Review of Class of Nine
Posted: 21 Mar 2022, 15:32
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Class of Nine" by David O'Shea.]
On the first day of school as fifth-graders, the students realized they had a new homeroom teacher, Mr. Dave Weekend. The nine students were transitioning to their final year of primary school. For Mr. Weekend, the fifth grade was his favorite class to teach. He began by telling the kids that some exciting events were planned for that year, including an exhibition and their year-end graduation. However, as was the norm on the first day, Mr. Weekend asked the children to write a letter to their future self. In asking this of his students, what was Mr. Weekend up to?
Given the intensity and the drama of the tween years, I thought Mr. Weekend managed himself well with the children. This is the aspect I liked best with David O’Shea’s book, Class of Nine. As a parent of a preadolescence girl, I find it hard motivating my daughter to help around the house. It’s even worse when I spontaneously ask her to do certain chores, like cleaning up her room. On such occasions, my request may turn into a full-blown argument with her. In the case of Mr. Weekend, in contrast, I marveled at the ease with which he dealt with the conflicts arising among his students.
Nonetheless, one major conflict arose on the choice of topics that the children would participate in the upcoming exhibition. During my reading, I disapproved of Mr. Weekend’s choice of transgenderism as a topic for exhibition by one of the students’ groups. I felt this was needlessly exposing a divisive gender issue to children far too early in their lives. In other words, I would have understood if the kids had chosen the topic themselves. So, this was the only aspect I disliked about the story.
To his credit, even so, the author featured a discussion of diseases brought about by genetic disorders, such as cancer and Down syndrome. The publisher also seemed to have done a professional job on the book’s editing. Overall, I deducted a star for the mentioned shortcoming and rated the book 3 out of 4 stars.
Since O’Shea introduced a tough topic, I recommend this book to parents wishing to broach the subject of transgenderism with their children. This topic and the other two have been researched well by the children. At the same time, the book may be less suited for enthusiasts of fantasy tales.
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Class of Nine
View: on Bookshelves
On the first day of school as fifth-graders, the students realized they had a new homeroom teacher, Mr. Dave Weekend. The nine students were transitioning to their final year of primary school. For Mr. Weekend, the fifth grade was his favorite class to teach. He began by telling the kids that some exciting events were planned for that year, including an exhibition and their year-end graduation. However, as was the norm on the first day, Mr. Weekend asked the children to write a letter to their future self. In asking this of his students, what was Mr. Weekend up to?
Given the intensity and the drama of the tween years, I thought Mr. Weekend managed himself well with the children. This is the aspect I liked best with David O’Shea’s book, Class of Nine. As a parent of a preadolescence girl, I find it hard motivating my daughter to help around the house. It’s even worse when I spontaneously ask her to do certain chores, like cleaning up her room. On such occasions, my request may turn into a full-blown argument with her. In the case of Mr. Weekend, in contrast, I marveled at the ease with which he dealt with the conflicts arising among his students.
Nonetheless, one major conflict arose on the choice of topics that the children would participate in the upcoming exhibition. During my reading, I disapproved of Mr. Weekend’s choice of transgenderism as a topic for exhibition by one of the students’ groups. I felt this was needlessly exposing a divisive gender issue to children far too early in their lives. In other words, I would have understood if the kids had chosen the topic themselves. So, this was the only aspect I disliked about the story.
To his credit, even so, the author featured a discussion of diseases brought about by genetic disorders, such as cancer and Down syndrome. The publisher also seemed to have done a professional job on the book’s editing. Overall, I deducted a star for the mentioned shortcoming and rated the book 3 out of 4 stars.
Since O’Shea introduced a tough topic, I recommend this book to parents wishing to broach the subject of transgenderism with their children. This topic and the other two have been researched well by the children. At the same time, the book may be less suited for enthusiasts of fantasy tales.
******
Class of Nine
View: on Bookshelves