But the discovery of Jinsen’s artistic talent leads to a friendship that changes both boys forever. So when Justin, the book’s narrator, has to work with Jinsen on a class project, he hopes to get it over with fast. He dresses in tie-dye shirts, shaves his head, and begs for lunch money in the cafeteria. Together, Dreenie and her other classmate, Tuli, are able to reach out to the rest of the class in accepting and celebrating Bluish as she is.Īt Rucher High, the new kid, Jinsen, is called “Buddha Boy” and considered a freak. Kids call her Bluish, not a derogatory term for her black and Jewish heritage, “Blewish,” but because of the effects of chemotherapy on her skin. Ten-year-old Dreenie, a recent transfer to a New York City magnet school, is fascinated with her fellow classmate Natalie, a girl battling leukemia. Still, the incidents of verbal harassment remain realistic and relevant twenty years after the book’s release. The characters in this book display bad manners as well as some mild bad language (they vandalize a neighbor’s house with eggs, and one calls her teacher a bitch), which has garnered the book much criticism.

And to think that they thought that they’d never be friends!įifth grader Jill has fun picking on Linda until the tables are turned and she becomes the victim of name-calling. You each get angry and you vow that you’ll never be friends again! But it doesn’t always have to be that way! For one brother and sister, a simple squabble turns into the biggest and friendliest parade their town, their country, and, in fact, the world have ever seen. And finally, it’s about that “alley oops!” moment when a child experiences the empowerment and self-esteem that come from doing the right thing.Īnd To Think That We Thought That We’d Never Be Friends by Mary Ann Hoberman (P-5)įights are fights - right? Everyone has them: brothers and sisters, parents and children, friends and neighbors. It’s a story about hurt and anger, empathy and hope, resilience and ingenuity. Alley Oops explores the painful and embarrassing aftermath of name-calling and bullying, from the perspective of the bully.

Oops the book