Just when Nicky Fifth was getting used to living in New Jersey, he received the worst possible news. Instead of a vacation in Orlando, Florida, his parents plan a vacation...exploring New Jersey. Even though they have invited his best friend, T-Bone, along, Nicky prepares for the worst vacation ever. Can he survive day trips in New Jersey? Will his parents survive T-Bone? Is his dad secretly planning to run for governor? Follow their adventures in the Garden State in this acclaimed book, named to the New Jersey Battle of the Books List.
I honestly don`t think it was that good.I do think that it was a great book in many ways.For instance, i like how its fiction but it still has real facts about the..... NJ Parkway and the other cool places they went!
The social studies supervisor of my school district purchased this book two years ago for all fourth grade classrooms. There weren't instructions on what to use the book for, although I seem to recall hearing perhaps it would serve as a good read aloud. I just got around to reading it; I concur, this would make for a good read aloud.
Fast forward a few years and couple of the Nicky Fifth books were dropped in my lap. My cursory look at them didn't reveal anything that looked real promising to the lessons I teach.
Anyhow, I picked the book up today and read it. It's an easy read. Students will like the pace, the humor, and it'll provide high interest in discussing interesting sites in the Garden State.
Nicky's family moved to New Jersey last year (presumably the premise of the first book in the series. This year Nicky is determined the family vacations in Florida. When his parents nix that idea in favor of day trips in NJ, Nicky is less than pleased. It is no surprise to the reader, however, to find out that Nicky finds out that NJ has lots of interesting things to see and do.
The family sees High Point, Trenton, Camden, Tuckerton, Seaside Heights, the Liberty Science Museum, and other fascinating places. It is the explanations of the journeys to these places that makes this a reason to read this to my students. Funari Willever does a good job as tour guide.
The inclusion of Nicky's friend T-bone lends humor. T-bone is lucky, but problematic. He and Mr. A, Nicky's father, have some friction. It really does help the story along.
Listen, this isn't high literature here. It is fun. It is interesting. There is something to learn from reading it. That makes it worthwhile to add to the reading list.
An annoying (and surprising) thing about this book is the constant misspelling of "all right" as "alright". I expect better writing than this. I noted "a lot" was spelt "alot" all but once. Curiously, Internet was not capitalized. Has it already become commonplace? These will definitely be talking points as I read to the class.