Piper Reed: Navy Brat

Piper Reed #1

by Kimberly Willis Holt, Christine Davenier (Illustrator)

It's not easy being the middle child, especially when your dad is a Navy Chief. Meet Piper Reed, a spunky nine-year-old who has moved more times than she can count on one hand. From Texas to Guam, wherever Piper goes, adventure follows, inspired by her active imagination, free-wheeling spirit, and a bit of sister magic. Unlike her older sister, Piper loves being part of a Navy family, and unlike her little sister, Piper is no prodigy genius. Piper is Piper―fearless and full of life. Based on her own childhood experience, Kimberly Willis Holt portrays the life of a Navy family with warmth and humor.

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Juvenile, Middle Grade, Fiction, Chapter Books, Audiobook

160 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2007

About the author

Kimberly Willis Holt is the author of the Piper Reed series, including Piper Reed, Navy Brat, Piper Reed, Clubhouse Queen, and Piper Reed, Rodeo Star. She has written many award-winning novels, including The Water Seeker and My Louisiana Sky, as well as the picture books Waiting for Gregory and Skinny Brown Dog. A former Navy brat herself, Holt was born in Pensacola, Florida, and lived all over the U.S. and the world—from Paris to Norfolk to Guam to New Orleans. Holt long dreamed of being a writer, but first worked as a radio news director, marketed a water park, and was an interior decorator, among other jobs. A few years after she started writing, her third book, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, won a National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She resides in West Texas with her family.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/kimber...

Reviews

[Zoë!]

This series was my religion

[Ryann Uden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nine-year-old Piper Reed is the middle child in a Navy family. Her dad, Chief, is transferred from San Diego to Pensacola, FL in the middle of the school year, so the family packs up and makes the cross country trip to settle in to their new, smaller home.

While the family prepares for Chief to leave for a six-month tour of duty, Piper starts at a new school and learns all about the Blue Angels, which are also stationed in Pensacola.

I found this to be a fun, quick story about everyday life in a military family, although you don't need to be a military family to recognize the dynamics between the three sisters and their parents. It is wonderful that all the military families today have books like this to read with their kids so that they can read stories that they can relate to - and that relate to them. Even in this quick chapter book, Chief's departure tugged at the ol' heartstrings.

It was also great to see Piper presented with dyslexia, her struggles and her dreams to be a Navy pilot with the Blue Angels - which her dad supports her wholeheartedly. The audiobook performance was nice. This is first in the series.

[Jazmine Shoup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piper Reed: Navy Brat, written by Kimberly Willis Holt and illustrated by Christine Davenier, is a creative and unique young readers transitional book. The book is a longer chapter book, about 150 pages, designed as a transition book for students when they become more advanced readers. The premise of the book follows a young spunky 9 year old girl named Piper Reed, who has lived in more places than you could imagine. Piper is the daughter of a Navy Chief and therefore moves around quite a lot. Every where Piper seems to go, adventure seems to follow. This novel exemplifies the active imagination, free spirit, and adventure that have come to envelop young Piper’s life. Although Piper is used to moving around, the move that is characterized in this novel happens to be after school has already started. The plot shows the sadness that Piper has because she will miss her friends, school, bedroom, tree house, and many other things a 9 year old begins to get used to. Although she is sad, Piper learns again to make friends, and develop new ideas and fun wherever she goes.
One aspect of the novel that I really enjoyed was the descriptive vocabulary and visualizations that were provided throughout. “My shoes pinched my toes. I tucked my hands in my pockets and felt my Gypsy Club invitations for good luck. Today I planned to sit at the back of the class and search for my new friends. Then I’d give then an invitation. It would be kind of like going to a candy counter; only instead of choosing between Butter Cups, or sour jawbreakers, I’d select which lucky kids would get to be members of the Gypsy Club.” (Page 90) This quote is a great example of the visual images and detail that were provided through the text in the entirety of the novel.
The illustrations utilized were also wonderful. There were small black and white images sprinkled throughout the novel, keeping the attention and giving more visual images for the young transitional readers to connect to. I feel as though although the illustrations were simple and not abundant, they added greatly to the understanding of the text and served their designed purpose. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and felt as though it would be a great book for teachers to offer to students for Silent Sustained Reading time, or independent choice novels.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is special for us. For one, my husband always wanted to name our youngest daughter Piper (although I vetoed it for the birth certificate) and he still calls her that as a nickname. And another, we are also a military family who have picked up our lives and moved thousands of miles away from the life we knew...several times. And my career is in aviation, so our girls know a little about having a mom who flies for a living.

So altogether, this was a familiar story before we even really got started. Even the debate between what kind of dog to get was paralleled in our life. After our latest move, we decided that our girls were finally old enough to handle having a dog for a pet.

We were also torn between getting a female miniature poodle (ours would have had to be white) to please my mother-in-law, who lives with us and a bigger dog to please my husband. My husband won out and now we have a German Shephard.

This tales reminds us in so many ways of some of the other books about pre-teen girls we've read, like Judy Moody, the Amber Brown series, and Clementine.

We like reading tales about adventurous, spunky girls. We love their creativity, the mischief they get into, their adventures, the confusion and dismay they experience when things don't go as they should, their resilience, and the way that life often throws curveballs at their carefully laid plans.

We really enjoyed this story and look forward to the next book in the Piper Reed series, Piper Reed, The Great Gypsy.

Fun quote:

"Secrets, secrets are no fun, unless you're telling everyone." (p. 43)

[Kayleighbooks5 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fabulous this is another MUST read book. When I was already only five pages in I knew this was a 5 stars ⭐️ Pls read this book

[Harlyn Rengel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was HORRIBLE!!!!!! Do you guys like when people brag about themselves??????? I just don’t like it!!❌. It should be banned!! I feel that this author is a very very good author, but the author needs to learn that you DON’T have to BRAG!!! Yup, I know that I almost like EVERY SINGLE book! But nope I DO NOT like bragging books😤



P.S. I read REALLY fast😉

[Maddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about a family of 5, they have to move to Pensacola,Florda because their dad is in the U.S Navy and has to move around the world for his job.

The family was not happy to find out that they have to move
into a smaller house than they were originally in. But they get really excited when their parents suprised them with a dog. The dog they got was a poodle. Piper named it Bruna

The most important part was when cheif had to leave for 6 months. To leave for a buisness trip. So every night cheif would pick up a diffrent family member to go to dinner and do something fun together for the night before he had to leave for his buisness trip.

I would reccomend this book to people who like to read about
humerous families.

[Christine Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Main character has dyslexia.

Newbery Honor author, Kimberly Willis Holt, portrays the life of a Navy family with warmth and humor. It's not easy being the middle child, especially when your dad is a Navy Chief. Meet Piper Reed, a spunky nine-year-old who has moved more times than she can count on one hand. From Texas to Guam, wherever Piper goes, adventure follows, inspired by her active imagination, free-wheeling spirit, and a bit of sister magic. Unlike her older sister, Piper loves being part of a Navy family, and unlike her younger sister, Piper is no prodigy genius. Piper is Piper--fearless and full of life!

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book! Piper, the middle child keeps moving for her dad’s work, the military. This book is full of sister magic, drama and more! Definitely read!!!

[ximena romero]

THIS WHOLE SERIES IS IN THE BACK OF MY MIND EVERY DAY AND I COULD NEVER REMEMBER THE NAME TILL I DID SOME SEARCHING BUT 4TH GRADE ME LOVED THESE OMG

[Mary E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun; age appropriate; realistic

[Ro Menendez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Piper Reed must move again, as many military families do, but this time she is moving after the school year has begun, something her family has never done. The Reeds usually move in the summer giving Piper and her two sisters time to get to know the neighborhood or military base kids and make friends, before school starts. The story focuses mostly on the road trip from California to Florida, and the first week of school. Piper seems to be the kind of person that sees the glass as half empty, wishing she belonged in another family, explaining why being the middle child is difficult, taunting her sister with food because her sister loves eating and at one time was a little "chubby", bothered by her younger sister's ability to read while Piper struggles because of dyslexia. I did not really warm up to Piper, and the whole book is like an introduction to the family and the current circumstances, the reader is left not knowing if Sam, Piper's youngest sibling, makes any friends at school after her first difficult day, if Piper's Pensacola chapter of the Gypsy Club actually gets permanent members, although it seemed Piper would bond with the dog her parents get for the girls, there isn't much description of Piper spending time with Bruna, and in the last chapter, Chief, Piper's dad is off to his naval assignment for six months, and then the book is over. Not enough was resolved, nor enough burning questions about any of the characters are developed through the story to inspire me to read the next title in this series.

[Leane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute book from Kimberly Willis Holt! Pipper Reed is a very spunky nine year old girl stuck right in between two sisters, one who is a middle schooler and the other who is a very smart kindergartener. Pipper's father is in the Navy, so when he tells the family that they are moving across the country to Pensacola, Florida, Pipper must leave behind her friends, known as the Gypsy Club, her tree house, and her school. The great thing about Pipper is that she has a tight-knit family who loves to spend time together. The connection with the Blue Angels was the best part of the book for me, mainly because my great uncle flew with the Blue Angels, so I was excited to see Pipper just as enthusiastic about them as I was when I was a little kid. Pipper is unique, and sortof reminds me of Ramona Quimby. What separates Ramona and Pipper is that Pipper is okay with not fitting in. If someone doesn't like her, who cares? She'll find someone who does.

This is a short little book that's great for intermediate readers. I hope that young girls who have the middle child syndrome can relate to Pipper and find a way to appreciate themselves even though they may not always be the center of attention.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piper Reed is a typical spunky middle child with quite a bit to say. She is a typical 4th grader, always bickering with her older sister and doing things to upset her. One day Pipers dad tells the family that is being moved to a new naval base in Pensacola. Growing up in the navy, piper and her siblings are used to picking up and moving somewhere new every several years but this move is different, this move is in the middle of the school year. Piper and her family make the journey across the country to Pensacola and Piper is excited to begin her new adventure but she soon realizes when they get there that it wasn't everything she thought it would be. Her father has to leave for several weeks with the navy and when her parents surprise the family with a dog, she gets no say in the type of dog they get. She has to learn to roll with the punches and take the good with the bad. This book is terrific for young girls 3rd-4th grade as they try to transition to novels. The book is an easy read with a story line most young girls can relate to. The chapters are accompanied with a few small illustrations that make the transition from short story to novel, an easy one.

[Ronda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series I will be happy to recommend to my readers who are fans of Junie B., Amber Brown, & Judy Moody. As the story opens, Piper's mother (an artist) and the Chief(Piper's father, a Navy mechanic)announce to their 3 daughters that they will be moving from their home in California to Pensacola, Florida. As a career Navy family,this isn't the first time that the Reeds have moved, but this move hits Piper hard. The Reed home in California was their first ever that wasn't on-base and their first where Piper was able to have a tree house and her own club--The Gypsy Club. Will she be able to make new friends? A new club? Even if there is no tree house? And what about school? What if her teacher asks her to read in front of the class? Piper is dyslexic. Add to these worries the fact that her father will be leaving for a 6-month tour and you can see that Piper has a lot on her plate. But maybe, living near the home base of the Blue Angels, Piper Reed, Navy Brat, can find her new place in their new home.

[Miltona 3rd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piper Reed Navy Brat is a great hilarious book that is very realistic and funny. The story is about piper and her sisters and her hard life, well she called it hard. She happened to be the middle kid and had two sisters named Tori and Sam. Tori was her older sister. Sam was her younger sister.
Their father is a person who works in a military base. Unfortunately their father’s job had forced them to move again. But the girls did not want to move but chief said there was no choice. the chief is their father. Piper says she is the only one who respects him. everyone just rolls their eyes and groans when the girls find out they are moving to Pensacola, Florida.
But the girls get a reward. A puppy! They will only pick the perfect pooch! They get a poodle. Piper is not enjoying the pooch like everyone else is. She would much rather have a German Shepard or a lab. Tomorrow is her first day of school what will happen? will she make friends? I truly love this book. If you like a laugh then you should read this book.

[Smaileh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piper Reed is the middle of three sisters, and--as the title informs us--a navy brat. That means that she is used to her family packing up and moving across country on short notice every couple of years. As, indeed, they have to do at the beginning of this book, leaving San Diego for Pensacola (or, as little sister Sam says, Pepsi-Cola) Florida.

This is an episodic family story, like all those Henry, Beezus and Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. Piper is a resourceful and clever girl. She's dyslexic so she sometimes struggles with schoolwork, but she is the one who is able to remember where little sister Sam left her doll and then deduces which moving box it's been packed in. While staying with cousins along the road, older sister Tori shows a mean side, but when Piper invites new friends to a party promising a real gypsy fortuneteller, Tori comes through and saves the day.

Piper Reed, Navy Brat is on the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee List.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holt, Kimberly Willis, Piper Reed: Navy Brat, 160 pgs Henry Holt and Co.

Army brat/Navy brat this is what you are called when your mom or dad is in the armed forces. Most of these families have to move from base to base, depending on where their parent is assigned. Piper has “moved more times than she can count on one hand” and she is only nine-years-old. This time her family is moving to Pepsi-Cola(Pensacola) Florida. Moving can be exciting, but it also means saying good-bye to friends, schools, and neighbors. For Piper it means saying good-bye to the Gypsy Club. The Gypsy club was a special club for Piper and her closest friends. Will there be anyone to start up a new Gypsy club with in Pensacola? Piper is a spunky girl who has lots of adventures as she learns to make new friends and adjust to new places. For kids who love Junie B. Jones.

EL. Essential Allison Madsen~Teen Librarian-SJO Public Librarian

[Sarah Maddaford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was lucky that I never had to move after I was three years old. Moving can be awful for a kid; but, as Piper shows, it can be an adventure too. She's been to Guam in addition to several places all over the continental United States. It was slightly weird to have her call her dad Chief instead of Dad. I guess it was a way to differentiate herself from her sisters. I definitely remember car trips especially long ones with my little sister. We were lucky to have a van that meant we didn't have to sit next to each other for most of the trip. The girls in the book were surprisingly well behaved on the trip and during the rest of the book. It's a good book for kids that move a lot because they can relate to it, but it is also good for a first time mover to show that even though it can be scary, they'll make new friends and get comfortable in their new place eventually.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book before "Piper Reed gets a job". It is the first book in the series. It benefits from having a fresh perspective for the character, and from dealing with a relatable theme, moving from one's old home to a new home, that some kids experience. The Blue Angels angle is a nice touch. This is nothing extraordinary, but enjoyable enough. It is too bad in a way that this was not a stand-alone book, since invariably the series has to go beyond this initial theme and devolve into an episodic, less insightful, work. I gave this book the same 3 as the "job" book, but it is a higher 3 than "job". I just cannot justify giving it a 4. And when I think of the incredible writing in "Part of me", I cannot help feeling that this book does not make the best use of this author's obvious talent.

[Kirsten Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

TOPIC THREADS:
* Military
* Moving
* Family
* Friendship
* Sisters
* Individuality

PICTURE BOOK CONNECTIONS:
* The Quilt Story (moving)
* Knuffle Bunny, A Case of Mistaken Identity (friendship)
* Ruby the Copycat (friendship)
* A Bad Case of Strips (individuality)
* Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move (moving)

CHAPTER BOOK CONNECTIONS:
* Alie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day (moving, individuality)
* Judy Moody series (family, friendship, individuality)
* The Penderwicks (sisters, family, individuality)
* Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (family, sisters, individuality)
* Where I Live (moving)

OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR:
* Piper Reed: The Great Gypsy
* When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
* My Louisiana Sky
* Mister and Me

*

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and fast, this is the story ten year-old Piper and her family. She is the middle-child in a family of three girls and has a dad who is in the military. Her older sister Tori is the shy and reserve one who wants to be a writer and her younger sister Sam is a child prodigy who likes to show-off. Unlike the middle children often featured in books, Piper is the confident, bubbly, and outgoing one in family. She is the only sister who enjoys that her father is in the military and is proud to be a military brat. And unlike her other two sisters, she calls her Dad by 'Chief' instead of 'Dad'.
In the first book of this series, Piper's family moves from San Diego, California to Pensacola, Florida.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the most circulated books at my middle school library so I figured I should read it. And it was cute!

Piper Reed is a unique girl character in that she cares about typical things like making friends and fitting in, but has some pretty unique interests, such as the Blue Angels. Her goal is to be in Blue Angels herself, as her dad is in the Navy.

The struggles of being a military brat are touched on in a realistic way, but don't drive the story. It's primarily a cute book about a quirky girl doing her best to fit in in a new town while negotiating living with two sisters. It's an easy read and Piper serves as a nice deviation from most girl characters in books written at this reading level.

[Sara]

I am currently reading Piper Reed: Navy Brat to my third grade class. Earlier this year, Kimberly Willis Holt came to visit our school, so my students were excited to read one of her books. Even though this book is not action packed, like the "I Survived" series most of them devour, they are still highly entertained. Piper and the Reeds sound like a real family. The way Kimberly Willis Holt writes the dialogue and Piper's inner monologue makes the characters relatable. Kids know what real kids sound like, and seem to connect with a book that has authentic kid language in it.

If you're looking for an easy read aloud that will appeal to your entire class, try this series. I know I'll be buying more of the series for my classroom library very soon.

[Shelleyburns]

Contemporary realistic fiction. Grades 1-5. Themes - family, moving, sibling relationships. This is the story of a young girl, Piper, who's father is in the Navy. Piper moves with her family (Mom, Dad, Big sister and little sister)to Florida from California. We follow the Piper and her family as they cross the US, visit relatives, move in to their new house and make new friends. This is a very comical book that many students will relate too. Especially the car trip, making new friends, and sibling relationships. I would read this book aloud to my class and model various comprehension strategies. This is book one in a series of Piper Reed books.

[Penny McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piper Reed is a great choice for fans of Stella Batts, Clementine or Ramona. She is the kind of kid who rushes headlong into things and then has to clean up the mess after. Middle sister in a family that travels around with a father in the U.S. Navy and she has all the skirmishes that come from that birth order.

New friends, new school, fighting with big sister, missing father as he deploys for 6 months - it's a lot for a little kid to handle and Kimberly Willis Holt (who was a military kid herself) manages it all with a deft hand at humour. I am going to be passing this series out right and left and we are looking forward to the second book in this series. It has gypsies!

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piper Reed: Navy Brat is full of humor and images of priceless childhood moments. Piper's dad is a Navy mechanic and as such they've moved all over the country. Their new assignment is Pensacola, Florida (or Pepsi-Cola as her little sister, Sam says)...home of the flying Blue Angels. Piper is sad to leave her friends and school behind in San Diego, but as she soon finds out there is lots to love about Pensacola. And, she just may have found her career choice as well... well as much as a fourth-grader could be certain of.

Illustrations are delightful and make the text come alive.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Piper Reed series about the middle child of a Navy Chief. I loved this first book and would recommend it and the other Piper Reed stories to all young girl readers, especially those who are fans of Clementine or any other early chapter book series. The writing is simple and easy to understand, but doesn't talk down to the reader. Piper and her sisters have a typical relationship and reading these books will give those who don't have family members in the military a glimpse into their lives.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book to read to a class, especially if there are any military students in the class.

[Lauren Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

When i read this book when I was younger I loved the attitude Piper had and I lob=ved reading about her life.