The Nora Notebooks, Book 3: The Trouble with Friends

The Nora Notebooks #3

by Claudia Mills

The final book in the Nora Notebooks series finds Nora trying to navigate the unscientific matter of making friends with someone you have nothing in common with.
 
Nora Alpers, fourth-grade scientist, likes things to be just so. Her ant farm, her hobbies, her friends. So when Coach Joe, her teacher, informs the class that all the students have to try something new and write a report about it, Nora is not pleased. She is even less pleased when her classmate Emma seems to decide that befriending Nora will be her “new” thing. Does Emma really want to be friends or is this just an assignment for school?
 
Nora, meanwhile, has to figure out her own new thing. Will she discover that she has interests outside of science or will all her efforts end up being nothing but trouble?
 
 
Praise for the Nora Notebooks
 
“Will resonate with children who have a passion for something out of the ordinary.” — Publishers Weekly , starred
 
“Readers will be drawn into the story by the sincere and realistic characters Mills has created, as well as the pleasing and appealing illustrations found in every chapter.” — School Library Journal


“Middle-grade readers will hope for more Nora Notebooks soon.” — Kirkus Reviews 

Genres: Fiction, Friendship, School

192 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2017

About the author

Claudia Mills is the author of Nixie Ness, Cooking Star, 7 x 9 = Trouble!, Zero Tolerance, Write This Down, and many other books for children. She was born in New York City in 1954. She received her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College, her master's degree from Princeton University, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University. She also received an M.L.S. degree from the University of Maryland, with a concentration in children's literature. She had a second career as a professor of philosophy at the Colorado at Boulder, until leaving that career in 2014 to write full time. She now teaches in the graduate program in children's literature at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. All of her books have been written between 5 and 7 in the morning while drinking Swiss Miss hot chocolate.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/claudi...

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I continue to enjoy this series featuring Nora Alpers, a budding fourth-grade scientist trying to find her way. The offspring of two scientists, Nora loves scientific investigations and her ant colony, and often jots observation notes in her notebook. But when her teacher, Coach Joe, initiates an assignment encouraging everyone to try something new, Nora is stymied as to what her new thing should be. The struggles she faces as she feels anxious about moving out of her comfort zone and her worries that Emma, a classmate with whom she has little in common, is using her as her new thing, complicate matters further. Late elementary grade readers will recognize some of their own fears in Nora and realize that even the most ambitious and self-confident students are sometimes assailed by fears. I enjoyed the scenes in which the students plant a garden and try to nurture their plants in their own unique ways. I also enjoyed Nora's worries about Cassidy, her new cat who seems disinterested in ever coming out from under her bed and her newfound joy in writing poetry. The experiences of various other classmates are woven into the story so that readers will surely find someone with whom to relate among this cast of characters. And good for Coach Joe for encouraging some risk-taking. Nora is positively irresistible in her authenticity.

[Daniel Hojan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: The Trouble with Friends
Author: Claudia Mills

Reading Level: Grade 2
Book Level: Grade 2

Summary: Nora Alpers is an elementary school scientist with a love for ants and her trusted notebook. After he teacher tells the class that they are to try something new as an assignment, Nora is not thrilled, as she isn't a big fan of change. She also isn't a big fan of the idea that her classmate Emma has possibly chosen Nora to be her new thing. Ultimately, through a few hiccups, including a disaster of a sleepover, Nora learns that sometimes new things can actually be exciting and that things aren't always as they seem when it comes to friends.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Mentor Writing Trait:
Presentation: Not only does this story serve as an excellent story about friendship and trying new things, one of the most noticable aspects of the story is the presentation of the material that makes it stand out to the reader. There are drawings throughout to provide imagery, but what makes the biggest impact is the journal entries included from Nora's Journal. Every chapter ends with an entry in the journal. Often times, the entries provide interesting facts or observations of the world, in addition to glimpses into Nora's thoughts and feelings. Reading this book as a class, it would be well worth it to explore these entries and talk about how they relate to the rest of the chapter. It would also be a fun activity to have students create journal entries of there own, with each entry having some interesting fact or observation that the student then relates to the rest of the entry dealing with their thoughts and feelings.

[Serenity · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher through my district library services*

I really like this series. Nora is a normal kid, who makes mistakes but still remains likable. She is quirky and a bit geeky. She likes a lot of the things that other kids like (she plays sports and volunteers at an animal shelter) while staying true to herself (she spends a lot of time studying her ant farm and reading science non-fiction books). She has friends who like her just the way she is, and although her family members are a bit flat, they're also supportive of Nora and her interests. Just all around positive realistic fiction.

[Dierdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was received in exchange for a review and at the time I didn't know it was the third in a series. Nora is a fourth-grade scientist, that reminds me a bit of a young, female Sheldon Cooper. She seems to be a well-rounded young girl that enjoys her scientific studies, as well as sports and being with her friends. Her teacher, Coach Joe, encourages the class to try new things and this puts Nora a bit out of her comfort zone. The characters are very relatable and authentic. I am interested in reading the other books in the series that came before and to continue reading on.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third book in this series about Nora, fourth grade scientist. She learns some important life lessons about herself and her friends.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a realistic middle grade read about friendship, miscommunication, and the difficulty with assumptions. Nora is in 4th grade. The class has reached that last part of the year and their teacher is challenging them to try something new - while planting, learning about the Civil War and creating poetry. There is a character in the classroom that every student will relate to. I hope to encourage more reading of this trilogy, along with its companion series, Mason Dixon.