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The Downside of Being Up
Thirteen-year-old Bobby Connor is a normal adolescent boy--at least he hopes he is--just trying to survive middle school. But it seems he's being foiled at every turn, and even his own body is conspiring against him. And when his math teacher is seriously injured from the shock and fright of witnessing just how out of control Bobby's changing adolescent body is getting, he...more
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
September 15th 2011
by Putnam Juvenile
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Unless you are a middle school boy who is obsessed with your penis and its apparently uncontrollable and erratic behavior, then this is not the book for you. The Downside of Being Up (and no, unfortunately I didn't get the title, being a 40-something school librarian sans penis) is about thirteen-year-old Bobby Conner, who is in trouble because of his penis problem. Specifically, he had one of those unfortunate school day erections that he just could not cover. Instead, his whole math class was...more
I'm glad that Alan Sitomer writes books that often appeal to a forgotten audience. I enjoyed Hip-Hop High School and The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez, and while his most recent book probably seeks to attract a different kind of audience, it disappointed me. Maybe you have to be a teen boy to appreciate this one, but I grew tired very fast of all the erection and flatulence jokes found throughout the book. While I'm glad someone approached this particular topic--involuntary erections that rise...more
If you need a go-to reference for slang words for the male reproductive organ, just buy this book! Tired of using the terms: banana, wang, peen, donger, and wiener? Then get out your highlighter and start on page one with words like: weinerschnitzel, pole, south-of-the-border sausage, and baloney bomb. I literally laughed my tail off every five seconds over these terms - and there were literally a million of them! I am impressed with the diverse use of vocabulary, and wonder how Sitomer came up...more
Although I grew weary of the penis and fart jokes, and the grandfather's comments about masturbation made me squeamish about passing this book to any of my sixth grade students, I appreciate what Sitomer was trying to do here. The book wasn't written for me, and I imagine teenage boys will love it.
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Maybe I'm missing something, but I was not that impressed with this book. Then again, I am not a middle school boy (or a male at all, for that matter) so I'm willing to think it's just not geared towards my demographic. However, you know that scene in Mulan where she says she never wants to see a naked man again and then all these naked men run past her? That's what this book was like in a way. I don't need to read any more synonyms for a penis (bologna pony? That's a thing?) OR hear about the n...more
This is one you'll have to read for yourself. The subject of the book is one of a personal, but most familiar, issue for boys.
With NERD GIRLS and now THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING UP, Alan Sitomer is securing his place as a middle grade humor writer which will no doubt put in a well-deserved place with authors like Lubar, Paulsen, and Sachar.
Alan writes this one pretty true to the pre-adolescent/adolescent experience, complete with the anxiety that comes from within and the humor without.
Encourage yo...more
With NERD GIRLS and now THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING UP, Alan Sitomer is securing his place as a middle grade humor writer which will no doubt put in a well-deserved place with authors like Lubar, Paulsen, and Sachar.
Alan writes this one pretty true to the pre-adolescent/adolescent experience, complete with the anxiety that comes from within and the humor without.
Encourage yo...more
Imagine the kid from Diary of a Wimpy Kid being plagued by the reality of puberty---uncontrollable boners. That is what this book is. It is funny in a very juvenile way. Buried under all the slang terms for penises there really is a decent coming of age story. There are things that bothered me about the story--mainly Bobby being sent to Errectional Correctional Therapy that seemed completely ridiculous but made more sense and slightly more believable by the end of the story. Not sure who I would...more
Bobby is a typical 13-year-old boy, who has the same embarrassing problems as any boy going through puberty. He is mortified when an inconvenient erection sends him into Correctional Erectional Therapy. Add a predictable cute girl/mean teacher/misunderstanding straight out an ABC Family movie, mix in the thesaurus entries for penis, erection, and masturbation, and you will have this book. 13 year old boys will probably enjoy it and find it hilarious, but their parents may not be so pleased. Only...more
Starred Booklist Review:
At 13, Bobby suffers from a typical developmental concern: he is plagued by inopportunely timed erections. What is atypical is Sitomer’s fearless comic treatment of this taboo subject. When not bedeviled by wayward woodies, Bobby also suffers from second-rate parents, a school staff that would give any kid nightmares, and a guilty conscience about how his younger sister came to miss so much school that she’s been left a grade behind. When Bobby fails to talk his math teac...more
At 13, Bobby suffers from a typical developmental concern: he is plagued by inopportunely timed erections. What is atypical is Sitomer’s fearless comic treatment of this taboo subject. When not bedeviled by wayward woodies, Bobby also suffers from second-rate parents, a school staff that would give any kid nightmares, and a guilty conscience about how his younger sister came to miss so much school that she’s been left a grade behind. When Bobby fails to talk his math teac...more
I'm really glad I was able to breeze through this in one day. If I hadn't gotten stuck waiting for several hours for friends with only this to read, and if I wasn't such a stickler for finishing books I start I don't think I would have finished this one.
The biggest thing I took away from this book is that I am not excited about having teenage boys in my care someday. I will say, I greatly appreciated the lack of profanity in this book that is praised for capturing teen speak and high school cult...more
The biggest thing I took away from this book is that I am not excited about having teenage boys in my care someday. I will say, I greatly appreciated the lack of profanity in this book that is praised for capturing teen speak and high school cult...more
This book is about a middle school boy who gets a lot of boners. While it dove into the boner issue right away, it didn't mention it at all on the jacket flap, which I think is a bit of a misrepresentation. Lots of juvenile toiler humor in this one as well as penis jokes that are kind of funny at first, but wear out quickly. Probably hilarious to the 5th-8th grade set - it is clearly written with the lowest of the YA range in mind.
This is a book about erections. And although the number of penis references alone will probably make school librarians shy away from it, but this is a book targeted to the young adolescent male if there ever was one! Bobby's attempts at "correctional erectional therapy" will have them howling, but this is also a story of relationships, first love, raging hormones, and life in middle school. Written by a teacher - gotta love that!
This is from the first person view of a middle school aged boy that gets in trouble for getting a 'boner' in class. For all of its penis references this is a pretty funny book for/about a boy of that age, trying to deal with his body, his new crush, his unhelpful parents and at the same time doing right by a few people he has wronged.
This was a quick read that didn't fall into any of the usual traps. I am on a 'boy's perspective' roll right now and I like it!
This was a quick read that didn't fall into any of the usual traps. I am on a 'boy's perspective' roll right now and I like it!
Finally a novel that addresses the ages-old dilemma of every adolescent boy--the inexplicable onslaught of frequent erections at the most inappropriate times. An embarrassing but inescapable rite of puberty. If there was ever a genuine "boy book," this is it because it's a story only boys (or men who remember this perfectly awful time of life) can truly appreciate.
I had such high hopes for this one. Sure the humor was a bit ham-handed - perfect for the intended demographic. The story was a bit limp. It started out like a farce. In a farce, I can accept unlikely premises and cardboard characters, but then it tried to be earnest and crammed in a bit too many issues that were too tidily resolved.
Other than all the erection puns, this is a good relationship novel. Not sure I could actually recommend it to boys as they might get the wrong idea. Will have to look at reviews before I decide to purchase or not.
"All Bobby Connor wants is to survive middle school, but puberty is making that difficult for him as his body conspires against him."
"All Bobby Connor wants is to survive middle school, but puberty is making that difficult for him as his body conspires against him."
This is a Judy Blume book for boys. It is so wildly inappropriate at times that it is hilarious. While I would not recommend it to my students (in the same way many middle school and high school teachers shy away from recommending Judy Blume), I think many of them may benefit from Bobby's experiences with puberty.
This is a very funny story about a middle school boy who is betrayed regularly by his adolescent body. He has a serious problem with embarrassing, untimely erections. One in particular gets him into trouble at school. This would be a great book for middle school boys!
For a book about boners, this was surprisingly sweet. Good middle grade problem novel with plenty of humor. If I were an 11 or 12 year old boy, I think I'd like having read this. While I don't personally like toilet humor, I know lots who do. Glad I bought for my library.
This book cracked me up. Sitomer has written a perfect book for teenage boys dealing with puberty. I think the target audience is likely not a 37 mom, but even I was laughing out loud several times as I read this.
This book was laugh out loud funny. I'm worried that the students may never get to read it because I have so many teachers who want to read it. There are more words for male genitalia than I have ever seen before.
This is a book for anyone that is humored by reading thirty slang terms for erection. Why do all the characters in this book act like middle school kids when several of them are adults?
Bobby Connor is a normal thirteen-year-old boy with a normal boy problem: erections at awkward moments. After an unwanted erection causes his math teacher to have a serious fall, he is being threatened with expulsion. His father strikes a deal with the school, no expulsion but Bobby has to complete “correctional erectional therapy” Between therapy, falling for the new math teacher’s daughter, and dealing with his gross friend and even grosser Grandpa, will Bobby ever feel like a normal kid again...more
As other reviewers have said, I am so not the target audience for this book. (I keep hearing it called "Judy Blume for boys," which is odd considering how many of her books are already great for boys, but I get the idea.) Lots and lots of gross-out humor. There is a nice story underneath, and I wound up liking the girl who is Bobby's crush-- she actually gets to be a real person. I don't think I could manage to recommend it to my sixth graders without blushing furiously, but I won't need to. One...more
Hilarious Judy Blume for boys. If I add this to the library I won't have to book talk it. It will run off the shelf and might only return to the shelving cart only to run out again.
13 yr old boy dealing with puberty - young, funny, quick read
Helps boys know they are not the only one
Helps boys know they are not the only one
This is hands down the funniest book I have ever read. EVER. Like in my entire life.
I thought this book was hilarious.
This book starts out funny and ends up sweet. Yes, there are many penis jokes. Otherwise, this is fairly straight-forward, middle-school material. And there should be a place for this, because a slice of guy readers will be entranced by the early naughtiness of "Down Side." For boys who aren't hooked by fantasy or sports lit, this offers an alternative. Follow it up with Boy Minus Girl, MAD Magazine, and the like.
Kids will like the humor and tone. I kind of wanted to go through this entire thing and count how many different terms one can use for boner, because there were some good creative ones in there.
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Dec 30, 2011 12:13pm