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Starting School with an Enemy
"Hurray for strong girl characters!"
Author Elisa Carbone bursts onto the middle-grade scene with a laugh-out-loud story of a girl who tackles life head-on. Ten-year-old Sarah definitely has an attitude. But who can blame her? Her family dragged her along on their move from Maine to Maryland, she's left her best friend behind, and the first kid her age she meets calls her a "sick-o." What did she do? All Sarah really wants is to make a good friend. But just as it looks as if she might find one in fast-talking, soccer-playing Christina Perez, Sarah's newfound enemy launches a crusade to make her life miserable. And Sarah can't stop herself from getting revenge--even though it threatens her new friendship.Lots of laughs and spunky characters abound in this totally entertaining middle-grade novel, reminiscent in style to those of Barbara Park and Judy Blume. Sarah's witty observations and trouble making antics make for fun reading, and readers--even reluctant ones--will cheer as she finds an inventive solution to her "enemy" problem.
Author Elisa Carbone bursts onto the middle-grade scene with a laugh-out-loud story of a girl who tackles life head-on. Ten-year-old Sarah definitely has an attitude. But who can blame her? Her family dragged her along on their move from Maine to Maryland, she's left her best friend behind, and the first kid her age she meets calls her a "sick-o." What did she do? All Sarah really wants is to make a good friend. But just as it looks as if she might find one in fast-talking, soccer-playing Christina Perez, Sarah's newfound enemy launches a crusade to make her life miserable. And Sarah can't stop herself from getting revenge--even though it threatens her new friendship.Lots of laughs and spunky characters abound in this totally entertaining middle-grade novel, reminiscent in style to those of Barbara Park and Judy Blume. Sarah's witty observations and trouble making antics make for fun reading, and readers--even reluctant ones--will cheer as she finds an inventive solution to her "enemy" problem.
103 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Elisa Carbone
16 books79 followersElisa Carbone was raised in Arlington, Virginia. She attended college at University of Maryland and also received two master’s degrees from University of Maryland, one in Speech Communication and the other in Education.
She now lives part time in the Washington D.C. area and part time in the mountains of West Virginia.
She now lives part time in the Washington D.C. area and part time in the mountains of West Virginia.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 23, 2011
Sarah learns to control her urge for revenge against an adversary in this funny book. While biking around her new neighborhood, Sarah nearly runs over another, little girl on a bike, in trying to keep her from being hit by a truck. Maybe because he feels responsible for not keeping a closer eye on her, the girl's big brother Eric tells everyone at her new school that Sarah hurt his sister.
Sarah tries to keep her temper, but Eric keeps taunting and embarrassing her. Her attempts to get back at him keep earning her detention and groundings at home, which irritates her new friend Christina, since it eats into their recess and weekend time together. Finally, Sarah realizes that the punishments are costing her too much, and that if she just ignores Eric, he will find someone less boring to antagonize. The school administration finally notices what's going on, too. (One could ask why this didn't happen sooner...the kids don't seem to think of reporting Eric until late in the story.) The author uses the techniques need for dealing with a riptide as a metaphor for not fighting, but just riding out a problem. There are hints that Eric's parents' separation is a factor in his shenanigans.
While this story is not especially subtle, Sarah is a great, funny character--she is quick to react but slower to think things through. Her concerns about fitting in at her new school, dealing with a someone bent on bothering her, and competing for a potential new friend's attention (especially one who likes sports as much as she does), are spiked with nuggets of realistic dialogue and observations. She tries (unsuccessfully) to put stuff over on her parents: her teacher didn't call about her "...'behavior', that's 'beehive'. We're doing a science project with insects...". Her monosyllabic, guttural teen-aged brother "needs a translator". And "Why can't parents figure out when you're complaining about one thing but actually upset about another?" I find it interesting that the kids basically solve the bullying problem on their own--Christina is very practical and rational.
There are lots of threads to discuss here, as well as a sequel called
Sarah And the Naked Truth Could be a good classroom read-aloud, and presents some interesting perspectives re:bullying.
Sarah tries to keep her temper, but Eric keeps taunting and embarrassing her. Her attempts to get back at him keep earning her detention and groundings at home, which irritates her new friend Christina, since it eats into their recess and weekend time together. Finally, Sarah realizes that the punishments are costing her too much, and that if she just ignores Eric, he will find someone less boring to antagonize. The school administration finally notices what's going on, too. (One could ask why this didn't happen sooner...the kids don't seem to think of reporting Eric until late in the story.) The author uses the techniques need for dealing with a riptide as a metaphor for not fighting, but just riding out a problem. There are hints that Eric's parents' separation is a factor in his shenanigans.
While this story is not especially subtle, Sarah is a great, funny character--she is quick to react but slower to think things through. Her concerns about fitting in at her new school, dealing with a someone bent on bothering her, and competing for a potential new friend's attention (especially one who likes sports as much as she does), are spiked with nuggets of realistic dialogue and observations. She tries (unsuccessfully) to put stuff over on her parents: her teacher didn't call about her "...'behavior', that's 'beehive'. We're doing a science project with insects...". Her monosyllabic, guttural teen-aged brother "needs a translator". And "Why can't parents figure out when you're complaining about one thing but actually upset about another?" I find it interesting that the kids basically solve the bullying problem on their own--Christina is very practical and rational.
There are lots of threads to discuss here, as well as a sequel called
Sarah And the Naked Truth Could be a good classroom read-aloud, and presents some interesting perspectives re:bullying.
January 1, 2009
Sarah is ten years old.She worries about finding friends when she moves to a different place like maryland. She starts off in a bad start when she accidentally pushes off the bully's little brother off his bike, triying to save him as a hero form a car. Most of the people from the block did not make it seem like Sarah was trying to save the bully's little brother. When Eric, the big bully tries to seek revenge, Sarah turns out winning this bad boy. Throughuot the story Sarah is just pulling pranks all the time and at times doesnt get caught. Its mostly fun to this little girl all the time.. tunrs out Sarah doesnt need freinds when she could have fun pulling pranks all the time by herself.
July 30, 2022
Not great
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews