The Bathwater Gang

The Bathwater Gang #1

by Jerry Spinelli, Meredith Johnson (Illustrator)

Bertie's all-girl gang becomes involved in a harmless but heartfelt war with an all-boy gang, until Bertie's grandmother steps in with a perfect solution.

Genres: Childrens

64 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1990

About the author

When Jerry Spinelli was a kid, he wanted to grow up to be either a cowboy or a baseball player. Lucky for us he became a writer instead.

He grew up in rural Pennsylvania and went to college at Gettysburg College and Johns Hopkins University. He has published more than 25 books and has six children and 16 grandchildren.
Jerry Spinelli began writing when he was 16 — not much older than the hero of his book Maniac Magee. After his high school football team won a big game, his classmates ran cheering through the streets — all except Spinelli, who went home and wrote a poem about the victory. When his poem was published in the local paper, Spinelli decided to become a writer instead of a major-league shortstop.

In most of his books, Spinelli writes about events and feelings from his own childhood. He also gets a lot of material from his seven adventurous kids! Spinelli and his wife, Eileen, also a children's book author, live in Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Michelle L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short Jerry Spinelli book for students who want to read his works but need a smaller challenge.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is SO cute and my granny would have totally done something like this Granny did! So glad I read a classic Spinelli!

[Matthew Varney · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book but it could have Ben better like The boys and the girls could have Ben on the same team

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awfully darn cute & funny. Of course I like Grannie. I do not like Bertie at all. No interest in sequel.

LFL find.

[Amber the Human · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of my effort to read all of Spinelli's books. This one must have been published right after Maniac Magee, but before that book blew up. It has many similarities: the neighborhood of Two Mills, Mr. Finsterwaler of the scary yard, and kids who push for what they want. Of course, they don't turn into the Bathwater gang until the last page or so ... it's a perfectly find book, but not a great follow up to Maniac.

[Jacky li · Rating 2 out of 5]

it is about this gang.The sister and the brother made a gaang.the brothers gang waz only for boys and the sister was only for girls.