Space Station Seventh Grade (ISBN 0316806056)

Spinelli's First:
Written over 20 years ago, "Space Station Seventh Grade" was author Jerry Spinelli's first published book. Oddly, he had not originally envisioned it as being written for juveniles, but instead submitted it to publishers as being written for adults. (The remnants of its adult's oriented writing can still be seen by the rather harsh language used throughout the book). It was rejected by all adult publishers, however, almost by chance juvenile publishers embraced it. Thus started the career of one finest authors of children's/young adult fiction. "Space Station Seventh Grade" follows the first year of middle school for Jason Herkimer- a suburban Pennsylvanian everykid. The book follows Jason from the sad end of summer to the terrors of middle school where 9th grade monsters prey upon 7th graders, where one has to take a shower after gym, where Home Economics is a subject, and where his teenage hormones start to wreak havoc upon him- creating pimples, making him act up and become a discipline problem, and making him go ga-ga for cheerleader Debbie Breen. We are also introduced to Jason's homelife- he lives with his mother, his stepfather- Ham (who lives up to his name), his younger sister Mary, whom he can't stand, and his annoying young half-brother, Timmy. Meanwhile, his father lives alone in a big city where he indulges in his passion for kosher food. Jason also has an ecletic group of friends- fellow WASP Richie, Korean American Peter, African American Calvin, and Irish American Dugan. Jason is also an avid, but not particularly gifted athlete, and his interests revolve around dinosaurs and space travel which has led him to build a giant model space station. "Space Station Seventh Grade" contains many themes that have popped up again and again in Spinelli's other books- a love of athletics, interest in space, sibling antagonism, snow days, unrequited crushes, and the importance of individuality represented here by the character of Marceline McAllister. Overall, "Space Station Seventh Grade" is an entertaining depiction of middle school life. It's told with Spinelli's trademark humor which is one of the big reasons he has became such a success, and this book has some very funny parts. However, it does contain a shocking "Bridge to Terabithia" moment with a supporting character meeting a tragic death. It's aged fairly well- granted kids today may not know what a pocket football game looks like, but Spinelli wisely avoided references to pop culture which would have immediately dated his book. However, if there is one criticism I have with Spinelli's portrayal of seventh grade is that he doesn't really touch upon the overwhelming peer pressure to conform and bullying that results when one doesn't that exists at that age. When I look back on my school days, I now like to remember grade school as a halcyon time and high school as a lot of laughs, but I do not have any rose-colored views of my middle school years which I remember as just a horror show of kids viciously picking on each other over the stupidiest stuff! Although Marceline is something of an outcast for her individualism, Jason seems remarkably untouched by any pressure to dress or act a certain way which is not how I remember middle school.

its ok:
Its a good book about the stuff you go through and all that, but the guy wrote it 20 years ago so its kinda hard to keep up with, sometimes it seems really outdated.

Sammie's Book Review:
Space Station Sevent Grade was a good book. It started out slow but in the middle it got really good. The end was really good. I hope you read Space Station Seventh Grade!

i dont think so:
In the bokk Space Station Seventh grade by Jerry Spinelli a kid named jason wants to build a space station.Ididnt really like this book because the author made the main idea hard to present.I thought that the author jumped around from one subject to another.For example one chapter was talking about football then the next was about halloween.The author focuses on other subjects and doesn't realizes theres not enought infiormation about the main idea

Cornwall, New York Sixth Grader:
I'm a sixth grader. This book was interesting and funny to read. Jason is a seventh grader who has a goal to build a space ship in his bedroom in the midst of all his experiences of the seventh grade. Jason had a fun relationship with his friends and had nicknames for each of them. There were many adventures that Jason experienced throughout the year. My favorite was the camping trip he went on with his class. The author writes in a way that kids our age can relate to what Jason is experiencing. Some of the things that happened were so funny because they are so easy to imagine happening in real life. The author lets the reader know all about Jason's family and his relationship with each of them. This book is like no other book that I have read. My least favorite part of the book was someone died. That part was also very scary and heart breaking. Other than that, the book was so much better than I thought it would be. R.A.S.