EllRay Jakes Is a Rock Star

EllRay Jakes #2

by Sally Warner, Jamie Harper (Illustrator)

Everyone has something to brag about in EllRay's third-grade class. Corey's on the swim team, Kevin is super tall, Jared's dad has an ATV (with flames!). But what about EllRay? He isn't about to gloat about how his geologist dad collects rocks. Boring! Or is it? The crystals in his dad's office are really cool looking. And if EllRay just "borrows" them to show his classmates, he knows they be impressed. He'll be a rock star-literally! And his dad will never have to know. It's a fail-safe plan . . . until everything doesn't go according to plan.

Genres: School, Chapter Books, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Fiction, Family

116 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2011

About the author

Sally Warner is a writer of fiction for children and young adults and of books on creativity. She made the Lily series and Emma series for children's books. Sally Warner was born in New York City and grew up in Connecticut and California, where her family moved when she was eight years old.

Reviews

[Victoria O'Neal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author tried so hard--the protagonist is a middle class African american 3rd grader just living the 3rd grade life. I didn't mind it as a read aloud, except for the on the fly editing. I was ready to be a booster and then she just kept throwing in little useless throwaway gender stereotypes... "Girls be like, boys be like..." "I can't do that because boys don't..." "She would think that because she's a girl..." I just skipped those sentences when reading with my son. But it definitely keeps me from recommending the series without reservation.

[Noah C · Rating 5 out of 5]

It gave me a good life lesson to learn.it was TERRIFIC book the crystals was neat too:)

[Laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Message learned: Thieves get caught and have a tough road to redemption.

I had forgotten about the first book in this series and how much I disliked it. Starting the second brought all that back. Still dislike this series.

At least this had a better message in it. I still couldn't believe that the teacher was so clueless and that the parents immediately went to believing someone else was a thief. Maybe I was an untrustworthy kid, but I was ALWAYS questioned by my parents before they jumped to other conclusions. Seriously, the teacher doesn't at least call home to confirm what EllRay says is true - EVEN WHEN THEY'RE ON A CONSTANT COMMUNICATION BASIS THAT ELLRAY COMMENTS ON???

The biggest thing that bothered me was the illustrations. I like EllRay on the cover. It's a cute drawing. The illustrations inside were a totally different artist. They were just blah in comparison. It's petty, but this book brings that out in me.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In an effort to gain respect from his peers, which the boys in his class base on the possessions of their fathers, EllRay brings some of his geologist father's crystals to school, and gives them away to his classmates; he's really excited by the effect the "gifts" have on his friends, but then he's suddenly awash in the realization of what he's done. EllRay has to make special efforts to get the crystals back for his dad, and his teacher and principal remind him that he has a lot of great reasons to be proud - loyalty, standing up for his friends, and taking responsibility for his actions. Another fun book in a great school- and friendship-focused series for early chapter book readers.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

EllRay falls victim to the "bragging bug" that's going around his classroom. He decides to take some of his geologist father's rock and gem collection to school to brag about them to his classmates. Seeking to earn some respect, he gives them away as gifts to some of his classmates. When his father returns home from his business trip, and discovers the items missing, and that EllRay took them, an ultimatum is set. Now it's up to EllRay to right his wrong, or face severe circumstances that will ruin him forever. Funny and action packed this adventure provides some good life lessons.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to my daughter....and I will admit it got me emotional sucked in! We both read with interest as this 18 chapter book had some hard hitting truths about life along with to me one of the biggest issues in this world today "accountability". EllRay makes some poor choices and he is reaping the challenge of making things right....and it is not going to be easy. A true story of challenge, redemption and growth...a stellar book by Sally Warner!

[Jessica Slavensky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for kids. My daughter is 7 and we’ve started reading chapter books at night (1-2 chapters per night). We’ve recently finished reading this & she loved it. I love that it teaches honesty and responsibility. Great read.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable well written story for early elementary aged readers. From the perspective of a typical kid, there are many lessons that can be learned along with neat information about rocks and crystals.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this before adding it to my fourth grade classroom. It is a good book for some of my lower readers and taught a couple lessons, which I liked. I appreciated the author creating a Black main character.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book for kids.

[Sarah Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Messiah and my second book in the Ellray series. We love Ellray! Rock star is the best pun.

[Annie Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My school is thinking of doing this book for our One School, One Book this year. It’s ok. A 3rd grader learns his lesson after making a mistake and trying to make it right again.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son said he liked it because of the crystals and it “gave a good message for fixing mistakes.”

[gretchen h! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with my class as a read aloud for One School, One Book! Was a sweet & funny book that taught a good lesson 💎🔮

[Nik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Today I read Ellray Jakes is a Rock Star, the main character is named Ellray who is an eight year old that goes to elementary school. I think it is a drama book because there is no tragedy or comedy and adventure. The conflict was between him and his father because his father issued an ultimatum about the crystals. The story was all about Ellray trying to restore his dad’s crystals before he got back from Utah. I found it confusing that he went to the principal’s office because I thought he was in trouble but he was just there to make an announcement for his dad’s crystals to be returned to Ellray. I liked it when Ellray was always saying the exact opposite of what he was thinking. It was funny that he had bought flowers from the store for one of her classmates at Valentine’s Day. It was strange that they thought a robber was in the house because they didn’t think any of their family members stole some crystals.

[Taliah · Rating 2 out of 5]

All of Ellray's classmates have something to share. Corey is champion swimmer. Kevin is tall and his dad is rich. Jared's dad has an ATV with flames on the side. Ellray has nothing for which he can brag. He decides to take some of he rocks, from his geologist dad's rock collection, to show to his classmates. Everyone in his class is impressed and before he knows it, Ellray is giving the rocks away.

This is the second book in the Ellray series. I was looking for a book/series that I could recommend to children and parents with children of the 7-10 age group. I thought this book was preachy. There were too many sentence interruptions to explain words and adult phrases of which this age group may not be familiar. The illustrations were not appealing.

[Anna Garland · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book in Sally Warner’s Ellray Jake series, this book continues Ellray’s desire to be the ‘cool one’ in class. However in his fight to be top ‘cool kid’ in his 3rd grade class, he decides ‘borrow’ part of his Dad’s prized crystal collection to show his class. However all the attention that this brings leads him to forget that the crystals are not his, and to establish his coolness in class he gives some of his Dad’s crystals away. When his Dad finds out what has happened he is not amused and Ellray is forced to ask for the ‘gifts’ that he gave out back and no longer feels very cool at all
This book is perfectly suited for year 2 or 3 children, touching on issues of finding your identity in class and how inevitably it is best to just be yourself.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever started to say something…and then things get out of hand?

Like, yeah, you can take this – and you are about to say “and bring it back to me tomorrow” but everyone starts screaming in delight and your important words are drowned out and it’s too late!

This is what happens to EllRay Jakes when he “borrows” some valuable things from his dad’s home office and brings them to school to impress his classmates. EllRay’s plan is to return the items before his dad gets back from his out of town trip – but sometimes plans don’t work out the way we want them to!

[Dayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

We found this to be another good read in the EllRay series. As a parent I like the real world challenges and problems that face EllRay. The classroom scenarios seem plausible. The way situations are handled and solved work well for discussions as we are reading. Most of the middle grade chapter books we read have female main characters so EllRay is a fresh voice to read.

On the whole - two thumbs up for this series.

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good chapter book with African American protagonist - though this is not a big deal in the book. Ellray faces the sort of situation that readers will be able to relate to and deals with it in a realistic manner. Not sure why the cover illustration of Ellray and the inside illustrations are so different.

[Christiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, easy fiction title for 1st - 3rd grade readers. Nice family relationships, and I especially appreciate that it's an African-American family and that it's aimed at boys. Many easy fiction series are not very diverse and mostly appeal to girls, so it's nice to have this series as an option to bring to schools.

[Read Ribbet · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was an obvious lack of diversity in our transitional text sets examples, so we looked for some new titles. It lead us to Sally Warner's character Ellray who as a third grader is looking for popularity in his classroom. Accessible character from a stable professional family in familiar situations featuring a strong moralistic outcome, Warner's book will be enjoyed by lots of kids.

[Sunnyvale Librarian]

EllRay's dad, a geologist, has a big rock collection, but EllRay can't imagine why anybody would be interested in it. But he's wrong--when he takes it to school, everybody is impressed. So impressed that they keep the rocks for themselves, and EllRay has to figure out how to get them back!

[Sherry]

3rd grader Ellray Jakes. good for boys and reluctant readers

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is perfect for readers who are diving into chapter books...late second early third grade.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Students will probably appreciate the difficult situations EllRay gets into and admire the way he gets out of them. Simple and believable with positive adult characters.

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful book that celebrates a child solving his own problems with bullies and others. Nice to read a book with that type of celebration without helicopter parents. Beautiful book.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat funny and appealing. Too many characters at the beginning. Maybe I would have liked it better if I read the first in the series but this sort of book should be able to stand alone too.

[N Family · Rating 5 out of 5]

3rd Grade Girl says: This book helps you learn that being popular isn't everything. Perfect for 7 and 8 year olds.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book. These books are great for young readers.