United Tates Of America

By Paula Danziger

Book Overview

Best-selling children's book author Paula Danziger brings us the perfect novel for middle grade readers--a touching story incorporating the themes of friendship,loss, love and perseverance.Skate Tate hates change. But her whole life is changing at once. It's just not fair! Sixth grade is tough. Her new school is bigger, the classes are harder, and Skate's group of close friends is growing apart.Only her Great Uncle Mort (GUM for short) can help her deal with it all. He's not afraid of anything. When tragedy strikes, GUM sends Skate and her family on a road trip that will change their lives forever--starting with Plymouth, Massachusetts. Skate is taking it all down in her scrapbook, but will she ever learnhow to handle what lies just around the corner?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0590692224
• ISBN13: 9780590692229
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.5" x 0.5" x 5.8"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Extraordinary! By: CC from North Boulevard

The book I am reviewing is United Tates of America. It is a fiction book by Paula Danziger. She also wrote the Amber Brown stories & a popular book called Everybody elses Parents said YES. I think this book deserves 4 stars. This is because it is good but they wait to bring the bad and scary things to the end usually you like a happier ending. This book is mostly about a sixth grader who has too many things around her changing. It is too much pressure so she talks with her favorite uncle and he helps calm her down. The problem is solved toward the end of the book. I am glad because it keeps you waiting and has you keep reading. I recommend it to kids 9 & up because at the end it is a little scary and sad.

GREAT BOOK!

Great book for on the road! I was on a long road trip and i read this book on the way there absolutley one of my top books. Keeps the reader interested and The title is just as clever as the book is. a must read for 9-13 year olds who love to travel.

United Tates of America

I think this book has 3 million thumbs up! I really liked it! I was so into it, I read it in a day practically and read it 10x! I especially like that she and I have the same problems and both are interested in scrapebooking!

United Tates of America

A great book. Very interesting and creative. I like the part where she was learning and adapting to a new school and also her experiences of not feeling as close to her best friend.

Wonderful for kids & adults - and the travel season ahead

Though the book opens with the first day of sixth grade for its heroine Skate Tate, "Tates" comes out at an excellent time for kids and families planning spring and summer vacations, since the final chapters are spent "on the road." Paula Danziger gets the language of middle school just right...my daughter laughed over much of this book (she's a fifth grader) and was moved to tears as well. As an added bonus, the scrapbook portion inspired her to gather up photos and memorabilia and spend her allowance on a scrapbook of her own."United Tates of America" is funny, well-written, thoroughly entertaining, and also deals thoughtfully with some difficult issues, including death and how to answer a late elementary/early middle schooler's concern about feeling responsible for the death of a loved one. I've been recommending it to friends/other parents who need resources in this area (much as I steer people to "The Tenth Good Thing About Barney" by Judith Viorst when the topic is death of a pet).And if your child can't read in the car without getting carsick, there's an audiobook version available with a full cast of children and adult voices; in fact, Paula Danziger herself can be heard on the audiobook recording--first as Skate's teacher, Mrs. Lipschitz, and then in a special afterword in which she shares her own journey in creating this novel.I found this book engaged my child on a deeper level due to the scrapbook section; when you see photos of the characters, although you know it's fiction, you can't help but feel their experiences more intimately. Take a look and give it a try - it's as good a read for adults as it is for kids, and a good place to start a dialogue with your child on loss and healing, among other topics.