Born Too Short : The Confessions of an Eighth-Grade Basket Case

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Summary: Fun New Read
Review: "Born Too Short" is a novel that could be compared to a modern-day "Catcher in the Rye." Matt Greene, the main character, is completely invisible to girls, too short (he's only 5'1), and a total nerd. At least that's how he feels, having Keith, the biggest stud at New York City's Hannaford School, who is a God with all of the girls, and just happens to have his perfect smile pasted all over New York in a stupid toothpaste advertisement. Becoming jealous of his best friends good luck, Matt wishes that Keith's entire life would fall apart. He never knew that his wish would actually come true.

This is a perfect book for male or female fans. Matt and Keith are funny characters, whom you can relate with completely. Anyone looking for an insteresting young adult book should purchase this.

Erika Sorocco

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Summary: About "Born Too Short"
Review: About "Born Too Short"

Born Too Short was a great story. The story was about two teenage boys living in New York City. One of the boys named Matt Greene is a 5'1'' nerd and is about five inches shorter than his best bud named Keith Livingston. Now Keith is the kind of guy who is the stud and also the athlete in the ninth grade. He also is so handsome and charming that he practically needs to keep a chart of all his babes. While Matt is the kind of kid who played a guitar all day and has never made out with a girl before.

Later in the Story, Keith is having a wonderful time being a stud and having all the babes and all that fancy stuff while Matt is getting jealous. But then, finally Matt meets a girl and really likes her and asks her to go on a date with him to Keith's rock/jazz performance. But when Matt takes his date to the performance, she sees Keith and is hooked. So she leaves Matt and goes and hangs around Keith. And while all of this is happening, Matt gets even more jealous of Keith. Then, later that night Matt is talking to a friend of his from school when he sees Keith making out with the tenth grade "hottie". Now keep in mind that both Matt and Keith are in ninth grade. So Matt gets really mad about the fact that he is a loser and his best friend is inside making out with the tenth grade knockout. So then, after pacing a couple of times up and down the sidewalk outside, he yells out a bunch of wishes.

Well, further through the story, Matt's wishes start coming true and he wants to set everything back to normal but he can't. This story is very exciting. It made me laugh and sit on the edge of my seat at some points. So if I were to rate this story from one to five stars, I would rate it a five. I really liked this story and would recommend itm to everyone who likes a good story that will make you laugh.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing book
Review: Born Too Short: The Confessions of an Eight-Grade Basket Case by Dan Elish is a great book. Not only is it funny, but it shows meaning to how you get used to high school/junior high and it tells a story of who you are becoming as an indivivual. Well anyways, I am a kid and I think that this book got *****(5) stars! And check out her other books too. If you are into comdy/family(yourself)/problems and learning who you are, then defenitly read this book. It is fiction too, which I think is great.

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Summary: great fun
Review: Elish's book is groovy and age-appropriate. It is a candid, clever treatment of life as a young adolescent. True to life, funny, smart.

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Summary: Bac,k to My Adolescence
Review: I have to say that while reading Mr. Elish's Born Too Short, I was immediately transported back to the 8th Grade. It brought me back to all the anxieties and longing that only an adolescent can experience with such intensity. This is not an easy thing to do to a a reader in his late thirties and Mr. Elish does it masterfully. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the writing and the humor. Most importantly, Born Too Short imparts an important message for readers of all ages. Very well done. An excellent book that I obviously highly recommend.

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Summary: Funny and Big-Hearted
Review: If you have had enough of teenage cynicism and jadedness, try Born Too Short, which is a good-natured and true and funny look at what it's like to be an eighth grade guy. You might ask, what could possibly be funny about that? Elish finds it in his hero Matt Greene's angst about girls, dating, sex, and other looming disasters. The heart of the story, though, is Matt's friendship with his overachieving best friend Keith, which is refreshingly and realistically close. A good read, and a definite change of pace.

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Summary: An amazing book
Review: Matt Greene is a fun kid. I know many like him. I wasn't quite as self-aware, but I was indeed born too short. I know exactly how he felt. I teach many kids like him now. No matter what your age, this book may touch your heart. It is sweet story about the hopeful times we have in youth. There is a magic about those days that this book captures. Well worth the read.

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Summary: Funny, sweet, and true...
Review: Matt Greene is a fun kid. I know many like him. I wasn't quite as self-aware, but I was indeed born too short. I know exactly how he felt. I teach many kids like him now. No matter what your age, this book may touch your heart. It is sweet story about the hopeful times we have in youth. There is a magic about those days that this book captures. Well worth the read.

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Summary: Born Too Short : Put It on the Web
Review: This book that i read, Born Too Short, was a very cool and funny book. This book was about an eighth-grade kid named Matt Greene who wants to be like his best friend, Keith Livingston, who is a the stud/athlete/Adonis of their Hannaford school.This book took place in New York City, mainly at Hannaford High School.One really cool psrt in this book was when Keith was performing his rock musical, Star Crossed, which seemed really good except for the fact that it had only 4 different chords in it. In the beginning of the book, Matt is really jealous of Keith and he makes a wish that his life would be Keiths' life. Throughout the book Matt starts to get some girlfriends and party more and he soon starts to realize that his wish was coming true, he was turning into a stud/athlete/Adonis as Keith was. One of the major problems for Matt is that he was a nerd, not anywhere close to being an athlete, and was barley known in school at all. Throughout the book, though, he starts to change and become more mature and get into sports and stuff. My recommendation for this book would be if you like to read about peoples life and how they deal with high school, this book would be great. I would highly recommend this book for anyone in their teens because that is what this book is based on mainly.

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Summary: A Very Funny Read
Review: This often hilarious book also has some serious things to say about friendship and responsibility, but Elish always makes his points with a light touch. Matt's envy of his over-achieving friend is handled in a completely believable way that doesn't soften his emotions; at the same time, he and the other characters are likable, humorous kids. Probably the best aspect of the book is Matt's extremely funny, hyperbolic narrative voice and his at times wild fantasy life--a great rendering of an adolescent's intense point of view. Very much recommended.