Kids in Ms. Colman's Class #4 - Second Grade Baby

[glitterberrys]

With a title like that, you know this is going to be Natalie's book. Sigh. (Also, does the title remind anyone else of that book called Fourth Grade Rats? First grade babies/second grade cats/third grade angels/fourth grade RATS!!! No? No one remembers that but me, huh?)

The dedication reads This book is for Kate Gibbel. No further detail is

Comments

[kakeochi_umai]

FOURTH GRADE RATS OMG!!!! I was just thinking about it the other day for some reason.

[glitterberrys]

So was I, but that's because Goodreads suggested it to me (two of my fave genres and children's and YA, so...)

[carey_pontmercy]

Oh, Natalie. Poor, sweet Natalie.

I have so many problems with this type of story. It actually encourages the whole culture of bullying. The fact that the rest of the class picks on Natalie for extremely trivial reasons is presented as her problem, when they are the ones who are behaving badly. I'm not sure this book would do any favors to an individual unpopular kid looking for ways to handle bullying, either. If somebody's excluding or teasing you because of your fucking socks, then guess what? They probably want to exclude or tease you (or anybody) regardless of what you do. People just sometimes look for scapegoats...and, if somebody wants you to be their goat, you're better off not being friends with them. If Natalie were unpopular for being nasty to the other kids, then, yeah, that would be on her to change her behavior, but...dude, socks.

I do remember that book! Not much about it, though.

[glitterberrys]

Agreed, though sadly I think this book is LESS bad when it comes to AMM's writing and condoning picking on a kid who's not exactly like you. I wish that Natalie had been written as a character who just couldn't give a fuck about the asshole kids in her class, because I do think there's a lesson to be learned with the idea that you can't control how people treat you, but you can control how you react to it, but then, that's not AMM's point. AMM's point is that it's okay to pick on certain kinds of people for really stupid shitty reasons.

[kakeochi_umai]

Nat, honey, I bet even Karen and Leslie have name tapes in their clothes, but you just don't notice because NAME TAPES GO ON THE INSIDE. I'd question the need for and safety of putting her address on it, though.

Natalie feels guilty at the though of undoing all her mother's hard work, because she knows she was trying to be helpful. Again, THIS IS NOT A BABYISH CHILD. This is an awesome, empathetic child who gets picked on for stupid reasons like droopy socks.I love that the empathetic kid is the chew toy while the most selfish kid in the entire canon is the creator's pet

[glitterberrys]

I seriously don't get why a change of underwear is THAT DRAMATIC a need that her mom couldn't just be like "oh well, guess she'll have to deal with the old ones after class."

The address is because, well, then we wouldn't have a story resolution.

[masterdivinity]

Isn't there a book where Karen's name is in her clothes (one of the camp ones?)... I hate Ann, like there is no reason to pick on Natalie and deliberately put her in situations to be mocked (aka her mother bringing in underwear).

When I was in 4th grade I had my name in clothes because I went to sleep away camp the summer before 4th grade. A girl would constantly steal my stuff and claim it to be hers. One day she told a jacket I had on the hooks. The next day she wore it to school and I said it was mine, she said it wasn't. The principal took her side (I was a total Natalie too) and I said that my name was in the jacket and if it was not mine I'd apologize. Girl had to take off jacket and oh look whose name is in the jacket. But then the principal told me I shouldn't leave it on the hook... um where do you want me to leave it, we weren't allowed to bring it in the classroom. Maybe the issue is you have a 4th grade klepto, not that I wore a jacket to school that was clearly not fancy if I had it at sleep-away ranch camp

[glitterberrys]

Good god the people at your school sucked harder than the people at Stoneybrook Academy.

[anonymous]

I NEVER understood what the big issue was with nametags, and I still don't. In Lower and Middle School, it was strongly advised to have nametapes in your school uniform and P.E kit (although it wasn't a rule) and it saved SO much trouble, at least for the children whose parents did put the nametapes in. Why is it considered babyish? I still lose clothes and I'm 19! (Anecdote: I was staying in a backpackers hostel this summer. The only place to dry stuff was on the roof and because most of the people there were girls in their early twenties, we all had similarish clothes. Nametags wouldve saved so much trouble when it came to taking our clothes down

[glitterberrys]

Yeah, I don't quite understand why everyone's so obsessed with Natalie's socks. Who the hell notices anyone else's socks?!

[xenaeilonwy]

I don't even WEAR socks, unless it's winter (I take them right off when I get inside a building though) or I'm wearing my kawaii socks to go with a kawaii-style outfit.

In AMM World, I must be the devil!

[anonymous]

i dont think AMM couldve contemplated not wearing socks. I mean, how else is everyone supposed to judge your worth as a person, if not by the height of your socks?
My theory is that since all anyone pays attention to in stoneybrook is socks, theyve taken one look at Karens very un-droopy socks and decided to judge her soley on that, allowing them to ignore what a bitch she actually is. Hence everyone excusing Karens behaviour book after book- theyre too dazzled by how high her socks are pulled....