Nerd No More - Softcover

Franklin, Kristine L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0763604879 ISBN 13: 9780763604875

Publisher: Candlewick, 1998

Synopsis

After his mom becomes the host of a popular television show about science, Wiggie V. Carter becomes a geek by association, but in his attempt to become cool, Wiggie gets himself in some very hot water. Reprint.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-6?Wiggie has always done well in school and gotten along with his teachers, but he wasn't always the class nerd. When his mother becomes the host of an educational science TV show and uses the word bowel on the air, however, Wiggie becomes Bowel Boy. Callie, the new girl in class and his only friend, suggests he work on his image. So one day he becomes Ludwig van Beethoven Carter (his real name) in formal attire. Next he tries being Lud (it rhymes with blood), wearing a dog collar and spiking his hair with gel and glitter. That doesn't work either, but when he sneezes on Callie and laughs about it, he is suddenly "in" with the boys. Although Callie is upset, Wiggie tries to enjoy his new popularity. In a satisfying conclusion, he ends up with a broken arm and many friends (including Callie). This realistic contemporary story told from Wiggie's point of view is humorous and fast paced. His search for an image acceptable to the boys with whom he longs to be friends is truthful and understandable. Wiggie's mistakes are genuine, and readers can't help but empathize with him.?Elisabeth Palmer Abarbanel, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Wiggie Carter is a nerd, and he wants to be cool. This shopworn premise is smothered right off the bat by a pile of equally tired stereotypes. Among them: Wiggie wears thick glasses. His mother is a scientist with her own educational TV show. He has a brilliant younger brother who blows things up on the kitchen floor. All the kids in Wiggie's sixth grade harass him and call him "Bowel Boy" (his mother uses the word "bowels" in a TV lecture on parasites), and the teacher never says a word. Wiggie decides to mousse his hair and put green glitter on top of that, but it doesn't make him popular until he sneezes on a girl and gets "glitter boogers" on her. As expected, the clueless adults are no help; it's a wise friend, Callie, who teaches Wiggie that it might be okay to be smart. There's not enough pizzazz here to be enticing nor enough freshness to be funny. Ages 9-12.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0763604879
• ISBN 13: 9780763604875
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144
• Illustrator: Ward John