Critique:
This is a good novel telling a story that a boy could not concentrate on many things and relied on "lucky" socks to make a success but finally he made it on his own. It made me realize how powerful the psychological suggestion is. To become stronger, one of the most important things that should be done is to tell yourself you can achieve the goal. Blindly depending on lucky items is not always a good idea. ( )

It is a good realistic fiction novel in pen and ink. It creats a story that could happen in the real world, and the charaters can be everyone of us. The story is about the boy Hank Zipzer who visions himself as a failure and outcast when it comes to things that normal people his age do. In the story, he sees that he is naturally not good at sport, starting with baseball. He realized he didn't have the coordination, skills, and ability to succeed in those sports. He always has hope and always tries his best. But he knows he won't be great because he has problems with dexterity. Until one day when he couldn't find his baseball socks. At that moment, he was panicked because of his up coming game was soon. So he took his sisters "Monkey socks". And low and behold, they make him pitch better. The socks gave him the mental drive and ability to think past his disabilities. He actually started believing that he had the ability and that he could succeed in baseball. ( )

This realistic fictional book tells the story of Hank Zipzer, a lover of baseball. He gets selected to play on the yellow team at the school's competition. He throws amazing pitches and believes it is because of his sister's lucky socks. However, his sister wants her lucky socks back. He soon discovers that he was not good because of the socks, but because he has been practicing so much. ( )

Another good book for boys, with the added interest of a main character with a learning disability. Humor will appeal to middle graders, with just enough craziness and grossness to incite the pre-teen mind. ( )

Hank Zipzer is a student in trouble. He believes he is the world’s greatest underachiever. It’s all because he can’t focus and he doesn’t believe he can do anything of any importance. And then something amazing happens. He is practicing pitching with his grandfather Papa Pete and he actually gets the ball where it needs to go! It’s too amazing to believe! Then he realizes what the magic is - his sister’s lucky monkey socks. So, when it’s time for the big game - he has to decide if he will brave the teasing of the team and his sister and wear the lucky socks.

01/07 ( )