Fourth-Grade Fuss

Class Clown #9

by Johanna Hurwitz, Andy Hammond (Illustrator)

Yard sales, ice-skating, and surprise parties are just a few of the things that make fourth grade fun. But Julio and his friends know it’s time to get serious when the class begins preparing for the big statewide test at the end of the year. Just thinking about it is enough to give anybody a stomachache! Julio and his best friend, Lucas, are going to try every superstition in the book to make sure they pass. They’ll wear their underwear inside out, use brand-new pencils, and even—gulp—study. But when test day comes, Julio finds out there are some surprises no one can prepare for! Whether one has read about Julio and Lucas and their other classmates before in class clown and class president or this is the first meeting, here is a story that will strike a familiar chord. With the warmth and realism she is known for, beloved author Johanna Hurwitz brings us the hardships and humor of Julio Sanchez’s fourth-grade year.

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Johanna Hurwitz is an American author of more than sixty children's books. She has sold millions of books in many different languages.

Reviews

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t realize that Johanna Hurwitz had written so many books. I found this one on accident one day when I was looking at books on Bard, A platform for blind people to get digital books. Sometimes, I like to look at books from certain authors or in certain categories.
This book is about a boy who does not want to take standardized tests. He’s nervous that he will make mistakes. Not only does it talk about the test, but it talks about other funny situations. Situation is like selling pizza that they were planning to eat at a garage sale, picture day, and learning how to ice skate. If you don’t want spoilers, stop right here!Each
My sister, poppy, and I read our books with each other at grandma and grandpa’s house. We showed each other the funny parts. I showed her the part when Lucas was saying he forgot his homework. That made us both laugh. I had a feeling that Julio had some thing other than nerves when he started getting sweaty. Although, I kind of thought that they would know right away if he had gotten it. It was a good book.
* edited in later* by the way, when I was talking about spoilers, I meant to say that each chapter is like its own story. I thought I had gone to the very end of the review, but I hadn’t. I did not want to delete all the way back to where the mistake was.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be a fun read aloud for my fourth/fifth grade class. It would address the fears they have of the state test with humor. It also tackles the fears of students who don’t think they are capable of performing fourth/fifth grade work. I love how Julio realized his problems in math could be thought about in a different light outside of school. He could apply his shopping experience with Abuela to the practice math problems from the state test. He also found studying the English language with Abuela to be helpful for his language arts section of the test. When Julio taught his grandma he retained more than when he listened in the classroom. I think it is so important to have the students teach each other because it helps them remember so much more of the information.

[Frannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is great for those that think funny books are the best which I agree with. It is about a few people that are going into their ER B’s a worldwide test and you’ll see how them thinking they were worried wasn’t even the start.

[Victoria Mukadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Fourth grade fuss because it was funny. I also liked it because it had a lot of real cases that people could actually have.

[Zaiden Lockwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked that it was realistic and could happen in real life.

[Alton · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is a fun, easy to read book witch I recommend to children around the world. this book is quite fun and is perfect for 4 grade starters. this might help 4 graders in the final test, witch in my state they call, the FCAT. I read this book in 4 grade so thats how and why i recommend this book to 4 graders.

[Caleb Crawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is a really funny awesome books for kids.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little boring and disjointed.

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad.