In The Class we get, not one, not two, but twenty perspectives -- namely those of the whole class!

This book motivated my 12-year-old to take pen to paper and write a highly entertaining story about her own class. Putting herself into the shoes of each member of her class was an ambitious task, but it was an eye-opening, educational experience for her -- and a whole lot of fun! Any book that can inspire a youngster to write down her own story like that gets two thumbs up in my book!

I've read a fair number of ensemble books and this is one of the better ones. Each perspective explains one part of the plot and sets up an issue to be resolved in another perspective. Each explanation gives the reader a glimpse at the kid's life outside of school,, a hint of the "why" for their actions. It's a bit too tidy to reflect real life but is a decent example of middle grade fiction.

Cute story told of a class that bands together to protect their teacher from being fired. Each character gets their own chapter. Totally engrossing and a great read to start off the new year!

I really loved this book. It was a creative and fresh classroom story that children can really identify with. The author's ability to build a story with so many characters that add to the plot was pretty impressive. I really enjoyed it and will share it with lots of middle grade readers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books for the ARC of this title

Any teacher can share how each class has their own personality. From year to year, as students come through, they connect (or don't) with each other and with the teacher.  In addition to transferring knowledge to the class, teachers must also find ways to harness the students' energies and challenge them to wrestle with big ideas and grow as individuals.

The Class is a middle-grade novel focusing on one sixth-grade classroom. Narrators change among the students with each chapter. Perhaps we're listening to the popular boy who keeps secret how his mother is struggling with cancer, or perhaps we're witnessing friendships change and break. Maybe parents fight at home or are no longer together. Or maybe we follow along with the ADHD student who struggles with his disruptions.

Throughout, The Class shows how a typical class with varied personalities unifies and gains new sympathies. The teacher and her shelf of treasures plays a central role with the students. Her trust is strained when items go missing, and through each character's insight, we gain deeper understanding of their motivations.

This book lends itself to a classroom read-aloud or to a small-group selection. Students will find someone they empathize with, and fruitful discussion could emerge, allowing readers to leave with a better understanding of themselves and their peers, much like the characters in the book do. 

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.)

When I read that this would be a story from the perspective of all 20 kids in the class, I thought it would be all the kids telling roughly the same story, but with added details that would all make sense in the end. Like the first part of THE CANDYMAKERS - it's part of what makes that book brilliant. But that is not how this is structured. This is a chronological story told by the 20 kids. It didn't work for me.

I felt like there were too many points of view. It was hard to keep track of who was who. The first half of the book seemed to be working on establishing those characters, but I kept turning pages asking when we were going to get to the crux of the story. Once we did, it was pretty flat for me. I had a hard time drumming up any excitement or urgency for finishing the story. And the format made it hard for me to connect with any characters who might pull me through the book. While I finished, I did not enjoy the reading experience.

If you are looking for a multiple point of view story, I'd stick with a Rob Buyea series or something like THE RECKLESS CLUB where the cast is smaller and the stakes are more engaging.

Good for kids who like books told from multiple perspectives and school stories similar to Andrew Clement's works.

I loved reading this book told from the perspectives of the students in Mrs. Herrera's 6th grade class. It was a very creative way to tell the middle grade novel. Mrs. Herrera's class has a mixture of students: popular, smart, nice kids, mean kids, bullies, jocks, kids who struggle, quiet kids, jokesters, and kids who want to be the teacher's favorite. Each student lives up to their label at the beginning of the year and mostly stay on separate paths. They begin to come together and better understand one another after three things happen: the "good" student in the class cuts off all her hair and beings misbehaving, their principal tells their teachers she is on thin ice, and they begin to see a boy around the school they thought had moved away. When their beloved teacher's favorite items go missing, the class adds this to the list of mysteries and begins to try and solve them.
This novel approached topics such as homelessness, learning disabilities, and gifted learners in a way that I thought was appropriate for this age. Students who struggle with each of these diversities would be able to relate to the students similar to them. Other students would also have the opportunity to gain a better insight on how a "label" isn't a person’s true character. I would recommend this book to middle grade readers. It would be a great book club book or a wonderful classroom read aloud.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. The Class is expected to be published on October 8th, 2019.

The Class
by Frances O’Roark Dowell
Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing

Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Children’s Fiction

Pub Date 08 Oct 2019

I am reviewing a copy of The Class through Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing/
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books and Netgalley:

There are twenty kids in Mrs Herrera’s Sixth Grade Class there is Ellie who has just finished writing her first novel, and Becca who is out to please all the adults in her life, when Becca discovers though that she will not become Mrs Herrera’s favorite she’s determined to become her most unfavorite. Carson is in the class too, after his Mother got diagnosed with Cancer everyone in his family became Vegan’s but his Mother lets him have Cheese Pizza at parties but never Pepperoni. He feels different from the rest of his classmates.

Cammi loves weekends because on weekends she can earn extra screen time so she can watch Netflix. Ben is really into science and he feels that precludes his Mother’s strong Faith, besides he would much rather spend his time on the computer playing video games. Petra seems to think everything is boring, she uses sarcasm to mask her feelings when she is hurting.

Rogan isn’t into drama, he’d rather spend his weekends playing basketball with his friends or playing Assassins Creed.

Arianna is looking forward to her sleepover with three other girls, she wants to help Becca but how can she do that when Becca is so mean. Stefan somehow always get gets put in with the kids who have ADHD, or disrupt the class in some way.

Rosie was Petra’s friend, her former friend after Petra cut her hair without discussing it with her, she misses her best friend but feels as if she has been replaced.

Ethan, Rogan and Cole are the trio of trouble or so they call themselves as they track down who stole the special things from Mrs Herrea’s special collection.

The twenty kids in Mrs Herrera’s sixth grade class are dealing with such diverse issues as Homelessness, Learning Disabilities, As well as gifted learners.

If you are looking for a good novel for a middle grader, or perhaps are looking for something to read as a class, The Class is a book I would definitely recommend.

I give The Class five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

The Class by Frances O'Roark Dowell is an interesting story that is told from multiple perspectives. There are twenty students in ‘The Class’ and they each share their thoughts and account (from their perspective) of what is going on in their sixth grade class. The creativity of tying in the story through chapters written from different characters point of view makes it more interesting to the reader. The reader gets the opportunity to learn more about each character as their thoughts are shared in their specific chapters. There is a mystery – actually a few of them – going on and they all try to solve each one. The reader gets to see how the story connects and gains an appreciation for the actions of each character. The author crafted an interesting tale about school, friendships, family, community, and so much more in this book! Highly recommend this story!
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Publishers in exchange for an honest review. You will honestly love it!

<i>The Class</i> by Frances O'Roark Dowell was presented as a middlegrade novel with 20 or so different perspectives and that was what really grabbed my attention in the end. I was massively curious as to how the book would roll all these different POVs into one novel and so I figured it was worth spending some time on. And honestly, I probably should have known better than to pick this book up based on something as simple as that.

You see, I was so insanely bored reading <i>The Class</i> that it took me so much longer than I ever expected to actually finish it. I kept looking at it, knowing I should just get through the book already, and decided to avoid it for days.

<i>The Class</i> basically follows all the kids in a sixth grade class as they basically all act like typical sixth graders would--minus the insane amount of everyone dating each other by saying they're dating and breaking up four days later that typically plagues middle school these days--and ensues into some bits of craziness as friends stop talking to each other and the teacher's stuff gets stolen.

Now, while I say I was incredibly bored reading this book and that fact one hundred percent true, I do think it has some good themes to it. There's that of friendship and acceptance and of caring for each other. And it's a book young kids might enjoy and gain some perspective from. The entire class is reading the book <i>Wonder</i> for an assignment and even some of those themes crop up throughout the course of this novel. Frankly though, I'd just rather have read <i>Wonder</i>.

For me, since I'm not the biggest fan of contemporary novels in the first place, I know my opinion of this book might be slightly biased. Now, I don't personally think I'd ever get this book for my child if I had one. While I'll say that the themes were good ones, I imagine there are much more fun books to read. Granted, if this is the type of story that someone is interested in, perhaps it might be better than a fantasy novel with the same themes. All the same, this one didn't quite hit the right mark with me.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

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Review to go live on blog on 08/11/19.