Pack of Dorks

Pack of Dorks #1

by Beth Vrabel

Lucy knows that kissing Tom Lemmings behind the ball shed will make her a legend. But she doesn’t count on that quick clap of lips propelling her from coolest to lamest fourth grader overnight. Suddenly Lucy finds herself trapped in Dorkdom, where a diamond ring turns your finger green, where the boy you kiss hates you three days later, where your best friend laughs as you cry, where parents seem to stop liking you, and where baby sisters are born different.

Now Lucy has a choice: she can be like her former best friend Becky, who would do anything to claim her seat at the cool table in the cafeteria, or Lucy can pull up a chair among the solo eaters—also known as the dorks. Still unsure, Lucy partners with super quiet Sam Righter on a research project about wolves. Lucy connects her own school hierarchy with what she learns about animal pack life—where some wolves pin down weaker ones just because they can, and others risk everything to fight their given place in the pack. Soon Lucy finds her third option: creating a pack of her own, even if it is simply a pack of dorks.

Weaving tough issues, including bullying, loyalty, and disability, with a thread of snarky humor, family bonds, and fresh perspective, Pack of Dorks paints characters coming-of-age and coming-to-terms. Beth Vrabel’s stellar debut contemporary middle grade novel is sure to please fans of Jack Gantos, Elizabeth Atkinson, and Judy Blume.

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Friendship, Childrens, Fiction, School, Family

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 14, 2014

About the author

Beth Vrabel is the author of Cyblis-nominated Caleb and Kit, ILA award-winning A Blind Guide to Stinkville, JLG-selection A Blind Guide to Normal, and The Reckless Club and Pack of Dorks series. She can't clap to the beat nor be trusted near Nutella. Beth loves traveling around the country to meet with young readers and writers, sharing a message of grit, resiliency and heart.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

In sixth grade, I felt weird voting for myself during the student council elections. I lost. By one vote. So it feels weird reviewing my own book, but I've got to say, I love Lucy and her pack. This was the most fun I've ever had writing. Hope you enjoy getting to know them as much I did. And keep an eye out for Camp Dork coming in May 2016.

[Beth Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pack of Dorks is sad in parts and sweet in parts and absolutely hilarious, too. It is also extremely real. Beth Vrabel does an excellent job showing the reality of mean kids and the struggles of popularity. A fantastic read for middle grade children. It teaches kids to be themselves and to respect and appreciate others (even if the others pick their noses).A fun read for adults too. This book will take you straight back to the 4th grade. A fantastic debut novel - I can't wait to read the sequel.

[Ella Zegarra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ternuritas ♥

Lee la reseña en: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Sigo experimentando con Middle Grade. ¿qué es Middle Grade? Es la edad geográfica que abarca el público entre 10 y catorce años. No sé porqué no había experimentado antes este tipo de libros, he terminado encantada. Son en libros como este en que mi costumbre de no leer sinopsis me recompensa, todas esas pequeñas sorpresas le dan un gran peso a la historia. Quizá te estés preguntando que es "Dork", según wordrefence la traducción sería "Menso". Dork es algo así como un sinónimo de Freak sino me equivoco, solo que de una forma más ¿inocente? Se podría decir. La traducción del título sería algo así como "Manada de raritos". El título es adorable, hay que admitirlo.

Lucy, oh, Lucy. Creo que si el libro hubiera sido Young adult ella hubiera sido de esas lloronas que no tienen nada más que hacer con su vida, claro que tiene mucho que ver quién escribe el libro, pero aceptemos que los adolescentes son más dramáticos, es la frescura y un poco de inocencia lo que hace de Lucy quién es: GENIAL. Me divertí como nunca leyendo todo lo que esta muchacha pasa. No sólo lo que pasa sino como ella te lo cuenta es difícil no encariñarse y querer seguir leyendo de ella, querer que le sigan pasando cosas y ver como ella reaccionará.

Y como todo libro Middle Grade que leí hasta: los personajes. SON UNAS TERNURITAS, POR VACA! April, Sam, sus familias, la familia de Lucy. Es difícil escoger solo uno como favorito.

Pack of Dorks es un libro muy inocente, toca temas complicados a veces desde una manera ligera, como lo haría cualquier niño (o pre-adolescente en este caso) pero de una manera divertida que parece será el sello de la escritora Beth Vrabel, ya que esta es su libro debut. Se ha confirmado segunda parte, adivinarán estoy más que contenta :3

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[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy has the biggest day of her life when she meets Tom behind the shed and kisses him in front of her entire 4th grade class. It is sure to cement her as one of the popular kids. Then her mom has her baby sister Molly and Lucy has to miss a couple of days of school. When she gets back her status has fallen. Tom has broken up with her and her best friend Becky treats her like dirt. If that isn't bad enough her home life is in an uproar because Molly has Down's Syndrome and her parents were not prepared at all. Lucy loves her little sister no matter what and can't understand what the fuss is about. At school Lucy is firmly in with the dork crowd and her only options are nose-picker April and super-quiet Sam. When she and Sam team up to do a project on wolves Lucy learns all about packs and forms her own pack of dorks with the outcasts from her class.

I loved this book! I thought Vrabel truly captured the world of 4th grade girls and just how unpredictable they can be. I sympathized with Lucy when Becky turned against her. She leaves school on Friday on top of the world and comes back the next week at the bottom of the pack. I also really enjoyed her reaction to her sister. There aren't a lot of books that deal with siblings with disabilities and this one was really touching. Lucy is a character that readers really take an interest in and want to come out on top. I think her journey of discovering herself and what is really important to her was a very satisfying one. Definitely a book I would recommend.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It all began with a kiss which then led into Dorkland and ended when Lucy deciding she was a lone wolf who needed to decide her own future. I think there are many of us who can relate to Lucy: how desperately she wanted her first kiss, her issues with popularity at school and her trying to find her place with her peers. Lucy and Becky were popular before the two girls decided to kiss the boys. At home, the family is adjusting to the addition of Lucy’s new sister Molly who was born with Down Syndrome. Once Lucy returns to school after an absence, Becky attitude towards her has changed along with all of her peers, she is now the center of everyone’s mockery. Lucy is now an outcast. Becky says she is just pretending by changing her attitude so she can get the inside scope with their peers but Lucy feels alone and isolated and just wants normalcy. Lucy finds herself hanging out with the individuals she once cast aside: the dorks. She now sees these individuals with both eyes, and I love how she really sees them. How they are people with issues but they are people she can relate to on her own level too. Becky sees Lucy adapting and she’s seeing it with both eyes too and there is a change occurring within both girls. Lucy’s grandma offers words of wisdom to Lucy and Lucy slowly everything comes together for Lucy. Truly a wonderful story with many great messages tucked inside.

[Susan Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still remember the day 20 years ago when I was in sixth grade when a couple of the popular kids in my class followed me home from school, howling at me. I wish my 12-year-old self had had "Pack of Dorks" to read back then. It would've helped close my ears to their taunting and inspired me to form my own pack of like-minded underdogs.

With one kiss at recess Lucy goes from being the coolest girl in fourth grade to an outcast. At home, her parents are distracted by the birth of Lucy’s little sister, who was born with Down Syndrome. Lucy is left to navigate her new-found status on her own, until she joins forces with the classmates she’d formerly looked down on.

Beth Vrabel has done a fantastic job capturing the voices of elementary school -- from the bullies to the introverts to the assorted misfits in between -- and sharing a story that should resonate for anyone who's been on the receiving end (or the doling end) of schoolyard teasing. Both kids and adults alike will love Lucy’s wry observations of her teacher, parents and fellow classmates and will cheer her on as she learns the fulfillment of being herself. Lucy’s journey from Mean Girl to Every Girl is funny, sweet and full of heart. I can’t wait to read it with my two little girls when they’re older.

[Margot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope you don’t mind if I do a little grandmotherly bragging. My granddaughter, Lou (age 9), has well-rounded interests. She’s a good friend, a good soccer player, and is quite the reader.

Lou has already read most of the Newberry winners, all the Harry Potter’s, the Lemony Snickets, plus all sorts of other children’s classic and contemporary books. Best of all, Lou has good taste in literature and can critically analyze what she’s read. Lou has joined her older sister in making good book recommendations to me.

One of the books Lou recommended recently is Pack of Dorks by Beth Vrabel. I’m rather fond of children in this age group covered by this novel. Kids in this age group (9 to 10 year olds) don’t quite have that fully developed verbal and social filter they’ll have in another year.

These kids interpret the world exactly as they see it. They are also trying to figure out how they fit into the scheme of things. When Lou told me to read Pack of Dorks, she said it would give me a good look at fourth graders. She was right. My goodness, she was so right!

To give you the flavor of the story I’m going to share with you the story’s beginning:

This was the biggest recess of my life.

Today, I would become—officially—the bravest, most daring, and by far the most mature fourth-grader at Autumn Grove Intermediate School.

Today, as soon as that bell rang, I was on my way to becoming a legend.

Today, I was going to kiss Tom Lemming.

Here’s the plan: The whole class will run outside. Tom will head straight to the ball shed with Henry. Becky and I will check and double check that Ms. Drake and Mr. Peverell aren’t paying attention. Then we’ll sneak behind the shed too.

This incident is just the beginning of the high drama that will be a part of Lucy’s life in the fourth grade. She learns what it’s like to be one of the kids everyone else picks on, the one no one wants to eat lunch with. As Lucy become aware of the unique differences in all the kids in her classroom, she also has some challenges at home. The whole family, but especially her mom, become stressed when a new baby, who is “different,” joins the family. Lucy’s fourth-grade year is very challenging. Lucy comes to appreciate the wide range of individuals who people her life.

Lou and I both loved this book. We believe the author really understands what it’s like to be this age. There were times in the story when the characters made us feel sad and mad, disappointed and concerned. But, there were also times when we laughed out-loud or just smiled. We identified with the struggles of Lucy, of the clueless girl who picked her nose, and truly felt the pain of the boy who wished people wouldn’t notice him. They were all very real.

We were critical of the adults in the story, particularly the teachers. We didn’t understand why the fourth-grade teacher didn’t notice that all her students were out back behind the ball shed. Or why she didn’t notice the boy in the front row who never talked. Not that all teachers are perfect, but these things seemed like they should be basics for all teachers.

We particularly liked the storytelling and the dialogue in Pack of Dorks. The issues - bullying, kids with special needs, and respect for individual differences was not above the understanding of fourth-graders. This is the author’s first book, but we’re very hopeful she’ll soon give us another one.

A five-star rating from both Lou and her Nana.

[Mark Buxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many books have been written about getting along with classmates and friendship, but this book added the issue of mental handicaps. The author shared Lucy's frustrations as she slowly realized she needed to change. Her parents needed time to deal with a handicapped infant. Lucy's grandmother was a fun character, as she had no trouble speaking her mind. She also told Lucy that she had teased other kids when she was young, so she was able help Lucy with her problems.

[Violet Prime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a refreshing read! It really exceeded my expectations, and showed that not every middle school book has to have high school content in it. It was sweet, satisfying, and a perfect book for a cozy read this season. And the whole idea of dorks forming a pack was reused, but Beth Vrabel made it her own. Plus the cover is awesome.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

While tackling some bigger issues like bullying and kids with special needs, this book was also funny and endearing. Lucy, the main character was wonderfully refreshing and honest.

[Ireadalittlebittoomuch:( · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book. Know Beth Vrabel in real life BTW

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really wish this book had existed when I was in fourth grade.

You see, I see a lot of fourth grade me in Lucy. I also had my very own Tom and Henry, a Becky, and a Sam. The only difference between fourth grade me and Lucy is...well, I didn’t really start to accept who I was until late middle-school/early high-school.

Anyway, this book is very, very good, and I think a lot of people should read it.

Great for fans of WONDER.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dear Ellie,

I’m very sorry. I know Beth Vrabel did not base her character on you. Still. You fit the description of Becky so perfectly, I couldn’t help but visualize you as the character. I just can’t believe you would actually act like that. By you, I mean Becky. It’s one thing to be unkind but to actually tell Lucy that you were going to be her friend in secret so that you could hear what the other kids were saying about her was just plain awful. And it seems to me that you actually took pleasure in calling Lucy every afternoon to tell her all the horrible things the kids were doing to make her life at school miserable. Anyway, Ellie. Like I said, I realize you had nothing to do with this story but I needed to write this to remind myself that I’m not actually mad with you.

…

Honestly, the character of Becky played a very minor roll in Beth Vrablel’s Pack of Dorks. Aside from the opening scene and a few phone calls, she was a minor secondary character. It’s the completely viable situations Vrabel created, that made this kid so memorably deplorable.

A less than perfect recess and poorly timed seat change turns a kid who never thought about popularity into a kid who races to take calls from the girl who subtly torments her. Lucy never gave popularity a second thought until the only people that would be nice to her was the girl who picks her nose and the boy who never talks. What begins as a search for getting back her social status ends in Lucy discovering the person she wants to become.

In fantasy or historical fiction, a book can still be readable if some of the story elements don’t function perfectly. Not so with middle grade realistic fiction. If your characters don’t stand out, if the pacing doesn’t move quick enough, if the situations aren’t one-hundred percent believable and if they don’t have an authentic edge, and consequently- if the message is too preachy- the story isn’t just “okay,” it falls flat. While I realize that comment doesn’t encompass the proper nuance, I typically last about 5 pages in a school-based story. Pack of Dorks is a welcome addition to the toughest category to write: books with a strong set of values without condescending to its audience.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 8 year old son wrote this review! You won’t want to stop reading about Lucy and her pack! You’ll love the story and get to know the characters like they’re your best friend. It is a book about a girl that does something to be legendary popular but ends up hated by everybody because she loses a fake ring given to her by a boy named Tom. Can Lucy make friends with the kids that are called dorks? You will love this new book, I did and I am a fourth grader!

[Shala Howell · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could change one thing about parenting, it would be to have it commonly accepted that parents & kids should keep reading books together well into middle school. My fifth grader and I both read Pack of Dorks this weekend (she first, me second) and it opened up so many excellent conversations about friendship, bullying, and having the courage to be your own person. By turns hilarious, painful, and wise, this book is above all real. It's so easy to relate to Lucy and Sam and April. We all know Beckys, and many of us have been Becky at one point in our lives.

I especially love how Beth Vrabel makes it clear that being a good friend is something you have to learn. You will make mistakes. Other people will hurt you by making mistakes of their own. The trick is to grow past it.

As my daughter told me when I asked her if she would have given Becky a second chance, "I think you have to give kids a second chance. And a third. And a fourth. You never know when they will actually start meaning it."

I don't know if I completely agree with her. But it's making for excellent conversations, and I'm learning a lot about how my daughter thinks and where she's at on her middle school journey. We may well be talking about this book and the lessons we can learn from it for days.

And that's one of the greatest things about reading books with your middle schoolers. It gives you a way to break open some of these deeply personal issues from a not so personal angle. Parenting would be so much harder without books like this one.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

For everyone who experienced being outcast in elementary school this book provides the best response . Without being pedantic about the whole bullying spiel, the author gives main character Lucy enough reason and enough gumption to survive the ordeal with her self respect intact. Not something I managed at that age. Vrabel works in the analogy of a pack of wolves very cleverly. Thumbs up for your favorite fourth or fifth grade reader.

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading POD! I have a 10 year old who was reading it at the same time (who also loved it) so we were able to have some great conversations. Much of what Lucy experienced hit home for me, being a bit of a dork at that same age. I wish I had such a relatable book to read when I was a girl. My son says that not much has changed on the 4th grade social scene since I was a kid--- he has seen many of the same types of situations the dorks encountered at his own school. I learned a lot about wolves that I didn't know which was a nice surprise. Two thumbs up!!!!!

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bullying is talked about all the time these days and several people have written about it with varying degrees of success.

Vrabel does an excellent job, though, with this sentimental and touching and heartbreaking story about Lucy---who is one of my favorite protagonists of the summer.

Lucy loses her popularity in the blink of an eye and her world is shattered, so she must go on a journey at school and at home to figure out the meaning of happiness and friendship.

I love her parents, her grandma, Sam (so much) and all the other supporting characters. This was cute and meaningful.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sweet story gets school so right - how popularity and "friends" can turn on you in a heart beat, and how just figuring out who you are and where you belong can be a bit of a trial. Set in the 4th grade I think this would be perfect for 4-5 graders just figuring things out. The main character deals with bullying, changing family situations with a new sister who has Down's Syndrome and all of the family ups and downs of a new baby, and learning about friendship. I really enjoyed it.

[Angie Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

In today's insult driven,"bullying" culture; this is a great read because the main character's experiences with bullies ultimately guide her toward true friendships and an understanding of how friends should treat each other. It is nice to read about a character that overcomes bullying and has a positive outcome.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the descriptions of characters irked me at times (calling people fat or picking on individuals even after Lucy was supposedly friends with them) and the book did not read from a 4th grade perspective to me, but overall the supporting characters (Sam, April, Mom and Dad) were what pushed me to even give this a 3 star rating.

[Namita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consider this book a must read for all parents of third graders and up as well as for all middle grade readers. I read this with my mom/daughter Bookclub and it served for great discussion and gave me great insight into my own daughter's view of the social hierarchy at school.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story on overcoming the bullies and popular kids.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was great! Very entertaining. :)

[Natasha Sinel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My. 9 year old son and I read this together. Multi-layered and a wonderful scene in a wolf conservatory, which was cool since he'd been to one on a field trip.

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this charming book. It is perfect for classroom reading.

[Briana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book was pretty darn good. I saw the book in the children's section of the library and the title made me laugh. The next time I went I grabbed it for my 10 year old to read. Usually she balks away from my suggestions but this time I think the title intrigued her. She finished the book in 3 days. Trying to be more involved in her reading life as well, I decided to read this (and to make sure there wasn't anything morally offensive).

Lucy is a popular girl with a BFF, a boyfriend and a baby sister on the way. Molly, her baby sister is born and over that weekend Lucy goes from most popular to class dork. She struggles with trying to figure out why her best friend can no longer be her friend in public, what's really wrong with her new baby sister, and why everyone in her class now hates her.

Then she discovers Sam, a quiet kid in class who she has been in school with for 5 years but never really noticed. They form a "pack" after researching wolves for a class project.

I think as a mom this is a great book to help us get into the head of a 4th grader. We tend to trivialize their problems because we don't remember exactly what it was like to be 10 and deal with the social hierarchy of grade school. Very age appropriate for a tween and their parents. And a great reminder of what this age group is going through and great ways to help get through some tough situations.

[Kiera LeBlanc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book prior to reading A Blind Guide To Stinkville, Pack of Dorks is a great book that ties love and friendship together. I brought this book to Europe with me as some light plane/airport reading material and I loved it. The book is great and is such a nice and easy read. I loved the humor in this book and also loved the part about the wolves and how she used the scape goat wolf as a connection to her life. Then forming the pack of dorks.
I found the nightly pretend that I don't like you phone calls to be really funny. I don't know why I liked that part.
I would definitely recommend this book for ages 10-14

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Lucy is one of the popular girls and is in fourth grade. She is about to get orbited into "legendary" status when she kisses her boyfriend Tom during recess on a Friday afternoon. She changes her mind, but gets talked in to going through with it by her best friend. Lucy just sort of pecks his, "raw chicken breast lips, peachy and wet." Over the course of the weekend, unknown to her, Tom breaks up with her. Lucy misses school on Monday to stay home because her parents have had a baby- another large piece of the storyline, but not for the reasons you might think- Tom tells everyone what an awful kisser she is. Her status quickly drops, but Lucy finds out there is more to life than making fun of other people and what true friendship is all about.

[Rachel Rooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 2016-2017 Missouri Mark Twain Readers Award nominee (grades 4-6)

Lucy was one of the most popular girls in her grade until one day she isn't. At home her parents are distracted by the birth of Lucy's sister, who has Down syndrome, so Lucy is left to figure out her new place in school on her own.

Of all the realistic fiction nominees this year (and there were quite a few), this was probably my favorite--with the possible exception of Rain Reign, which I read way back in February 2015. I thought the author handled the topic well without making it precious or treacly.

A very solid 3.5 stars.