Behaving Bradley - Softcover

Nodelman, Perry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1442429437 ISBN 13: 9781442429437

Publisher: S&S Books for Young Readers, 2010

Synopsis

Making rules. As if that's something Bradley Gold wants to get involved in. If it weren't for his buddy, Coll, who roped him into adding his "student input" to Roblin High's new code of conduct, there's no way Brad would have been within ten miles of the parents' committee meeting that turns him into an unwilling activist. With high humor and exquisite farce, Perry Nodelman reveals a side-splitting view of high school law and order.

About this title

Review:

Eleventh-grader Brad Gold isn't exactly the most popular guy at school these days. When Brad agrees to interject some student opinion into Roblin High School's newly proposed Code of Conduct, he gets a crash course in personal agendas. In the name of the Code, he is abused by power-hungry teachers, ignored by apathetic students, and beat up by the school bullies--two gorilla girls named Mandy and Candy who are determined to maintain the Code's status quo. When the Code is finally approved, idealistic Brad discovers that having a Code of Conduct and enforcing it are two very different things: "I am beginning to notice a pattern here. The pattern is that having a Code of Conduct hasn't changed any of the conduct. The pattern is that everyone around here behaves just as badly as they always did. The pattern is that people around here have about as much mutual respect for each other as a flock of vultures all after the same few tasty bits of corpse." Bewildered by the whole process, Brad decides to chalk up his misadventures as a learning experience and never, ever set foot in politics again.

Perry Nodelman illustrates the absurdities and bureaucracy of high school politics with breezy humor reminiscent of that in Chris Lynch's Elvin comedies Slot Machine and Extreme Elvin. Many teens will find Brad's stab at representing the student body hilariously familiar, making Behaving Bradley a must-read for all past, present, and future student council members and their friends! (Ages 13 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert

From the Back Cover:

Brad Gold just can't seem to catch a break at Roblin Memorial High! First he's recruited by his best friend, Coll, to get student input on a set of new school rules, a.k.a. the Code of Conduct. Then, after Brad reluctantly agrees to help him, Coll totally abandons the cause. Not only is Brad left with all the work, but with all the grief as well! The faculty doesn't exactly appreciate his "student input", and the students aren't much better -- it seems like everybody wants to use the Code to change everybody else. Of course none of this beats the anonymous threatening phone calls, or Brad's being terrorized by the school bullies, Mandy and Candy!

Brad has taken on a noble mission, but how far does he have to go to in his call for mutual respect? More important, will Brad survive this call?

About this edition

• Publisher: S&S Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1442429437
• ISBN 13: 9781442429437
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240