Crazy Fish: An Inspiring Middle Grade Novel About a Girl's Journey of Family, Friendship, and Finding Voice for Kids

by Norma Fox Mazer

Eleven-year-old Joyce lives with her reclusive uncle, Old Dad, who runs the town garbage dump--which is why the kids at school call her the Dump Queen. Her only friend is Mrs. Fish, the new school custodian whose wild outfits and uninhibited personality inspire her nickname, "Crazy Fish." When Mrs. Fish is around, everything in Joyce's life seems okay. So when fiercely independent Old Dad falls ill, Joyce must convince him to accept her friend's help.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Realistic Fiction

147 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Norma Fox Mazer was an American author and teacher, best known for her books for children and young adults.

She was born in New York City but grew up in Glens Falls, New York, with parents Michael and Jean Garlan Fox. Mazer graduated from Glens Falls High School, then went to Antioch College, where she met Harry Mazer, whom she married in 1950; they have four children, one of whom, Anne Mazer, is also a writer. She also studied at Syracuse University.

New York Times Book Review contributor Ruth I. Gordon wrote that Mazer "has the skill to reveal the human qualities in both ordinary and extraordinary situations as young people mature....it would be a shame to limit their reading to young people, since they can show an adult reader much about the sometimes painful rite of adolescent passage into adulthood."

Among the honors Mazer earned for her writing were a National Book Award nomination in 1973, an American Library Association Notable Book citation in 1976, inclusion on the New York Times Outstanding Books of the Year list in 1976, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1978, an Edgar Award in 1982, German Children's Literature prizes in 1982 and 1989, and a Newbery Medal in 1988.

Mazer taught in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children & Young Adults Program at Vermont College.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/norma-fo...

Reviews

[Rebeka Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books from childhood. I've thought about this book, the characters, different scenes, the cover, periodically for the last two decades. I was surprised as I reread it to find there isn't so very much to the actual book itself but Mazer does such great job of leaving gaps for us to fill. The characters are so much bigger than just the words on the page and you find yourself adding to them.

It's also a terribly sad story. The title characters are all in so much pain and have had such hard lives. You as tormented as Joyce is you can only imagine school was much harder for Ape and Fish and yet they remember it fondly. I mostly love Ape so much! Because for all his crankiness, all his pain and fear, he is so kind to children.

[Aisling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-Read nach sehr vielen Jahren :)

[tam tam]

i think younger ostracized elementary school aged pamela would have benefitted from this one

[Manuel B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay...too short for my liking.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet story! It’d be a great story for middle schoolers. So many could relate to Joyce who just doesn’t fit in.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Fish, Ape, and Me, the Dump Queen is a great children's novel that is complex yet sweetly told. Joyce is a strong-minded young girl who is severely bullied at school and has a "stubborn" uncle, Old Dad, who teaches her to be self-reliant and to trust no one. At school, an incident helps Joyce make a new, older, and wiser friend, Mrs. Fish, the school's temporary custodian and begins to look for trust in others. On the other hand, while her friends are fickle and easily influenced by popular kids who bully her, Joyce also has a wonderful role model and teacher, Mr. LaSorta, who believes in her. Ironically, Joyce ends up writing a paper on the three things she dislikes about teachers, but Norma Fox Mazer's humor, paradox, and deep insights that often emulate life do not stop there. Later in the story, as Joyce deals with conflicts at home, we readers unfortunately see less of her school life. The complexity of the story continues as Joyce tests her ability to make life better around her. In the process, she finds the family love she was missing and the love for her friend by striving and being persistent despite her fears. The novel is imaginative, a good influence, and very straightforward without being condescending or too simple. Mazer leaves the readers satisfied with the feeling of childhood and Joyce's refreshing optimism.

I would recommend anyone who is interested to read it. I do not think is another book (or one for adults) that offers the same message or emotional impact as this book does.

[VY · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joyce and her father live next to a dump where her father works. Joyce has difficulty making friends because the kids at school make fun of her for living by the place where the whole city deposits their rubbish. They don't respect her father's job, and his physical appearance doesn't seem to help his cause. Joyce befriends the new custodian at her school, desperate to not be alone. When something goes terribly wrong happens at home, though, Joyce struggles to deal with the situation all on her own.
This book seemed to head in one direction for most of the novel, but then suddenly takes a different turn. Although it worked, I would have been more interested in the author exploring the issues that were brought up in the first half of the story.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, the plot line is familiar (Outcast student befriended by outcast school custodian, friendship develops, it's what's inside that counts, etc.) However, the story is well executed and, not being a member of the "A crowd" myself, I can't help but celebrate the triumph of an underdog.

[Merrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading it and never finished it. it was awful.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book on the effects of bullying of a child at school and the kindness that is offered. My favorite of Mazer's Middle School books.

[Merrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not really like this book at all.

[Nina21 · Rating 4 out of 5]

wounderful book lots of good description and characters i hope their will be a sequel

[( Bianeyy OLmedo ] · Rating 2 out of 5]

i Liked it but Theres better books Out there

[Mell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moving book about a girl who struggles at school with the way her classmates judge her lower income family. I think was a junior high study hall read.

[Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could give it 2.5, I would. I rounded up because the characters were so likable, and I recently recommended it to a 6th grader.

[Klyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book --- ends happily ever after. The message on how to deal with meaness seems to follow the "sticks and stones may break my bones..." theory.

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5