a few charcoal sketches, brief chapters, and a layout that mimics a newspaper, the novel is easily an elementary read (the protagonist is a 5th-grade girl)—but at the same time, I would read it aloud to my 11th and 12-grade creative writing/journalism class.

There's a nod to the internet (a webpage supporting the class-produced paper and a "be...more

like · see review

Oct 21, 2010 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio-books, juvenile-fiction, contemporary

A journalist to the core, fourth-grader Cara Landry reports the truth even if it hurts. When she writes an editorial that accuses a teacher of not doing his job, she sets a series of life-changing events in motion.

I loved the premise of the book and the writing. My only complaint is about realism. I know a lot of 4th graders and none of them could write like that or have the guts to do what Cara did. Perhaps if they had placed her in 7th or 8th grade it would be a little bit more believable, but...more

like · see review

Nov 06, 2008 Rohan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Andrew Clements Fanatics

Recommended to Rohan by: My 3rd grade teacher

The best book from Andrew Clements. If you liked his other books, you will love this book.

like · see review

May 03, 2011 Louis C. rated it 5 of 5 stars

I finished the book "The Landry News" by Andrew Clements. The Landry News is a fun chapter book. It is one of my favorite books that I have read. For that reason I would give it a 8 out of 10 because it is a really funny story.

Of the Andrew Clements novels I have read so far, this is the best he has written. Andrew Clements has written several books like another favorite one of mine, Frindle, The Report Card, The School Story, Lunch Money, and tons more books too.

Cara Landry writes newspap...more

like · see review

Feb 02, 2011 Shelby added it

Shelves: 3rd-quarter-reading

The book was about this girl called Cara Landry. Cara Landry makes newspaper. She starts writing bad notes about Mr.Larson is not teaching his classroom because he's too busy reading newspapers. Cara goes and hangs up the newspaper on the bulletin board. Mr.Larson goes and looks,he starts reading ,and he finally finishes so he saw what Cara Landry wrote about him so he was tremendously mad,the bell suddenly rangso Mr.Larson really mad yelled "dismissed"and threw the paper to the trash basket. I...more

like · see review

Apr 04, 2011 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars

Of the Andrew Clements novels I have read so far, this is his best. Vivid characters move the story quickly in a setting that seems to come to life from the pages.

Cara Landry gets herself in trouble with Mr. Larson when she publishes an editorial on his bulletin board criticize his teaching methods — or lack thereof. This sparks a conflict which ignites the story. But who's the good guy and who's the bad guy are not so clear as the characters change, grow, and interact.

The book is well worth the...more

like · see review

Sep 21, 2009 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm reading this book to my 5th Grade class. The students enjoyed doing a visualizing strategy as I read this to them as a read aloud. They did a visualize strategy for Cara and Mr. Larson. It's fun listening to the student's comments about how the teacher is not teaching the students and how the students are teaching each other. This book keeps my students on the edge of their seats because they don't know what Cara is going to do next and they don't understand how Mr. Larson is getting away wi...more

like · see review

Mar 04, 2013 Yerim Mo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Attention: Spoiler Alert!!!

A girl who wrote a simple Newspaper and changed a Teacher
The Landry News is a unique book. It is about a girl named Cara Landry have problems with her teacher named Mr. Larson. So, she decides to make a newspaper about Mr. Larson and also about the problems she has with him and she said that there hasn’t been actual learning in class, of course students learned something but, they weren’t getting taught and se also added why should he get payed when there is no actual...more Attention: Spoiler Alert!!!

A girl who wrote a simple Newspaper and changed a Teacher
The Landry News is a unique book. It is about a girl named Cara Landry have problems with her teacher named Mr. Larson. So, she decides to make a newspaper about Mr. Larson and also about the problems she has with him and she said that there hasn’t been actual learning in class, of course students learned something but, they weren’t getting taught and se also added why should he get payed when there is no actual teaching in the class. Which made Mr. Larson get angry at her. However, this was true everyday, students came to school and did not actually got taught. Mr. Larson only read his newspaper all day long. Cara’s newspaper was called The Landry News and it was a big success. It became popular and other children wanted to join in. So, Cara and her friends worked together to make another newspaper. But, Cara found out that Mr. Larson won the Teacher of the year award for three years in a row. But, now the real problem was when Mr. Larson was starting to teach the class about journalism and got students to actually get taught, Dr.Barnes, the principle of the school, tries to get Mr. Larson fired. So, the Cara’s class tries to protect Mr. Larson and keep him.
I would like to recommend this book to recommend this book to others. The Landry News lets you to explore a whole new thing. At normal schools and in normal classrooms, normal teachers teach their classes normal subjects like math, science, english and social studies. However, in Cara’s class, Mr. Larson only read his news paper. And Cara said that “There has been learning, but there has been no teaching” (10,Clements). Which may kind of hard to understand because we are used to normal life. And this is why this book is special. Also, The Landry News has some lessons that moves your heart. In the book, there is a story where a child got angry because of family problems, in other words, the child’s parents are getting divorced. And Cara asks Mr. Larson about whether if she should put this article in the newspaper and after a talk with him, she decides she should put it. And this story is called “Lost and Found” (98,Clements). Some might think this is not that special. But, for people who have this similar kind of situation, this could really affect them. They probably might have similar thoughts and might feel the same way.
I really can’t think of negative things to say about this book but, if I would pick a negative point about this book, I would like Dr.Barnes to think more about the students rather than the parents. This point is not for only The Landry News to improve on. Even nowadays, school is going on based on the parents. I think the whole society would be better if students have more rights than now in school. In The Landry News, parents give calls to the school and wants their child to be in any class except for Mr. Larson’s class. The school follows this. However, when the students wanted to keep Mr. Larson as their teacher, Dr.Barnes didn’t consider it until the end. However, There are many positive things that I want to point out in this book. First, it showed how people’s perspective and point of view change. In the book it says, “Mr. Larson had not been a favorite among his fellow teachers in recent years. He was too standoffish, too solitary. Most of the other teachers disapproved of the wildness of his classes” (113,Clements), However, later it says “But The Landry News had gotten everyone’s attention” (113,Clements). “They saw the writing and marveled at it” (113,Clements). “Larson’s got fifth-graders doing this kind of work! Amazing!” (113,Clements). After, the students and Mr. Larson’s hard work. It changed the point of view of people. It changed from Mr. Larson being a teacher with not abilities to a teacher with a great ability. Also, I liked how Cara’s personality changed throughout the whole book. At first, she was a very quiet and calm girl. However, as the story flew on, she became a bright and cheerful girl. Finally, another positive thing is about this book is that I couldn’t stop reading. Every time, I had time I read this book. To be honest, some books make me yawn and it makes me want to go to sleep. However, The Landry News wanted me to read more and more.

Work Cited
Clements, Andrew. The Landry News. 1st ed. . Newyork: Athneum, 2000. Print.(less)

like · see review

Jun 26, 2010 Runa rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have really fond memories attached to this (and other Andrew Clements) books. I first read this one in a 4th grade book club, and absolutely fell in love with Clements' ability to create realistic characters just dealing with school situations, something kids will definitely be able to relate to, since school is pretty much where they spend most of their lives. There's humor everywhere making your way through this book. It also introduces, through simple characters and their interactions and a...more

like · see review

Aug 17, 2012 Courtney rated it 4 of 5 stars

I accidentally stole this from my 5th grade teacher 7 years ago, and I just now decided to read it. I feel like I should have read it earlier. The concept was great, but the execution wasn't the best, but I know that I'm just saying that because I'm older than the targeted age group, so I've read more books and learned more about what makes a good book. However, it was a good read anyway, and I finished it in a very short amount of time. [131 pages, with pictures.]

like · see review

Jan 31, 2011 Rhiannon20 rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was good, if not brillant. It's about a girl who writes newspapers, but gets in trouble for them at every school she goes to. So she tries again in Mr. Larson's class. At first he gets mad, but then welcomes the idea of a class newspaper. But the principle hates Mr. Larson, and when the newspaper prints something he disagrees with, he tries to get Mr. Larson fired.
I didn't like this book as much as I could have because the ending is very predictable.

like · see review

May 25, 2009 Morgan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fifth-grader Cara Landry has not had a smooth school experience since her parents divorced, and now she has the worst teacher in school. (Mr. Larson hands out worksheets each morning and then sits back to read the paper.) Cara is a contained, bright, creative loner whose goal is to be a journalist. When she publishes her own newspaper, The Landry News, and editorializes on the absence of teaching in her classroom, her days of anonymity are over.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (19)

More editions...

Genres

Realistic Fiction

52 users

Childrens

35 users

Young Adult

13 users

Childrens > Middle Grade

12 users

Academic > School

8 users

Contemporary

8 users

Childrens > School Stories

8 users

Childrens > Juvenile

7 users

Childrens > Chapter Books

5 users

Humor

4 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Andrew Clements

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 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 and becoming a writer. I don't know a single writer who wasn’t a reader first.
Before moving to Illinois, and even afterwards, our family spent summers at a cabin on a lake in Maine. There was no TV there, no phone, no doorbell—and email wasn’t even invented. All day there was time to swim and fish and mess around outside, and every night, there was time to read. I know those quiet summers helped me begin to think like a writer.
During my senior year at Springfield High School my English teacher handed back a poem I’d written. Two things were amazing about that paper. First, I’d gotten an A—a rare event in this teacher’s class. And she’d also written in large, scrawly red writing, “Andrew—this poem is so funny. This should be published!”
That praise sent me off to Northwestern University feeling like I was a pretty good writer, and occasionally professors there also encouraged me and complimented the essays I was required to write as a literature major. But I didn’t write much on my own—just some poetry now and then. I learned to play guitar and began writing songs, but again, only when I felt like it. Writing felt like hard work—something that’s still true today.
After the songwriting came my first job in publishing. I worked for a small publisher who specialized in how-to books, the kind of books that have photos with informative captions below each one. The book in which my name first appeared in print is called A Country Christmas Treasury. I’d built a number of the projects featured in the book, and I was listed as one of the “craftspeople”on the acknowlegements page, in tiny, tiny type.
In 1990 I began trying to write a story about a boy who makes up a new word. That book eventually became my first novel, Frindle, published in 1996, and you can read the whole story of how it developed on another web site, frindle.com. Frindle became popular, more popular than any of my books before or since—at least so far. And it had the eventual effect of turning me into a full-time writer.
I’ve learned that I need time and a quiet place to think and write. These days, I spend a lot of my time sitting in a small shed about seventy feet from my back door at our home in Massachusetts. There’s a woodstove in there for the cold winters, and an air conditioner for the hot summers. There’s a desk and chair, and I carry a laptop computer back and forth. But there’s no TV, no phone, no doorbell, no email. And the woodstove and the pine board walls make the place smell just like that cabin in Maine where I spent my earliest summers.
Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is a good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. And growing up, it's the same way. We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life.(less)

More about Andrew Clements...

Books by Andrew Clements

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Landry News

1 trivia question
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

title link	preview: The Landry News
avg rating	preview: The Landry News Goodreads rating: 3.81 (4157 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/853233.The_Landry_News?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348905140l/853233.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/853233.The_Landry_News?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Landry News by Andrew Clements[/url]

The Landry News

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website