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katdfleming's review against another edition
3.0
Sweet story about a girl who discovers her strengths. Nice accompaniment for weather study, incidentally.
thebrainlair's review against another edition
2.0
I'm a huge fan of Andrew Clements. I've read quite a few of his books and think they are perfect for late elem/early MS. They might be a little predictable and he clearly has a message, but he can write. At least I thought so.
About Average seems like such a departure for Clements. It seems more appropriate for 1st/2nd gr and even then it will have to be pushed. It's unremarkable. You get a lot of why Jordan feels avg - this takes most of this 120 pg easy reader - then the last 40 pg Clement tries to throw in a story about the weather. The drab writing could not overcome the predictableness of the story. What there was of it. I'm disappointed in this one and won't be purchasing it for the library without a special and justified request.
Anyone with a diff view care to discuss?
About Average seems like such a departure for Clements. It seems more appropriate for 1st/2nd gr and even then it will have to be pushed. It's unremarkable. You get a lot of why Jordan feels avg - this takes most of this 120 pg easy reader - then the last 40 pg Clement tries to throw in a story about the weather. The drab writing could not overcome the predictableness of the story. What there was of it. I'm disappointed in this one and won't be purchasing it for the library without a special and justified request.
Anyone with a diff view care to discuss?
ninareads65's review against another edition
2.0
Kinda dull. Slow moving plot. Mostly it's Jordan telling us what's going through her day to day thoughts. It's a short, easy read, but I didn't find it very interesting. I suppose that may have been the point: to make it About Average.
farmgirl103's review against another edition
5.0
My 10 year old daughter really connected to the main character, Jordan, who sees herself as plain and average. In the end, Jordan discovers that she is anything but average. In fact, she's a true hero.
wiseowl33's review against another edition
4.0
Another great story from Andrew Clements! Jordan was an awesome character and one that many of will relate to.
elementarybookworm's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I’m a big fan of Clements and recommend his books often to my students. The last two chapters provided the bulk of the energy for this book. It should’ve taken me an hour or so to read this, but it just wasn’t something I was excited to finish. The story is fine, it just doesn’t measure up to his other titles.
ferrisscottr's review against another edition
3.0
Average - not something that usually comes to mind with Andrew Clements.
Good enough to spend time reading but not good enough to spend money on (I got this out of the library).
Good enough to spend time reading but not good enough to spend money on (I got this out of the library).
lazygal's review against another edition
3.0
Another book that misses by trying to do too much. Jordan, Plain and Average, and her journey toward realizing she's perhaps plain but not completely average, would have been enough. The tornado? Too much.
There are so many children in middle school who think they're average (I was one of them): not particularly smart, not particularly talented, not particularly popular. Jordan is a solid B/C student who works hard, she loves to sing and play her violin but isn't great at them; thinking about it, she's only really good at babysitting and gardening, ok at a bunch of things and really bad at others. The problem, of course, is that others see many more things that she's good at - they're just not things that Jordan thinks about or cares about. And then there's the bully, Marlea.
The bully situation is one of the best passages in the book, with Jordan opining that sometimes the anti-bullying program works (when there's physical intimidation) and sometimes doesn't (when it's more verbal in nature). That's a passage that more teachers and administrators need to read! How Jordan actually handles things is interesting, and had the author played that out more, not bringing the tornado into things, this would have been a solid 5-star book.
There are so many children in middle school who think they're average (I was one of them): not particularly smart, not particularly talented, not particularly popular. Jordan is a solid B/C student who works hard, she loves to sing and play her violin but isn't great at them; thinking about it, she's only really good at babysitting and gardening, ok at a bunch of things and really bad at others. The problem, of course, is that others see many more things that she's good at - they're just not things that Jordan thinks about or cares about. And then there's the bully, Marlea.
The bully situation is one of the best passages in the book, with Jordan opining that sometimes the anti-bullying program works (when there's physical intimidation) and sometimes doesn't (when it's more verbal in nature). That's a passage that more teachers and administrators need to read! How Jordan actually handles things is interesting, and had the author played that out more, not bringing the tornado into things, this would have been a solid 5-star book.