Great Brain,The | 
| Author: John D. Fitzgerald
Creator: Mercer Mayer
Publisher: Puffin
Category: Book
List Price: $5.99
Buy New: $2.00
You Save: $3.99 (67%)
New (38) Used (18) Collectible (2) from $2.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  79 reviews
Sales Rank: 8476
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 0142400580
EAN: 9780142400586
ASIN: 0142400580
Publication Date: February 9, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: New - Has remainder mark. Fast shipping from trusted wholesaler with many exclusive publisher contracts.
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Product Description
The best con man in the Midwest is only ten years old. Tom, a.k.a., the Great Brain, is a silver-tongued genius with a knack for turning a profit. When the Jenkins boys get lost in Skeleton Cave, the Great Brain saves the day. Whether its saving the kids at school, or helping out Peg-leg Andy, or Basil, the new kid at school, the Great Brain always manages to come out on topand line his pockets in the process.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 74 more reviews...
A Classic Must Read For All Kids July 3, 2008
The Great Brain is one of the best all time books for boys ever written. In my humble opinion of course. The prose is engaging capturing the attention. The stories are exciting and compelling. The chapters are just the right length. And it has all the elements that young boys love from Cowboys and Indians to cops and robbers. What more could you ask for?br /br /But of course, looking back on my childhood as I place this book on the shelf for my own little boy, I realize that the moral lessons this book taught so covertly were lessons that stayed with me: tolerance for other cultures and religions, compassion for those less fortunate, love of family. These are foundational values and the Great Brain teaches them. And the thing is, as a young person, you don't realize you're getting a lesson, you just know you like the story.
A great read but BEWARE. May 30, 2008
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book is a wonderful protrait of 19th century rural America, but people should be aware that it was written at a time when there was much more freedom of speech than we have today. Topics in the book include suicide, religious intolerance and fear of immigrants. There is a scene where the boys go skinny dipping and also one story concerns John mating his dog, so this book probably should not be brought to a public elementary school for fear it might offend someone. Also there are no African-Americans in the book, and while the book does portray Jews, Moromons, Protestants and Catholics coexisting, there are no Muslims in this book, so it is not very politically correct. Also the "I" word is used casually and no mention is made of the plight of native Americans, except to say that they are the only non-immigrants in America. Women are displayed in subservient roles, always cooking, cleaning and taking care of the sick, although all the boys are portrayed as having chores. [...]
 book review May 23, 2008
In the book The Great Brain written by John D. Fitzgerld was awesome! The book takes place in Adenville, Utah. There are some main characters this book, Tom (T.D) who is known as the great brain, Swyen (S, D) who is the eldest and acts mature, John (J, D) who is the youngest and is always up to something, Abie who is a store owner, and Mr. Standish who is the new school house teacher who everyone hates. Tom, John, and Swyen's father ordered a water closet, which is a bathroom, and they let people see it if they paid one cent. They made forty cents total. When Swyen got the measles, John was jells because he had never gotten sick first and then got to rub it in his brothers face. So one day John decided he wanted to get sick. John went over to his friend Howard who has had the mumps. So he decided to sneak into his house and started breathing in Howard's sick breath, and what do you know, John got sick. Abie had fainted once, twice, Abie died from malnutrition. They had a funeral for him that very day. Mr. Standish was the new school house teacher. Mr. Standish had paddled Tom for not being a tattletale, and Tom swore he would get back to Mr. Standish. So anways Swyen had gone to a Cathloic school in Salt Lake City so Swyen was gone and it was now just Tom and John. Andy their friend had stepped on a rusty nail and had not been able to return back to school. He ended up getting a prosthetic leg.br /br / I learned that you should not lie for any purpose. Like when Tom found a way to get rid of Mr. Standish and when Tom's father asked if he had known anything to know about it and Tom never spoke a word intill his mamma made him tell. I also learned in this book that helping people is good. Like when Tom helped Basil get out of a fight, or when Tom helped Andy play baseball.br /br / I recommend this book to someone who likes smart kids and funny stories. Like the time John wanted to get sick and he got the mumps. Why I think that the book is funny because it is all about fun and making life worth living. br /br /
Not too shabby... March 6, 2008
The is a wonderfully, great, terrific book! They need to re-release the Great Brain movie from 1978 starring little Jimmy Osmond! Also, if I may suggest, try reading the Adventures With Boys book series-- Just as good!!!;)
Reliving my childhood through my daughter. December 12, 2007
I poured through these books continuously in my youth. I would beg for a trip to the library so I could find just one more I hadn't read. br /br /I had all but forgotten about them until my oldest showed a keenness for reading. Now I'm ordering them for her for Christmas. I hope she gleans as much joy as I did from them! I used to love to pretend that Papa was handing out his sage advice directly to me. br /br /This is such a wonderfully written series for young readers. You really can't go wrong with them, and hopefully my daughter will review this for you some time after Christmas!
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