Mr. Terupt Falls Again

September 15, 2012
Looping with his students into sixth grade, Mr. Terupt continues to surprise them with challenging projects and perfect reading suggestions, but there are still aftereffects from the snowball Peter threw. As in Because of Mr. Terupt (2010), short chapters narrated by seven students describe the year, their final one at Snow Hill School. Peter plays with failure, hoping not to have to leave his classmates for seventh grade in boarding school. Lexie hurries to grow up, egged on by some dangerous older friends, but Danielle is the first to get her period. Jeffrey finds an abandoned baby and an outlet for his anger in wrestling. Anna and her mother learn to be senior-citizen caregivers as volunteers in a medical facility. Luke may have saved a life with his Boy Scout skills, and Jessica provides continuity with her screenplays and voiceover comments. Family worries go along with lingering questions about the health of their teacher. Sixth-grade relationships and a grown-up romance, lessons in tolerance and a fairy-tale ending make this an exceptionally satisfying school story. Mr. Terupt seems unusually skilled and perceptive, but the student voices are spot-on. Readers will be better equipped if they attended fifth grade with this true-to-life yet timeless group, but this sequel can be read on its own. Moving and real. (Fiction. 9-12)

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November 1, 2012

Gr 4-7-In this sequel to Because of Mr. Terupt (Delacorte, 2010), the students are now sixth graders, happy to be spending another year with Mr. Terupt, who returns to teaching after recovering from a serious accident. Again the story is told in short chapters, each one the narrative of an individual student. This year the youngsters are dealing with coming-of-age issues. Peter is still the prankster and has spent a lot of time helping get the classroom ready and maybe justify some of the guilt he still feels about the snowball he threw that hit Mr. Terupt's head. Lexie is just trying to be noticed, and readers share her struggle to fit in. Luke spent the summer at science camp and is determined to treat challenges by collecting and analyzing data before coming to conclusions. Even Mr. Terupt opens up and shares some of his family background with the class. A skillful meshing of characters and story lines makes for another great read. References to books the students are reading, like Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game and Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia, add realism as Mr. Terupt uses literature to interpret life lessons. Even reluctant readers will identify with some of the situations and be drawn into Mr. Terupt's world.Cheryl Ashton, Amherst Public Library, OH

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2013
After their life-changing fifth-grade year, Mr. Terupt's students are surprised to learn they can also spend sixth grade with their beloved teacher. Trading narration, the seven featured students help one another navigate a transitional time. [cf2]Because of Mr. Terupt[cf1] readers will appreciate this sequel more than others will, but with the characters' myriad issues, most will find something to relate to.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)