Nicky Fifth on 32 Dandelion Court

Nicky Fifth #1

by Lisa Funari-Willever

Everything was going great for eleven-year old, Nicky Fifth. He loved baseball, hanging out with his friends and living on Fifth Street in Philadelphia. That is, until his father announced that the family would be moving to New Jersey. Even worse, he was moving to 32 Dandelion Court. The questions remain...can Nicky survive on the other side of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge? Will he spend his summer collecting tolls or pumping gas? And worst of all, will they now call him Nicky Dandelion? Named to the prestigious New Jersey Battle of the Books List twice, this humorous story is a gread read-aloud as well as a silent read.

108 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[Barb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Children's book (grades 4 to 7). Picked this up because it's by a local author, published by an indie publishing house. It's disappointing to see so many editing errors in the book, especially since it's billed as "widely-acclaimed" and the author gives lots of workshops at schools. The story is good; I particularly enjoyed Nicky Fifth's relationship with his grandfather.

[Patrick Callahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

My district is choosing to incorporate this book into the literacy curriculum because of the New Jersey references. Some of my students may enjoy the story being told by a young boy. I personally could not get past the number of editing errors this book had. I appreciate the relationship Nick had with his grandfather, but I would not consider this a rich piece of literature.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun for middle grade NJ readers, especially boys. I'm looking forward to his other adventures around the state. Any book with DeLorenzo's on the cover gets my attention!

[Elle Jay]

Not worth to read with your students skip to book 2.