Fish Face

The Kids of the Polk Street School #2

by Patricia Reilly Giff, Blanche Sims (Illustrator)

Emily Arrow may be a poor reader, but she's terrific in math and is also the fastest runner in her class. In October school gets even better when a newcomer from Florida, Dawn Tiffanie Bosco, joins the class and sits next to her.
When Emily sees that Dawn's a better reader and a faster runner, she tries to accept it with grace. Emily is still sure it wil be fun to have a new friend to show her "fish face" to and share secrets with.
But then Emily discovers something awful--- Dawn's a thief! And to make matters worse, no one will believe Emily.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Juvenile, Chapter Books

75 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Patricia Reilly Giff was the author of many beloved books for children, including the Kids of the Polk Street School books, the Friends and Amigos books, and the Polka Dot Private Eye books. Several of her novels for older readers have been chosen as ALA-ALSC Notable Books and ALA-YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. They include The Gift of the Pirate Queen; All the Way Home; Water Street; Nory Ryan's Song, a Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Honor Book for Fiction; and the Newbery Honor Books Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods. Lily's Crossing was also chosen as a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh, we have all experienced that new child coming to the classroom and who is trying so hard to fit in, and the struggles they have. Well, this book captures that from both sides, the new girl and the one who is trying to help her become a friend. I loved the twists and turns of this book. This would be a great book to have when a new student enters the classroom so that everyone understands how that student may feel. A great mentor text for opening discussions on just that topic.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really wish the rude remarks on a boy who still wets the bed were not included in this book. How many bed-wetting kids were hurt when they read this (or worse, when their teacher read it to the class)?

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story. There were lessons in understanding and friendship.

[AquaMoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first time I read this, back in the 80s, I was around the same age as the characters in the book. Maybe a little younger. (and I really wanted a Lucky Unicorn of my own that I could carry in my pocket). The book popped up in my feed recently. I remember really liking the story back in the day, so I decided to revisit it.

And it was all right.

Before I launch into my personal review, I want to comment on things others have said: Specifically on how mean and bratty and unlikable and, well, straight-up awful the characters are. By today's lofty standards, the way Emily and friends behave toward their peers would be deemed unacceptable. In books published today, characters would never make fun of a classmate for wetting the bed or being a crybaby or being overweight or whatever. And while I totally agree on the meanness factor there (and I in no way condone that behavior), the fact remains that it's real, whether readers like it or not. Because the fact remains that kids can be mean and unfiltered. And they have an uncanny knack for finding one's most sensitive places and poking them with a sharp stick. What's more, they can turn on you out of nowhere. Just because they're your friend today doesn't mean they won't be busting your chops tomorrow. This book and the way it depicts such behavior is actually pretty authentic. Also, the fact remains that it was published in the 80s when things weren't so...I was going to say "polite," but I suppose "censored" is a more fitting word.

Anyway...

This book focuses on Emily. She's not the smartest or prettiest girl in her class, but she IS the fastest runner. She prides herself in that. It's the one thing she feels she has going for her. All this changes when new girl Dawn arrives. Dawn is pretty, smart, and she becomes instantly popular (also, she's a bit of a snob, if you want my opinion). Worst of all, she's a faster runner. Emily is both fascinated by and jealous of Dawn. And Emily wants very badly to be Dawn's BFF in the worst way...but she also kind of hates her. This Frenemyship (is that even a word?) is pretty much the basis for this entire book. And things only get worse when Emily's Lucky Unicorn disappears. The prime suspect? Dawn, of course. But can Emily prove it? Much pettiness and nastiness ensues, because, like I said, kids can be mean. But the girls (tentatively) patch things up (sort of). That doesn't mean everything between them is all rainbows and sunshine from now on, though. But Emily does eventually get her Unicorn back.

Overall, not a bad read. It had its moments. Did I love it as much as I did when I first read it? Of course not! I was probably all of 7-8 years old on the first go-round and just starting to have the skill (and attention span) to read chapter books. So, at the time, I really had nothing to compare it to. I'm not even sure I'd been fully introduced to the Ramona books at that point. Honestly, I think I just liked that a character had a Lucky Unicorn...which I still think is pretty cool. But like I said, not bad. Not bad at all.

[Brina Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm reading this to my class. I teach first grade and I have to say perhaps this was not a good pick. My students are obsessed with the fact that the student stole from another child. I'm am writing this review for them because they are really upset about it. It also hops around a lot and they can't keep up.
Not the best pick for such a young age group.

[Brianna Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second graders in my practicum class were reading this book in their guided reading group. This book is fairly simple for a chapter book and would be a great book to use to transition students from independent reading of picture books to chapter books. The story line is okay, but not as engaging and interesting as other transitional chapter books.

[Katie Nanney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book reminded me of when I was in second grade and how hard it was to make new friends. The two girls in the story learned how to be friends despite differences, and that is a lesson we all need. I can see it being used in second and third grade to teach about friendship. I would recommend this book as an intermediate reader book for second or third grade

[Melissa Namba · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is not the most interesting of the Polk street books. a new girl comes to town and emily doesn't get along with her. if really takes her a while to learn to see from her perspective and at the end it didn't seem genuine because there wasn't really an aha moment for her. true, the new girl did steal her toy, but still.

[Karina Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three of my kids loved it, and there was a lot for us to stop and talk about -- the type of friend we should be, choosing the right, being honest, being understanding of others' hardships, pay-backs are not good, etc...

[Amber Hodges · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about Emily, she is an AWESOME runner, but that is because she has a good luck charm, Uni the unicorn, but there is a new student, Dawn, and she STEALS Uni! Now Emily can't run as fast, she needs her good luck charm!

[Jill Frick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a cute story but that's it. It had almost no meat to it and was resolved on ONE page with NOTHING special. Ugh!!!! Why can't they have simple 3rd grade books for low readers with some meat??????

[sana ୨୧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i used to think polk street kids were a lot more popular than they were because my first grade teacher was stocked on them and let me read them with magic treehouse and junie b jones?? i was so shocked that it had so little reviews on here

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars -- Notice: Deep Discussion Ahead. What makes a book dated? When I taught Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, I would tell all of my students that times change, but people don't. People have the same hopes & dreams, a desire to be loved, a desire to be a success (however they define it), a desire to fit in, etc. Because of that, when we read a story, we recognize ourselves in the pages. Regardless of appearance or age of the characters, a good author helps us to identify similarities to ourselves. So back to the original question. What makes a book dated? Giff tries to keep this series timeless. No references are made to years or even a state. It is just dates, September 30th to October 7th, and the Polk Street School. The kids are also timeless. They may not have computers or tablets or the Internet, but even without those, they still represent every kid, including those who wet the bed, those who steal, those who think of someone as fat, those who feel less than someone else, those who feel guilt, etc. The class is also a representation of a typical second-grade class. I can't tell that they do a whole lot, but it still seems very real. I am jealous of the class size, though, 13 is a great number to teach! So I ask this question because I am debating about whether or not to keep this series in my library. This installment (#2) was published in 1984, but the individual books are shorter so they fill that tweener stage between picture books & chapter books, and they cover very real topics so they are not 'fluff'. Maybe I will read the rest of these and leave them on the shelf until I find something comparable that is newer. Thank you for listening.

[Shanna Houston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a reading group for school.
Silly story of a new student, a missing unicorn, and a surprise party.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second grade tenion continues. The first book is Beast's book, this book belongs to Emily Arrow.

It was fun to read aloud. ...Even if I was hoping Emily would punch Dawn Tiffanie Bosco right in her non-fish-face. Because seriously, who the aech ee double hockey sticks does that uni-theif think she is?

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A just-fine little installment of the Polk Street Kids. It has a clear cut message mixed with a little bit of interesting morality (questioning whether or not the protagonist has been mean). I enjoyed it.

[Jane Deaux]

the other night i had a dream that i was a kid again and i was looking at the books on my bookshelf. this was one of them. i haven't thought about this book in probably about 20 years.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

No review.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book I have recently read with my guided reading group. I love Patricia Reilly Giff, but this is not my favorite book of hers. The kids did enjoy it and found it rather funny!

[Jaelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

wow i read this a long time ago

[AMD · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this entire series! Took me forever to remember who wrote them!

[Deborah Harris]

AR Quiz No. 5219 EN Fiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 2.7 - AR Pts: 1.0
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP, RV, VP

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED the Polk Sreet School books as a kid!!

[Bradley Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first "chapter book" that I can ever remember reading. I remember almost nothing about it, but it holds a special place in my mind. So that's good.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, Emily is my favorite out of these children. She ended up doing the right thing in the end.