Module Seven: The School Story by Andrew Clements

Bibliography

Clements, A. (2001). The school story. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Summary

Twelve-year-old Natalie and her best friend Zoe are polar opposites: Zoe is the talker while Natalie is the writer. After reading Natalie's first novel, The Cheater, Zoe is impressed and urges her friend to try to get it published. What's more, she wants Natalie to publish it through her mother's publishing house under a pen name so there will be no opportunities for favoritism. Reluctantly, Natalie agrees but continues to doubt her talent. But Zoe has ulterior motives. Ever since Natalie's father died in a tragic accident, she has seemed different -- happy enough, but not as happy as she once was. Zoe is hoping the publication of The Cheater will change that. So, under the pen name Cassandra Day, Natalie submits her manuscript with the help of her agent,  Zee Zee Reisman. Enlisting the help of their favorite teacher, Ms. Clayton, the girls enter the crazy world of publishing, handling it with surprising adeptness.

My Impressions

This is a funny yet surprisingly informative glimpse into the publishing world through the eyes of two 12-year-old girls living in New York. I was immediately drawn to Natalie's more introspective character, while Zoe took longer to appreciate because she seemed fairly obnoxious at first. Actually, she remained obnoxious throughout the story, but I became more forgiving once she made her motives clear. Zoe is determined to help Natalie process her father's death, and the feelings Natalie explores while writing The Cheater seems to be doing just that. Clements does an excellent job of portraying the publishing process accurately without bogging down the story with unnecessary details.

 

Review

Horn Book Magazine  

"Like the author's popular Frindle (rev. 11/96), here's a story about a young hero who takes on the adult world and triumphs. Frindle's Nick invented a word; School Story's Natalie writes a whole book and gets it published under the eye of her unsuspecting mother, children's book editor Hannah Nelson, who only knows that she has an exciting manuscript from an unknown author. Natalie's story, "The Cheater," is just what the publisher ordered--a school story. Hannah's explanation of the genre fits Clements's book as well: "a short novel about kids and stuff that happens mostly at school." After reading Natalie's novel-in-progress, best friend Zoe is full of plans and chutzpah to get Natalie published. The more cautious Natalie insists they recruit their sixth-grade English teacher Ms. Clayton to advise, and thus is born the "publishing club" and two useful pseudonyms: Cassandra Day (Natalie) and Zee Zee Reisman (Zoe, reborn as Natalie's literary agent). Clements's storytelling is as good as Natalie's as he confidently charts the motives and actions of the two girls, their teacher, and Natalie's mom to make the scheme seem entirely plausible and its deviousness almost wholesome. Fun of a slightly more wicked kind can be found in the portrayal of Hannah Nelson's boss, the aptly named Letha: "Letha was never a picnic to work for, but when she was like this, things got broken, things like vases and computers--and careers." Family read-aloud and publishing comedy are two genres you don't often see brought together, but that's exactly what Clements has done here. Occasional pencil illustrations by Brian Selznick are warm and, where warranted, witty."

 

Use in Library

Use The School Story to inspire grade school and middle school children to explore their own writing, either through journal entries, essays, short stories, or novels. Explain the publication process to them and encourage them to practice their writing in the hopes of one day being published.  Students may feel free to discuss their writing with the group or individually with librarians.

Use this, in conjunction with other books with a similar theme, in a discussion about death with middle school children. Try to keep the conversation focused on book characters, in the abstract, if possible, to prevent the students from becoming too emotional. If they seem comfortable discussing their own experiences with death, however, follow their lead.

Sutton, R. (2001). The school story. [Review of the book The School Story]. Horn Book Magazine, 77(4), 448. 

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