Rating: 
Summary: great book
Review: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Every student dreams of being in a classroom in which the teacher doesn't teach and chaos is the order of the day. This is the scenario that Cara Landry walked into in this delightful children's novel, The Landry News. It was difficult being the new student in the classroom, but to be put in a classroom where the teacher prefers to sip coffee while reading the latest newspaper, ignoring the spitballs that are being tossed from corner to corner in the classroom was the ultimate insult.
Cara Landry blended into everything in her new town. Until she started fifth grade she was never a discipline problem. In fact, very few teachers or students knew that she existed. However, this all changed when Cara entered Mr. Larson's fifth grade class. Cara broke the mold that had been created of her unobtrusive image by combing her unique writing style and sense for adventure to create the first Landry News. In her first edition, Cara exposes Mr. Larson for the lazy, unmotivated, selfish educator that he is.
However, although a newspaper is black and white, life is not black and white. Cara learns through her escapade that Mr. Larson's history is not as bland as it appears. As she begins to learn tolerance and being a critical investigative reporter, Mr. Larson begins his journey back to being the high quality teacher that he once desired to be.
This book easily adapts itself to any area of the curriculum. It is an excellent resource to include when beginning a unit about citizenship and the role of government. It opens itself to debate in language arts and social studies, as students examine the conscience of Cara Landry as well as Mr. Larson. It instigates the student who is complacent about their rights and responsibilities as a citizen of this world to become more active in their government. It inspires the teacher who has chosen the easier path of self-destruction in teaching to be rejuvenated and to rekindle the light of learning in students.
The Landry News is a must for every upper middle school library as it inspires students to "think out of the box" and to become active citizens in this world.
Aladdin Paperbacks
Simon & Schuster
Ages 8-12
ISBN 0-689-82868-3
$4.99 US
$6.99 Canada
Rating: 
Summary: Small things become big events in this story with "heart!"
Review: A couple of weeks ago I read "Frindle," by Andrew Clements, and decided it was one of the best kids' books I'd read in a long time. As a result, I decided to read "The Landry News," and my reaction is just as positive. I'm an elementary school librarian, and I can tell you I'll be ordering several more copies of these books--as well as other titles by Clements--for our library.Clements has a way of writing a deceptively simple story--with many interweaving layers--that make his tales appealing to both children and adults. As in "Frindle," where a fifth-grade boy invents a new word, Clements takes a small, seemingly insignificant event, in this case the creation of a single newspaper posted on the wall by a new girl in class, to set in motion a growing chain of events that gets bigger and bigger. It's almost as if Andrew Clements is saying that there is no such thing as an insignificant event. As John Donne wrote, "No man is an island." Some of the seemingly small things that moves the plot along in this engaging story are: not one, but two divorces; the newspaper on the wall; a burned-out teacher reading newspapers and drinking coffee; a mother reading a couple of verses from the Book of Psalms to her daughter; apologies; a helpful librarian; a "concerned" principal; an inquisitive small town newspaper reporter; new friends; the Bill of Rights and; "truth and mercy." If these two first books are any indication, Andrew Clements is an author worth paying attention to. His stories have "heart." This book, written at a 6th grade level, would make an excellent read-aloud for upper elementary classes. Having said that, I think this story is inspiring enough to be read to any class--even up through high school--that is involved in journalism or some kind of "newspapers in education" curriculum. This is one of those stories that has staying power and is filled with wisdom. Highly recommended!
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Summary: Don't miss this one!
Review: A timely back-to-school read for parents, students and teachers (even principals!). I started reading after dinner and didn't put the book down until I finished. Without giving away the twists and turns of the story, the book touches upon the essence of teaching and learning. Best of all the story values empathy, initiative, and student self-expression. My fifth grade son was so inspired while reading, he sat down and tapped out his own "newspaper" on the computer. Buy this book for upper grade students, and make sure your school library has a copy. This story is sure to make a few teachers squirm, and many parents think twice about the challenges of teaching. Who knows how many student/classroom newspapers the story will inspire!
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Summary: What bright girls really want to read!
Review: Andrew Clements knows exactly what goes on in the heads of upper elementary students, and in their classrooms. Once again he has written a book that is so good it is difficult to put down. Thank you to the student reviewer who helped me find this book for my daughter - and I'm not sure who enjoyed it more!
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Summary: THE LANDRY NEWS
Review: Cara and her mother moved toa new town where she was being hateful and some of the stuff she put in her own news paper was true but others of it were not.She didn't like living only with one parent, she wanted her parents to live together in peace. When she was in forth grade she started being hateful to everyone and writing these awful things,because her parents got a divorce.Ever since than nobody really liked her because she's bin rude.She thought this year would be exactly like last year.Cara would write some news papers and it would be all well and good. But she writes her papers by hand so it takes longer.It takes her about two weeks to get it all done.Well before she wrote the news paper at home
Rating:
Summary: New Kid Gets Old Teacher....
Review: Cara Landry is a big fan of writing editorials. But after her parents' divorce, Cara starts writing hurtful editorials about her classmates and teachers. Everything changes after she enters Mr. Larson's class. Carl Larson is a sloppy teacher who would just assign an project to the class, and sit at his desk and read newpsapers. He would never look up unless it is loud. Other teachers would complain, but Mr. Larson would just ask a student to just shut the door. Cara thinks this is not right, so she writes her first ever editorial about Denton Elementary School. She also includes an article about Mr. Larson's poor teaching. Mr. Larson gets mad and rips up the article. Mrs. Landry was heartbroken when she finds out her daughter is on to hurting people again. She tells Cara to write an apology note, and before you know it, The Landry News is a hit at Denton Elementary School. Everything goes well until a copy of The Landry News find its' way to Dr. Barnes's office. He reads it and tells Mr. Larson to be responsible for Cara's newspaper. Cara then decides to put a divorce story in the newspaper, and wham: Carl Larson is about to get fired. But no way that's going to happen. And that's up to Michael Morton, the kid who wrote the divorce story to solve it.
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Summary: A 5th Grade Journalist On the Lookout For News
Review: Cara Landry is a journalist that is learning in her school classroom number 145, but not from her teacher Mr. Larson. Of course Mr. Larson, like all teachers does want Cara and his other students to learn, but isn't exactly willing to teach, until Cara and some other class students finally persuade him to.
Find out more by reading the book yourself! I'm sure all journalists, teachers and students will love The Landry News, a book about 5th grade journalists with a sharp eye on the lookout for news. I like this book because it's a great story with a happy ending. Its way up they're with Frindle!
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Summary: Another winner from Andrew Clements
Review: Cara Landry notices things that other kids might miss. She not only notices things, but she reports them in her newspaper, "The Landry News." In her last school, Cara was always getting in trouble for her reporting. Now, in a new school, Cara still reports what she sees, making sure that she always tells the truth, even if it hurts. When Cara writes an editorial about her teacher, Mr. Larson, not teaching anything to their class, Mr. Larson becomes so angry that she is afraid he'll stop her from printing her newspaper. But that is not the case. Instead, Mr. Larson turns "The Landry News" into a class project. Soon the whole class gets involved and the whole school starts reading Cara's newspaper which has a new motto: "truth with mercy." When the principal shuts down their newspaper because of a story they published, Mr. Larson finds his job is in jeopardy. For most teachers, this would be a cause for concern. For Mr. Larson, this is the opportunity to teach his students a very important lesson about the first amendment. Another great book from Andrew Clements. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Landry News
Review: Have you ever wanted to start a newspaper? The book I read was The Landry News. The book was about a girl who started a newspaper with her class and it was a big it in the school. The teacher does not do anything so the principle does not like him. The principle says they can do it so as long as the kids give him a copy. He lets them do it so that if something is wrong he can try to get him fired. He finds an article that he thinks it's inappropriate and he brings it to the board. The board tells him that they need to have a conference. At the hearing the boy reads his story and the board thinks it's appropriate. I like this book because it was a page turner. It was a easy book to concentrate and connect to the characters. I enjoy the style of writing because I can understand what all the character are thinking. There were many surprises in this book. The one bad thing is that it has no cliff-hangers. If you like reality books this is a great book for you.
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Summary: The Landry News a review by Ryan
Review: Have you ever written a newspaper that was so amazing a new team came to interview you? In The Landry News, by Andrew Clements, a girl named Cara Landry starts a newspaper and it gets everybody's attention. Later on, in about three months, it is a famous newspaper known as The Landry News. On the ninth edition, Mr. Larsen lets Cara put a divorce section in The Landry News, but they don't know that Dr. Barnes got every edition that came out. Then, Dr. Barnes sees Mr. Larsen in a meeting. Mr. Larsen says, "I will take on full responsibility for what ever happens."
Following that, Dr. Barnes tells Mr. Larsen that he's being put on trial for putting a child's privacy out in a paper. But if you want to know if Mr. Larsen gets fired or not, you will have to read the book yourself. I will tell you a little more- the boy who wrote the article didn't care about what happened, but he didn't know that Mr. Larsen would be on trial just for putting what the boy wanted to be known to the public, so Cara Landry wrote another different newspaper called The Guardian because The Landry News was banned. If you want to know who wins, The Guardian, or The Landry News, Mr. Larsen vs. Dr. Barnes, you have to read this great book.
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