The Sixth Grade Nickname Game

by Gordon Korman

Almost everyone in Old Orchard Public School (OOPS) has had the dubious honor of receiving a nickname from best friends Jeff and Wiley. They've dubbed their own underachieving class the Dim Bulbs, their pop-eyed principal is better known as Deer in the Headlights, and their enormous football-coach-turned-teacher is now Mr. Huge.

It's only when a spunky red-haired environmentalist named Cassandra enters their lives that the boys begin to doubt themselves. No name seems to say it all. On top of that, some of the nicknames are backfiring, and their new teacher is in danger of losing his job. Will the nicknamers be able to get it together before it's too late?

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Humor, Young Adult, School, Friendship

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Gordon Korman is a Canadian author of children's and young adult fiction books. Korman's books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide over a career spanning four decades and have appeared at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Reviews

[Grace Hoover · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. I didn't really like how Jeff and Wiley acted like they weren't themselves just because they both wanted Cassandra. An example of that is when Jeff and Wiley were talking about how lame the international festival was but then Jeff went and signed up for it anyway. I do like how it ended up that neither of the boys got to go with Cassandra to the Sadie Hawkins dance and they realized what they had done to their friendship. This book also had a good moral that you should never underestimate anybody. Like when they all worked together to save Mr. Hughes job I did not think that it was going to work but it did!

[Harun Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

predictable yet funny and addictive.

[Cameron G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently finished the book The 6th Grade Nickname Game, by Gordon Korman. It is about two 6th grade boys named Wiley and Jeff who give all their friends crazy nicknames like "Snoopy" based on their personalities. One day, they get a new English teacher who is huge and intimidating, and everyone is a little unsure of what to think of the teacher. It turns out that the teacher is a really nice guy, and all he wants is for the class to give 100% in their work. When the class takes a test, he jumps around and goes crazy cheering for them. Near the end of the semester, Wiley and Jeff learn that their teacher may be fired if the class doesn't do well on a reading test. The whole class reads a lot to prepare for the test. They do the best out of all the classes in their grade and save the teacher's job. I can relate to Wiley and Jeff because they are athletic and play baseball, which reminds me of myself and my friends. My friends and I also like to give each other nicknames sometimes. Overall, this was a good book, and I would recommend it to people who like reading humerous stories.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny book for middle school students! Didn't realize Gordon Korman was the author when I was reading it- he is quickly becoming a favorite middle-grade author that I'm sure my students will enjoy.

[Bridget Granville · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book with my 6th grade class. They loved it! We laughed, we got frustrated, and it all wrapped up with a happy ending. I would recommend this for a read-aloud with your middle schoolers.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was straightening up my son's book shelves and as is usual for me, I read a few of them. Gordon Korman is one of DS's favorite authors at the moment so he asked me to read this one in particular. It is a light book, nice quick read, aimed at 4th - 6th grade boys. Two best friends who have a great time assigning appropriate nicknames for everyone they encounter. There is a nice little message threaded through the book about friendship and loyalty and also about how maybe a person given a nickname that is not quite in line with the opinion others have about that person might actually step outside themselves and rise to the expectation's of the nickname. This happened with good effect to "iceman" but it also begs the question about the consequences of negative nicknames. The main impression I got from this book was how a perfectly wonderful, lifetime friendship between two 11 yr old boys can be totally ruined by the introduction of a new girl in school.

[Lisa Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice and sometimes funny story about two best friends who run into some problems and turn against each other. At the same time, their teacher and their class run into problems of their own which they must overcome.

One of my fifth grade boys recommended this book to me. I love that Gordon Korman didn't portray all the adults as stupid and all the kids as all-knowing. I love that he gave libraries, books, and reading a positive and important role in the story. The characters included a variety of developed personalities and included a central problem that is common to this age group (fights with friends). I enjoyed his writing style.

The main characters- Jeff and Wiley- have always been best friends. They think alike and act alike. But when their 'likeness' causes arguments between them, things get rough. Will they work things out? Will they be friends in the end? Read it and find out. ;)

[John Dyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, simple read w/o any sex, profanities, or political correctness issues. Just a couple of fisticuffs and bloody noses amongst best friends in their first fight over a cute girl. All's well that ends well. A worthwhile read.

[Nathanael · Rating 4 out of 5]

An okay ending. Could have been better. But overall good book, with the Gordon Korman writing style.

[Sarah B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another fun children's book I read recently. Sometimes I like reading these as a way to relax as they are more lighter fluff than more serious books. And this book about giving kids nicknames certainly fits that bill perfectly!

I actually found some of the stuff in here hilarious! And the unintended results were so funny! Or I thought they were funny... I believe I read this one in one sitting as it was so good. Granted it's not all that long but its not super short either. And the author really brought all the characters and their school dramas to life. Who is that beautiful new girl going to date? Who is the most popular boy in school? What about their crazy teacher that yells like he is always at a football game? And yes, that teacher disrupts the entire school!

So funny!!

And the ending was perfect too!

This is definitely a book I am keeping and will read again.

[Rachel Macdonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was also my class read aloud from this year.

[Kerry Torgusen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story, gave myself & my son some laughs while we read it.

[Lesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this to my 10 yr old daughter. It wasn't horrible, but I didn't enjoy it. It would have been a good one for her to read by herself. The story just wasn't interesting enough for me.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read The Sixth Grade Nickname Game in my sixth grade classes as a class readaloud book and had a lot of fun! Jeff and Wiley are "the nicknamers," two boys who have made giving nicknames an art. They work really hard at choosing the right nickname for the right person. Their method is challenged, however, when "Snoopy," a kid who doesn't like his nickname (given to him because he's a snoop) bets them that they can give an arbitrary nickname to an arbitrary kid and it'll stick. The nicknamers agree because they believe so firmly in their nickname choices.

A sub-plot is their new Language Arts teacher, Mr. Hughes (AKA "Mr. Huge.") He goes from being a football coach to a classroom teacher. Whistles, cheers, speeches, and sports jargon hilarity ensue. However, he needs to quickly take his class from failing the State Reading Assessment to passing it.

Can the nicknamers and their friends read enough books to pass the test? Will "Iceman" earn his new, super cool nickname? Who will unique new girl Cassandra ask to the Sadie Hawkins dance?! Find out in The Sixth Grade Nickname Game!

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personally, I thought this book was not bad, not good, just another book that I will forget about the week after i I read it. I think considering the length, vocabulary, and content, this book should be for younger kids, not 11 and 12 year olds. No deep content, but it does portray some good messages/morals about friendship, acceptance, judging people before you know them....... I think the book had the right ending. If either Wiley or Jeff took Cassandra to the school dance, the book would have shown that it is okay to betray your friends for someone of the opposite gender.

[Michael Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good for kids but can’t remember it anymore 🤷‍♂️
#WickedButFun #WhyDontTheyJustFightOverTheirGayBestFriendsLikeAnAdult?
#WickedTheBookWasNotAboutAWoman #ItWasAMetaphorForAGayMansExperience #GayMenCantWriteTheirOwnStoriesBecauseTheyWontSellWellAtAll #AtAllIsMoreLikeIt #EwGrossThatsGay,IsntIt? #ThisIsForTheBest #IsntIt? #IsntThisTheBESTHECOULDHAVEDONEWRITENOWANDYOUALLSTOLEITFROMHIMLIKEITSYOURSISNTIT? #Delicate
#YouWriteAboutYourOwnExperiencesDontYou #WhyWouldAGayManWriteAStoryAboutAWomanGettingRapedIfItWasNotAboutHimWasntIt #WasntItAboutHimTheEntireTime?

[Scott Heydt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wiley and Jeff are true-to-form and believable 6th grade friends. Cassandra's unique characteristics are reminiscent of Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl. It's no shock that Wiley and Jeff fall head over heels for Cassandra--she's new, she's different, and the typical nickname won't stick. Also, as an educator I found inspiration in the students of 6B who gave "one hundred and ten percent" for Mr. Huge so they could not only pass the State Reading Assessment but so Mr. Huge could keep his job.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

How hard would it have been for Korman to come up with a real bird, instead of "blue crested warbling sparrow" - ? Grr.

And the Stargirl character. And the trope Korman recycled into The Unteachables. Sigh.

But turning Mike Smith into The Iceman, that was kinda cool. So I'll round up to 2 stars.

And I'll keep reading Korman, bearing in mind that he has grown since this early effort....

[Stephanie Pieck · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this short novel for middle-grade readers, Wiley and Jeff, best friends since birth, have nicknames for everyone. But when they get a replacement teacher who started out as a football coach and a new girl joins their class, they learn that life isn't just about finding the perfect nickname. The book is a testament to the power of words as identifiers, especially when those words are used by others rather than the one being identified.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book full of fun to enjoy with my students.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iceman!!!!!

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 27th volume I have read by Gordon Korman, Most in the last few years. I absolutely love reading Gordon Korman books, either by myself or with one or more of my children. This one has been on my list to read for a while and I finally jumped it to the top.

Mid Last year, in the summer of 2022, Korman published his 100th book. Yes you read that correctly, his hundredth book. My introduction to Korman’s works was the 39 Clues back in 2009. Since then I have read almost 30 of his books. But a drop in the buck, but with each one I read I am entertained and often challenged. My son often reads these books to me or with me.

My son and I started reading Gordon Korman books together a few years ago, when he was given one as an end of year gift by his teacher. She gave the whole class the same Scholastic edition and wrote a note to each student in their copy of the book. Prior to that I had a read a few of his contributions to the 39 Clues series and had enjoyed them. My son and I have mostly been reading his more recent titles. I have read about 25 over the last 6 months. This is another excellent offering from Korman’s masterful pen.

The description of this volume states:

“Best friends Jeff and Wiley are nickname addicts. It's only when a spunky red-haired environmentalist named Cassandra enters their lives that they begin to doubt their nicknaming prowess. No name seems to say it all. On top of everything, some of the nicknames that Jeff and Wiley have invented are backfiring on them. Will the nicknamers be able to get it together before it's too late?”

A different description states:

“Best friends Jeff and Wiley are legends. There is practically no one in their school who hasn't been nicknamed by the duo.

They've dubbed their own underachieving class "The Dim Bulbs"; their pop-eyed principal is better known as "Deer in Headlights"; and their enormous new English teacher, Mr. Hughes, is "Mr. Huge."

But now some of the nicknames that Jeff and Wiley have invented are backfiring on them. Will the duo be able to get it together before it's too late?”

The chapters in this volume are:

1 The Nicknamers
2 Break!
3 Birdbrain
4 No Hustle, No Bustle
5 He’s Losing What’s Left of His Mind
6 Know Any Good Bird Doctors?
7 Stop Cops
8 Marathon
9 The Rollerblading Lesson
10 Didn’t
11 Ask the Iceman
12 Together or Not at All
13 A Hundred-and-Ten Percent
14 Transportation
15 How Does My Mane Look?
16 Cockroaches Are Smarter Than Us
17 Worst to FirstPaul Perkins, PE - 1

Best friends, a new girl at school, a new teacher the High School football coach. And a whole lot of reading. At first the kids in 6A nicknamed The Dim Bulbs” as opposed to 6A “The Bright Lights” have a whole new experience in school. Their teacher retires. And the High School football coach is assigned to teach the class. He teaches the way he coaches, with yelling, whistles, running, sweating and guzzling Gatorade. But the 6B kids soon find out he has their back, and really does want the best for them. He might frighten the other teachers. He even is intimidating to the principal. But the class comes to love him and soon they need to have his back. While all of this is going on Jeff and Wiley both have interest in the new girl and it might just change their lives and friendship forever! To find out what happens to the friends, the class and even Coach Teacher you will need to read this excellent little volume.

This is another ‘School Story’ from Korman. The characters are wonderfully written. They is action from the get go. Korman even makes a read-a-thon seem like action. This is another story young readers will greatly enjoy. It is another excellent read from Korman’s pen.

[Brayden gash · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book The 6th Grade Nickname Game there are two boys named Jeff and Willy that like to give people nicknames. One odd day they come to school their teacher retires and they get a sub he is a high school gym coach but he yells like he's in a football game in class. Soon Willy and Jeff decided to give him a nickname. They laugh in class passing notes with nicknames on them back and forth one was hulk the other was mr huge they then decide to give him the nickname of mr HUGE because of his huge muscles.

Soon they start to get used to the yelling and they like the substitute but eventually the other teachers start to complain about how loud this sub is and ask for the princable to fire him. Shortly mr huge’s classroom is disrupted by the princable bringing in a new student “students this is Cassandra she's a new student for your class”. Then Willy and Jeff start choosing a nickname passing back and forth back and forth then they come up with skywalker they start chuckling casaundra comes over and asks whos nickname is that? Willy says it's yours she storms off as Willy and Jeff start trying a new nickname for her but nothing fits her. So then a kid name Chris comes around and willy and jeff both say go away Snoopy chris says why u calling me snoopy Jeff and Willy say well your always snooping in other people's business and telling info to other kids.

Shorty it's the end of the day and mr huge says who will volunteer for bus duty Jeff raises his hand and then casaundra raises her hand before Willy could. Then the bus duty ends and Willy is still at school with Casaundra and Jeff mr huge then takes them all to their house’s. The next day Jeff and Willy aren't talking to each other and at lunch Chris walks up to Willy and talks to him he says “can u change my nickname” Willy says only if you give Casaundra a good nickname.

Shourtly Jeff and Willy get in a fight about how cute Casaundra is and then they walk away and ignore each other then after all that dramia. snoopy comes back and says her nickname is sweetie pie and Willy says u failed no deal. Snoopy walks away 4 period comes around and in class they take a survey about their teacher and then they all think if we put anything bad we lose mr huge. Then everyone gets the report will their teacher either stay or get fired and the other kids are thinking that their gonna have to adapt to the situation either way.

If u want to know more to this story get it at a library. This book is mostly about how fun it is to nickname others for how they act but this story was a fantastic book for me to read i laughed at all of the funny nicknames in the book. although it was confusing with who was the number one main character was it Willy or Jeff. The only thing this book didn't have was adventure. Therefore i think u really need to read this fantastic book.

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE SIXTH GRADE NICKNAME GAME It's a fine book,and I feel it was confused and you couldn't really like Any of the characters. I really like Gordon Korman as an author but But this book is not one of my favorite books.I feel like it wasn't as good as I expected it to be.

I Was very confused Switch Between the two main characters but it was Kind of smart move.What I mean is switching between the main point of views. Jeff and Riley are the two main characters.emotions were Throne around and I didn't know which character was which at some points in the story changes from one conflict to another it may not but in my opinion. I Think it does .And I think it confuse me because I got me off track.

When I read this book Then I saw all these characters different from other books. When books like the Luther books every kid in the team I like Because they are Interesting the The .Characters in 6th grade nickname game Are boring. It's just basically two main characters and everything else is just signed stuff. all the characters are very Bland in my opinion it's not as much detail put in them your created but not detailed.

One thing about this book though, a lot of what happens in this book is very confusing multiple characters seeming like they're from a first-person point of view,They're not switching from point of view to point of view.Changing characters emotions throughout .The book Written in a way where I do not understand what is happening!


I really like this book just I was hoping that it would be one of the best Gordon Korman books considering how many I've been reading as of late and then really getting into all these books I think this one is good but not as good as others.

[Jaydon Leake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “The 6th Grade Nickname Game” was full of nicknames and the nicknames was funny most of the time either they were harmful or not harmful. I liked the book because there was some nicknames that I liked myself and I think you’d like them too.

Who likes to be called nicknames even if they were good nicknames or bad nicknames, I know I wouldn’t. Nicknames could be harmful weather the person that is being called the nickname likes it or not (if the nickname is good or bad.)
The book is about two boys named Wiley and Jeff. Wiley and Jeff were good friends and came up with nicknames. They gave almost everyone a nickname especially their teacher “Mr. Hughes” witch they nicknamed him “Mr. Huge.” They made a bet if the nickname would stick and after that they nicknamed someone named Mike Smith. The nickname they gave to him in the bet was iceman. After they gave out the nickname iceman, the bet was set.
The principal went up to Mr. Hughes and asked about what was going on in the classroom. Mr. Hughes said that they were just doing a math quiz. So then the principal put the new student named Cassandra into Jeff and Wiley’s classroom. The two boys tried to give a nickname for Cassandra. So what Wiley did was he opened up his notebook and wrote Carrot-top. They then started calling her Carrot-top.
They went on a field trip and they had everybody that was nicknamed with them.

Nicknames could be harmful weather they are good or bad nicknames, you just gotta watch out to what they call you so you could decide if you liked the nickname or not. You never know what nicknames people could give you. I would say to get the book because it’s really cool to read.

[Andi Sharku · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book 6th Grade Nickname Game is a funny and great book. I enjoyed reading this book and I think you would too. This is about a 6th grade class who had a substitute teacher. The substitute is also a football coach, and that's how he teaches. 2 students make up funny nicknames for the substitute teacher and for the Students too. Then there is this new student named Cassandra. Jeff and Wiley (the main characters) want to think about what they could name her.

I kind of wanted to give up near the middle of the book, but I'm glad I didn't. I would recommend this for anyone 3rd grade through 6th grade. But anyone could enjoy this if they wanted to. This is an amazing book and I think you would REALLY enjoy this!!!

I LOVED reading this book. It was very entertaining. I'm so glad I found this book and read it. I sat down one night and read it for hours. I didn't really enjoy the middle but this is still an amazing book overall. This is a book I would read another time. You should definitely look forward to reading this book. The words they used to describe things were also very creative. I really like funny and sad stories, (i don't know why) and this definitely falls in the funny category. Anyone who LOVES humor would love this book. I love how the substitute teacher Mr. Huge (Mr. Hughes) sweats bullets during their quiz. He is so funny and I've probably laughed out loud about a dozen times while reading this book.I loved this book so much and I think you would too.

[Brayden Burchfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 6th grade nickname game
Mr.Huge yelled alright guys line up and only girls lined up so he said girls line up and boys lined up?

Jeff and Wiley where most known because of there good nicknames ideas. Wiley turned his back on Jeff because he was giving a mean nickname to the girl Wiley likes BUT Jeff likes her to. They started challenging each other who can do the most whatever they can both do.

Cassandra the girl they like really likes this other boy named Mike Smith; his nickname is ICE MAN. Mike Smith doesn't talk that much; He is known because of Jeff and Wiley because they gave him the nickname Iceman.

Mr. Huge the teacher almost got FIRED, but luckily Jeff saved his job because wiley almost got him fired because wiley didn't like Mr. Huge at all. Charles aka Snoopy got his nickname from getting in other people's conversations and not his own

Cassandra moved into a new house that was abandoned but they cleaned the whole house and Jeff and Wiley helped but that is when they got in a big fight about who can do the most whatever the can do.

Conclusion
I wouldn't read this book because there is no action in this book.
All it is about is giving people nicknames and bulling people about how people look like and you should never give people nicknames unless they want you to but at least make the nickname nice and not mean.

[Almira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeff and Wiley, best friends, have made "nicknaming" their fellow classmates and teachers for as long as they can recall, not always in a kind and positive way. When the new girl comes to "town" with her red hair, and her "combat style boots", Jeff and Wiley are, for the first time in the collective lives, at a loss for a nickname for Cassandra.

Mr. Hughes, their current teacher, is not sensitive to the girls in his class, as a football coach, he is accustomed to just having boys around him, so when he starts referring to all the students as "Men", Cassandra takes a stand, encouraging all the other girls in the class to stand up as well. Mr. Hughes is at a loss with this turn of events.

So, Jeff, Wiley and Mr. Hughes are now struggling with their roles in the classroom.

I understand the concept of this story, however, I did not enjoy it nearly as much as Schooled, or some of Gordon's other books. I found Jeff, Wiley to be, at times, really mean spirited with the nicknames, and Mr. Hughes' behavior just ridiculous.

[Naisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think that that this is the best book ever and that every person should read this book. i think that people should read this book because it talks about boys and girls. i also think that people should read this book because as a girl it was very inspiring to me, and i think that it would also be inspiring to other people too.
The Message:
the message of this book is to love youre name for whatever it was always. another message i had learned from the sixth grade nickname game is that you should love your name and always be you, and what i mean by that is that you should foloow your heart and not someones elses because god made you you and not someone else. the last message that i want to share with you guys is that people should love who they are and not someone else, they should also be their selves and not copy anyone else.
THANK YOU FOR READING MY THING ON THE SIXTH GRADE NICKNAME GAME BOOK
!!!!!THANK YOU A LOT!!!!!

[Jim Sibigtroth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. Like all of Gordon Korman's books I have ead, the writing is good and age-appropriate. This book deals with the way nicknames can be self-fulfilling or hurtful, so you should be careful wth them. This story is a little shorter and less complex than other Gordon Korman books.

I read this based on a recommendation in Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer and it is easy to see why she suggested it. A big part of the plot has to do with the students setting an aggressive goal to read as many books as they can before the upcoming (3wks) reading assessment test, in an effort to help their teacher avoid being fired. They find that reading a lot is not really that hard and they find they actually enjoy it so much that they continue to do it even after the initial purpose is fulfilled.