What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. YA nineties(?) novel. 6th grade boy coming-of-age, Ji!l love interest, science trip. [s]
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Jo
(last edited Sep 21, 2015 08:16PM)
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Sep 21, 2015 07:31PM
I suddenly thought of this book I used to read as a preteen in the early nineties. I'd say it was published around that time, no more than 10 years earlier. It was about a boy, either in the sixth grade, or he progresses into the sixth grade after the book ends, a sort of light-hearted coming-of-age story. It was set somewhere in the US and followed the boy's school year. I don't remember much of the plot, unfortunately, but he starts out disliking girls, then he meets one who's kinda cool, she's named Jill but she changed it to Ji!l or something similar because it's more interesting. Towards the end of the book there is a science trip to a museum. At one point they are inside a model of a human body part (lungs?), the kind you can walk around in, and he jumps out and yells "PHLEGM!" at her. They stay overnight on the trip, and at the sleepover they both eat freeze dried space food and then they are kind of boyfriend and girlfriend. The tone is comedic and quite similar to Gregory's Girl. My brain is telling me that the cover was black with an illustrated scene on it, but that could be wrong. It may well have been a part of a series, but I don't recall any other books and I read this quite often. I guess it's kind of a long shot because the stuff I can remember is only likely to be recognised by someone who's read the book, and I don't get the feeling it was particularly well-known or widely read. Still, any help much appreciated!
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Just thinking, it may have been eighth grade, not sixth. I'm British and we don't have the grade system here!
These are the Matthew books! Earth to Matthew I think is the one you're thinking of. I'll always remember Jil! with an exclamation point!https://www.goodreads.com/series/7507...
Oh my god, I can't believe you've solved it so quickly! Thank you :)
No problem! Paula Danziger is one of my heroes.
Now I look, I think I read a bunch of her stuff. I'll have to dive back in!
