The Janitor's Boy | 
| Author: Andrew Clements
Creator: Brian Selznick
Publisher: Aladdin
Category: Book
List Price: $5.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 124138
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 068983585X
EAN: 9780689835858
ASIN: 068983585X
Publication Date: September 1, 2001
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Amazon.com Review
Fifth-grader Jack Rankin's father is the janitor of the junior-high school. That wouldn't be so bad if nobody knew about it. But on October 5, disaster strikes when Lenny Trumbull throws up his cafeteria ravioli: Jack's dad appears on the scene with a mop and says, "Hi, son." Jack loves his father and is proud of him, but he knows a giant letter iL/i for iloser/i has just been branded on his forehead. To make matters worse, Jack, furious when the inevitable stream of ridicule begins, blindly crashes into his bucket-bearing dad in the hallway, unleashing laughter, clapping, and plenty of water all around. Jack's anger is now a firestorm, and as author Andrew Clements so vividly phrases it: "The sizzling chunks of Jack's burning rage stuck to his father--like gobs of well-chewed watermelon bubble gum."p Jack's fury manifests itself into the perfect crime--a carefully premeditated, 13-piece Bubblicious attack on an innocent music-room chair that results in a sticky, gooey, smelly web that only a janitor would have the skills to remove. The "sweet smell of victory" diffuses quickly, however, when Jack is condemned to after-school gum-removal duty for the next three weeks. Stickier still is how this is going to play out at home with his mom and dad.p The after-school hours Jack spends scraping gum off furniture prove to be eye-opening. He develops a scholarly interest in gum excavation, and has plenty of time to make a list of ways he is Inot/I like his dad the janitor. But one day--first in a forgotten underground tunnel and then on a long truck-ride home--he discovers that there is more to his good-hearted, strong, unassuming father than he had ever even thought to imagine. Clements, a former public-school teacher and author of the bestselling IFrindle/I and IThe Landry News/I, has a knack for getting to the heart of things while keeping the story buoyant. Readers of all ages will think twice about what kind of people (outside of their parental or occupational roles) their own parents might be. (Ages 8 to 12) I--Karin Snelson/I
Product Description
centerIT WAS THE PERFECT CRIME/centerPUnfortunately, it also led to the perfect punishment. When Jack Rankin gets busted for defacing a school desk with a huge wad of disgusting, watermelon bubble gum, the principal sentences him to three weeks of after-school gum cleanup for the chief custodian. The problem is, Jack's anger at the chief custodian was the reason for his gum project in the first place. The chief custodian happens to be Jack's dad.PBut doing time in the school basement after hours reveals some pretty surprising things: about the school, about Jack's father, and about Jack himself.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...
 Bublicious September 8, 2008
The Janitor's Boybr / By Andrew Clementsbr /br / Jack is going through growing pains, as any fifth grader might experience. He found out, at an early age, it isn't cool to grow up to be a janitor, like his father. When he begins the fifth grade, Jack finds that his middle school is temporarily housed in the old high school building. The building janitor is Jacks dad.br / br /Jack tries hard to avoid his dad, until the day a classmate throws up. The janitor is called to clean up the mess. Before leaving the class room, Jack's dad says, "Hi, son."br /br /The mean kids, at Jack's school, make fun of him, for having a dad who is a janitor. Jack is so embarrassed that he comes up with a plan to get back at his dad. He chews 13 pieces of watermelon, Bubblicious, bubble gum. Bubblicious is, by far, the stickiest gum and watermelon is the gum with the worst smell. He sneaks into the back of the music classroom and makes the smelliest, stickiest mess, on a desk, knowing that his dad will be the one to clean it up.br /br /Even with the best planning, Jack gets caught and his punishment: he has to clean up the desk himself. He is also assigned gum duty, for the whole building. br /br /Jack and his father learn to understand each other, and Jack gains a new respect for his father and his important job.br /br /This is a fast moving story, in a realistic setting. You and your children will enjoy, The Janitor's Boy.br /br / Jill Ammon Vanderwoodbr /author: Through the Rugbr /Through The Rug: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)br /
excellent January 13, 2008
My daughter loves reading Andrew Clements. I recommend all of his books for young readers.
Great Father/Son Relationship December 4, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Andrew Clements is a children's author primarily known for his book, FRINDLE. Usually he writes for the third to sixth grade crowd, and a lot of time about fifth graders. Nearly all of his books involve "problems" for his main characters, situations and emotions that need some kind of resolution.br /br /I've read Clements before and always enjoyed him, but I picked up a book recently that I'd been told about and wanted to see if it was something my fourth grader would enjoy having read to him. We enjoying sharing books, and I enjoy the time I get to spend with him and the conversations we have after we finish a book.br /br /THE JANITOR'S BOY turned out to be an excellent read on a number of levels, not all of which are going to be understood by kids. It touches, briefly, on the Vietnam War and how that conflict affected a generation of men. But the greater part of the story, in size and in design, is the tale of a boy who comes to understand more about his father than he knew existed.br /br /Fifth grader Jack Rankin has always had a problem with his father John's job as the school janitor. While other kids in second grade were declaring that they wanted to be policemen and firemen, Jack told everybody he wanted to be a janitor - just like his dad. That was when he learned having a janitor for a dad wasn't as cool to other kids as it was to him.br /br /By fifth grade, Jack had pretty much gotten over that. Until the school district was rezoned and Jack started going to school in the old high school building where his dad was still the janitor. In no time, Jack is back to being harangued by the others kids. Instead of working his anger out on them, Jack directs it at his dad. When he gets busted for defacing school property, Jack gets after-school detention and ends up having to work with his dad scraping the gum out from under tables and chair.br /br /As always, Clements's prose is entertaining and easy to read. He sets up the problem at the same time Jack is trying to get revenge on his father. I was instantly curious about what Jack was doing with thirteen pieces of watermelon bubblegum, but even when I found out, I was hooked on the story of how Jack and his dad were going to resolve their problems with each other. When Jack got caught by the principal, things got even worse.br /br /Clements also does a great job of using the adult characters in this book. There are scenes that focus on Jack's mom and dad that are really well done because they never get beyond anything kids can understand.br /br /I opened the book up just to read a chapter or two. I like to do that to establish a "voice" that I use to read to my son. Instead, I got totally hooked on the story. The main problem was the lack of understanding between Jack and John, but there were also mysteries that needed solving, like where all the secret doors in the school went to. The answers were surprising, and you get a double surprise in the end because as you learn John's story, you also learn his story about his father and how they didn't get along.br /br /I kept turning page after page, unable to stop. And I was done before I knew it. I'll still share this one with my son, but we won't both be surprised together, which is - in one respect - a shame. But I couldn't resist.br /br /THE JANITOR'S BOY is an excellent read if you like kids' books, but it's an even better book to share with the kids in your life. There's plenty of heart and plenty to think about for both of you.br /
Heartwarming August 25, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Janitor's Boy is a classic Andrew Clements school story about real people. In almost every young person's life, there comes a time when their parents become more than 2-dimensional objects. Jack is embarrassed because his father is the school janitor. But soon Jack will learn that there's more to a person than what they do for a living.br /br /One day, his father says hello to him in class and the other kids really start in on the teasing. Jack retaliates against his father by putting a huge mound of gum under a desk. The plan backfires and Jack's punishment is to work with as a janitor cleaning off the gum under desks for 3 weeks after school.br /br /In that time, Jack learns a lot about his father and the work that he does. It's more than just a learn it by walking in his shoes story, though. Jack and his father have time to communicate and Jack might even find that they have more in common than he wanted or expected. br /br /A good book about real people. br /
Acceptance of Parent June 8, 2007
During the summer in between fourth and fifth grade, Jack gets some bad news. A new high school has been built, which means the old high school is available. Since the elementary school is so crowded, some students will be moved to the high school for the next school year. Fifth grade will be there. That is bad news for Jack because his father is the janitor at the old high school, and Jack is embarrassed.br /br /Jack doesn't want anyone to know that his father works as a janitor, so he does his best to avoid his father when he's at school. But then one day his father comes to clean up his classroom and there is no way to hide it anymore. Jack is teased by his classmates who think being a janitor is a lousy job. Jack is furious at his father and vows revenge.br /br /To get back at his father, Jack spreads gum all over a desk in his music classroom, thinking he is being sneaky by making a mess his father will have a hard time cleaning. He doesn't realize that his music teacher has seen him sitting at this desk and later tells the principal it was Jack who caused the problem. Jack's punishment is to work after school for three weeks cleaning gum off of tables and chairs and desks all over the school.br /br /At first this seems like the worst punishment ever, and Jack is sure his father will be very angry with him. But as he works at the school, he begins to see a new side of his father and his father's job.br /br /I really liked Jack's parents. They were sensitive to what he was feeling, but were still hard enough on him that he learned a lesson. I also liked how Jack eventually responded to his father when he learned more about his grandfather and about his father's time in the army and after the war.br /br /There was no real resolution of the conflict between Jack and Kirk. I wanted them to have one final confrontation at the end of the story.
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