the next great paulie fink by ali benjamin

She incorporates allegories from the ancient Greeks to examine assumptions and to question one's place in the community and in the world. Benjamin has crafted a smart, funny, and deeply felt coming of age story that middle schoolers will relate to and find themselves ruminating on. She uses oral histories and interviews to get to know her classmates as they demythologize this larger-than-life figure and learns a great deal about her own strengths in the process. When the kids decide to hold a reality TV–type competition for the next great Paulie Fink, Caitlyn is chosen as the logical impartial arbiter. Her classmates are devastated to learn that Paulie Fink, the legendary class prankster and creator of chaos, has not returned to Mitchell and they are too distraught to welcome Caitlyn. Secondly, there are only 11 students in the entire seventh grade and they are in no way cool. The kids are assigned to care for a herd of goats that are grooming their soccer field and are expected to have lunch with assigned kindergarten buddies. First of all, the Mitchell school, housed in a ramshackle old estate, resembles a haunted mansion.

Gr 5–8-Caitlyn has spent her sixth grade year learning the rules of middle school survival, and, while not attaining 'silver dollar' social status, has secured a place among the other shiny 'quarters.' When her mother gets a new job and they move to rural Vermont, Caitlyn must reconsider everything she thought she knew, including the social hierarchy and her place in it. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. Told in multiple voices, interviews, and documents, this funny, thought-provoking novel from the bestselling author of The Thing About Jellyfish is a memorable exploration of what makes a hero-and if anyone, or anything, is truly what it seems.

With each challenge, Caitlyn struggles to understand a person she never met.but it's what she discovers about herself that most surprises her. Now he's disappeared, and Caitlyn finds herself leading a reality-show-style competition to find the school's next great Paulie Fink. One thing's for sure, though: The kid was totally legendary.

When Caitlyn Breen begins her disorienting new life at Mitchell School-where the students take care of real live goats and study long-dead philosophers, and where there are only ten other students in the entire seventh grade-it seems like nobody can stop talking about some kid named Paulie Fink.ĭepending on whom you ask, Paulie was either a hilarious class clown, a relentless troublemaker, a hapless klutz, or an evil genius. In this acclaimed novel by the author of the award-winning, bestselling The Thing About Jellyfish, being the new kid at school isn't easy, especially when you have to follow in the footsteps of a legendary classroom prankster.

The next great paulie fink by ali benjamin