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The Landry News
From the Editor's Desk
A Question of Fairness
There has been no teaching so far this year in Mr. Larson's classroom. There has been learning, but there has been no teaching. There is a teacher in the classroom, but he does not teach.
Cara Landry is a budding journalist. When she posts a scathing editorial about her burned-out teacher on the bulletin board one afternoon, everything changes. Prodded into action for the first time in years, Mr. Larson challenges his fifth-grade students to create a real newspaper. Soon The Landry News gets more attention than either Cara or her teacher bargained for, as the principal uses the paper to try to get Mr. Larson fired. While the whole town is swept up in a dramatic debate over The Landry News and the First Amendment, Mr. Larson uses the controversy as raw material for some of the finest teaching of his career. And Cara and her classmates learn the importance of tempering a newspaper's truth with mercy. But will their lessons cost Mr. Larson his job?
Written by the author of the immensely popular Frindle, this is a compelling new novel about the collision of a student in need of a teacher with a teacher in need of inspiration.
A Question of Fairness
There has been no teaching so far this year in Mr. Larson's classroom. There has been learning, but there has been no teaching. There is a teacher in the classroom, but he does not teach.
Cara Landry is a budding journalist. When she posts a scathing editorial about her burned-out teacher on the bulletin board one afternoon, everything changes. Prodded into action for the first time in years, Mr. Larson challenges his fifth-grade students to create a real newspaper. Soon The Landry News gets more attention than either Cara or her teacher bargained for, as the principal uses the paper to try to get Mr. Larson fired. While the whole town is swept up in a dramatic debate over The Landry News and the First Amendment, Mr. Larson uses the controversy as raw material for some of the finest teaching of his career. And Cara and her classmates learn the importance of tempering a newspaper's truth with mercy. But will their lessons cost Mr. Larson his job?
Written by the author of the immensely popular Frindle, this is a compelling new novel about the collision of a student in need of a teacher with a teacher in need of inspiration.
138 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1999
221 people are currently reading
1970 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Clements
191 books2,194 followersI was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1949 and lived in Oaklyn and Cherry Hill until the middle of sixth grade. Then we moved to Springfield, Illinois. My parents were avid readers and they gave that love of books and reading to me and to all my brothers and sisters. I didn’t think about being a writer at all back then, but I did love to read. I'm certain there's a link between reading good books and becoming a writer. I don't know a single writer who wasn’t a reader first.
Before moving to Illinois, and even afterwards, our family spent summers at a cabin on a lake in Maine. There was no TV there, no phone, no doorbell—and email wasn’t even invented. All day there was time to swim and fish and mess around outside, and every night, there was time to read. I know those quiet summers helped me begin to think like a writer.
During my senior year at Springfield High School my English teacher handed back a poem I’d written. Two things were amazing about that paper. First, I’d gotten an A—a rare event in this teacher’s class. And she’d also written in large, scrawly red writing, “Andrew—this poem is so funny. This should be published!”
That praise sent me off to Northwestern University feeling like I was a pretty good writer, and occasionally professors there also encouraged me and complimented the essays I was required to write as a literature major. But I didn’t write much on my own—just some poetry now and then. I learned to play guitar and began writing songs, but again, only when I felt like it. Writing felt like hard work—something that’s still true today.
After the songwriting came my first job in publishing. I worked for a small publisher who specialized in how-to books, the kind of books that have photos with informative captions below each one. The book in which my name first appeared in print is called A Country Christmas Treasury. I’d built a number of the projects featured in the book, and I was listed as one of the “craftspeople”on the acknowlegements page, in tiny, tiny type.
In 1990 I began trying to write a story about a boy who makes up a new word. That book eventually became my first novel, Frindle, published in 1996, and you can read the whole story of how it developed on another web site, frindle.com. Frindle became popular, more popular than any of my books before or since—at least so far. And it had the eventual effect of turning me into a full-time writer.
I’ve learned that I need time and a quiet place to think and write. These days, I spend a lot of my time sitting in a small shed about seventy feet from my back door at our home in Massachusetts. There’s a woodstove in there for the cold winters, and an air conditioner for the hot summers. There’s a desk and chair, and I carry a laptop computer back and forth. But there’s no TV, no phone, no doorbell, no email. And the woodstove and the pine board walls make the place smell just like that cabin in Maine where I spent my earliest summers.
Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is a good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. And growing up, it's the same way. We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life.
Before moving to Illinois, and even afterwards, our family spent summers at a cabin on a lake in Maine. There was no TV there, no phone, no doorbell—and email wasn’t even invented. All day there was time to swim and fish and mess around outside, and every night, there was time to read. I know those quiet summers helped me begin to think like a writer.
During my senior year at Springfield High School my English teacher handed back a poem I’d written. Two things were amazing about that paper. First, I’d gotten an A—a rare event in this teacher’s class. And she’d also written in large, scrawly red writing, “Andrew—this poem is so funny. This should be published!”
That praise sent me off to Northwestern University feeling like I was a pretty good writer, and occasionally professors there also encouraged me and complimented the essays I was required to write as a literature major. But I didn’t write much on my own—just some poetry now and then. I learned to play guitar and began writing songs, but again, only when I felt like it. Writing felt like hard work—something that’s still true today.
After the songwriting came my first job in publishing. I worked for a small publisher who specialized in how-to books, the kind of books that have photos with informative captions below each one. The book in which my name first appeared in print is called A Country Christmas Treasury. I’d built a number of the projects featured in the book, and I was listed as one of the “craftspeople”on the acknowlegements page, in tiny, tiny type.
In 1990 I began trying to write a story about a boy who makes up a new word. That book eventually became my first novel, Frindle, published in 1996, and you can read the whole story of how it developed on another web site, frindle.com. Frindle became popular, more popular than any of my books before or since—at least so far. And it had the eventual effect of turning me into a full-time writer.
I’ve learned that I need time and a quiet place to think and write. These days, I spend a lot of my time sitting in a small shed about seventy feet from my back door at our home in Massachusetts. There’s a woodstove in there for the cold winters, and an air conditioner for the hot summers. There’s a desk and chair, and I carry a laptop computer back and forth. But there’s no TV, no phone, no doorbell, no email. And the woodstove and the pine board walls make the place smell just like that cabin in Maine where I spent my earliest summers.
Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is a good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. And growing up, it's the same way. We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 478 reviews
May 31, 2020
I really like all of Andrew Clements' books. I wish something this exciting had happened at my school. Cara is so smart and it was nice to see that she was actually able to make such a big difference in her teachers life. It was interesting to see the perspective of her as well as her teacher.
Read
January 23, 2025This is one of my favorite read aloud books for my kids! It’s so informative while also having a really good story. And it opens up conversation for lessons on freedom of the press and the first amendment in general. Highly recommend!
December 19, 2021
Andrew Clements books will always have a special place in my heart, and this one is one of my favorites! Cara Landry has just moved to a new school, and immediately sets to work making the first addition of a new newspaper, The Landry News. The paper is a hit, until it falls in the hands of her new teacher, old Mr. Larson, who prefers reading his newspaper to teaching. Despite its being truthful, Mr. Larson it not pleased by Cara's electoral stating his negligence as a teacher.
After thinking it over, Cara agrees she was a bit harsh. Still, she is not done with her newspaper, and with her new helpers and Mr. Larson's agreement, she takes the newspaper up to the next level. Soon, the paper is printing a multiple page paper every Friday and is a hit all over the school. But, despite the rules about Freedom of Speech Mr. Larson has taught the class about, the principle strikes when a questionable paper is published, and threatens to shut them down. Deciding he has one last chance to prove his teaching abilities before he is surely fired, Mr. Larson sets out to lead the class on a study of the Bill of Rights, and perhaps save the paper that has united the school.
This book is so good!! While it is aimed for younger audiences, I still enjoyed it as a quick read exploring the true freedom of the press these days. Cara's personality was well developed, and I loved how all the class jumped to her side. Definitely one of my favorite Andrew Clements books, and I have read quite a few over the years!
After thinking it over, Cara agrees she was a bit harsh. Still, she is not done with her newspaper, and with her new helpers and Mr. Larson's agreement, she takes the newspaper up to the next level. Soon, the paper is printing a multiple page paper every Friday and is a hit all over the school. But, despite the rules about Freedom of Speech Mr. Larson has taught the class about, the principle strikes when a questionable paper is published, and threatens to shut them down. Deciding he has one last chance to prove his teaching abilities before he is surely fired, Mr. Larson sets out to lead the class on a study of the Bill of Rights, and perhaps save the paper that has united the school.
This book is so good!! While it is aimed for younger audiences, I still enjoyed it as a quick read exploring the true freedom of the press these days. Cara's personality was well developed, and I loved how all the class jumped to her side. Definitely one of my favorite Andrew Clements books, and I have read quite a few over the years!
July 31, 2015
This very short story about a fifth-grade girl who creates her own newspaper, starting a chain of events that nearly gets her teacher fired, has a lot of heart. It’s slightly awkward in places, but it has a lot to say about First Amendment rights, the role of a newspaper in society, and balancing truth with mercy. Nobody in the story is truly a villain, though there are plenty of people (including the protagonists) who act out of selfish or vindictive motives, and I was particularly moved by how Clements addresses the issue of divorce and how it affects children. Not my favorite book by Clements, but enough to boost its 2.5 stars to a 3.
October 8, 2010
My little brother had this book years back, and I decided to pick it up and read it out of curiosity.
The story was a little strange. There's a burnt-out teacher who just sits back and lets his students do whatever they want, and one student who decides she's not going to take it. So she writes a little essay badmouthing the teacher and tacks it to the wall. Upon seeing this, the teacher angrily takes it down, but later decides to do something positive with the situation. He decides to let the kids make their own newspaper.
The book goes into some detail about what it's like to make the newspaper, giving us a view of Cara Landry's excitement and the effect the newspaper project has on the class. It was pretty neat. But then, the book began to get heavy-handed.
When Cara writes a very personal editorial on divorce, the principal, having always hated this teacher and looking for a reason to fire him, decides to use the editorial and its "inappropriate" content as his excuse to do so. This results in the teacher deciding to preach to his kids about the First Amendment to the US Constitution, and finally inviting them all to witness the disciplinary hearing that he'll stand in, where he may or may not be fired.
I felt the book was a little ridiculous in its presentation. I found the story interesting up until it decided to turn into a lesson.
In an attempt to tell an adult story in a way that kids can understand, it gets a bit clumsy. We're told at one point that the principal calls his secretary - who's right next door to him and who he could easily walk over to - on the phone merely because using the phone makes him feel more important. An adult character quirk some of us could appreciate. Later, we're told that the principal uses certain language to try to make the teacher look bad when writing his request to have the teacher removed - examples of "big words" are used to show that he means business.
Probably the most glaring example of the gap in understanding of the audience, though, was when the teacher is explaining to the class that he's about to go to a disciplinary hearing and may be fired from his teaching position, and in the telling, "[doesn't] paint himself as a victim." Excuse me? As an adult reading this, I know what that expression means, but what about the kids this book is ostensibly written for? I realize that explaining how the teacher basically admitted that, yes, he did wrong and was a lousy teacher for years and is only now getting what he deserved back then, but it's not his fault, so don't think he wants pity, can be a little time consuming to write. But still, to use the expression "paint himself as a victim" to sum up that point shows to me that this author was at a loss in trying to appeal to the savvy adult audience who might walk away with a moral from the tale, and the kids whose level it was allegedly written at.
The moral is apparently the value of the First Amendment, represented by Cara's "controversial" editorial about divorce, that proved to be meaningful to one of her classmates. Or maybe it's how even a lousy teacher can earn a second chance by finding something important and meaningful that gets his kids to think and learn. Or maybe that schools should let kids write about important issues that affect their lives, and give them an outlet to do so. All good messages, I think many will agree.
If that's the case, however, this probably should have been a book for adults. The story is certainly very "adult", and I think a book like this would be better written at an adult or YA level, maybe in short story form. As a kids' book that tackle "adult" themes in ways that likely will go over many kids' heads, I feel it's just too clumsy to really work. As an adult story, I think it could have been written in more detail and put into Reader's Digest. Hence the 2 star rating.
The story was a little strange. There's a burnt-out teacher who just sits back and lets his students do whatever they want, and one student who decides she's not going to take it. So she writes a little essay badmouthing the teacher and tacks it to the wall. Upon seeing this, the teacher angrily takes it down, but later decides to do something positive with the situation. He decides to let the kids make their own newspaper.
The book goes into some detail about what it's like to make the newspaper, giving us a view of Cara Landry's excitement and the effect the newspaper project has on the class. It was pretty neat. But then, the book began to get heavy-handed.
When Cara writes a very personal editorial on divorce, the principal, having always hated this teacher and looking for a reason to fire him, decides to use the editorial and its "inappropriate" content as his excuse to do so. This results in the teacher deciding to preach to his kids about the First Amendment to the US Constitution, and finally inviting them all to witness the disciplinary hearing that he'll stand in, where he may or may not be fired.
I felt the book was a little ridiculous in its presentation. I found the story interesting up until it decided to turn into a lesson.
In an attempt to tell an adult story in a way that kids can understand, it gets a bit clumsy. We're told at one point that the principal calls his secretary - who's right next door to him and who he could easily walk over to - on the phone merely because using the phone makes him feel more important. An adult character quirk some of us could appreciate. Later, we're told that the principal uses certain language to try to make the teacher look bad when writing his request to have the teacher removed - examples of "big words" are used to show that he means business.
Probably the most glaring example of the gap in understanding of the audience, though, was when the teacher is explaining to the class that he's about to go to a disciplinary hearing and may be fired from his teaching position, and in the telling, "[doesn't] paint himself as a victim." Excuse me? As an adult reading this, I know what that expression means, but what about the kids this book is ostensibly written for? I realize that explaining how the teacher basically admitted that, yes, he did wrong and was a lousy teacher for years and is only now getting what he deserved back then, but it's not his fault, so don't think he wants pity, can be a little time consuming to write. But still, to use the expression "paint himself as a victim" to sum up that point shows to me that this author was at a loss in trying to appeal to the savvy adult audience who might walk away with a moral from the tale, and the kids whose level it was allegedly written at.
The moral is apparently the value of the First Amendment, represented by Cara's "controversial" editorial about divorce, that proved to be meaningful to one of her classmates. Or maybe it's how even a lousy teacher can earn a second chance by finding something important and meaningful that gets his kids to think and learn. Or maybe that schools should let kids write about important issues that affect their lives, and give them an outlet to do so. All good messages, I think many will agree.
If that's the case, however, this probably should have been a book for adults. The story is certainly very "adult", and I think a book like this would be better written at an adult or YA level, maybe in short story form. As a kids' book that tackle "adult" themes in ways that likely will go over many kids' heads, I feel it's just too clumsy to really work. As an adult story, I think it could have been written in more detail and put into Reader's Digest. Hence the 2 star rating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2024
2019
The old Cara Landry used her newspaper articles to hurt people. Her parents were getting divorced and the best way for her to deal with her anger and hurt was to make other people feel bad as well. Well, the new Cara Landry wants Truth and Mercy. She wants to tell newspaper articles to inform the public about important issues, like the least liked food in the cafeteria.
Mr. Larson used to be a good teacher. He was voted Best Teacher for three years in a row! But something happened that changed him for the worse (for a while, anyway). He stopped caring about what happened in his classroom, so long as furniture and windows weren't being broken. He could sit quietly at his desk, reading his newspaper, and ignore all of the children he was supposed to be teaching.
Then Cara Landry and Mr. Larson were put together in the same classroom.
And magic happened.
Together they created a classroom newspaper where students and teacher worked together to make the most truthful, merciful newspaper as possible.
It was such a cute story about being the best version of yourself you can be, fighting for what you believe is right, and good triumphing over evil. Every word is carefully placed to make you feel every emotion on the spectrum. You feel pride, sadness, hope, love, anger, and humor.
2015
The old Cara Landry used her newspaper articles to hurt people. Her parents were getting divorced and the best way for her to deal with her anger and hurt was to make other people feel bad as well. Well, the new Cara Landry wants Truth and Mercy. She wants to tell newspaper articles to inform the public about important issues, like the least liked food in the cafeteria.
Mr. Larson used to be a good teacher. He was voted Best Teacher for three years in a row! But something happened that changed him for the worse (for a while, anyway). He stopped caring about what happened in his classroom, so long as furniture and windows weren't being broken. He could sit quietly at his desk, reading his newspaper, and ignore all of the children he was supposed to be teaching.
Then Cara Landry and Mr. Larson were put together in the same classroom.
And magic happened.
Together they created a classroom newspaper where students and teacher worked together to make the most truthful, merciful newspaper as possible.
It was such a cute story about being the best version of yourself you can be, fighting for what you believe is right, and good triumphing over evil. Every word is carefully placed to make you feel every emotion on the spectrum. You feel pride, sadness, hope, love, anger, and humor.
2015
April 25, 2008
Cara seems headed for trouble with her teacher, Mr. Larson, when she prints an editorial criticizing his teaching. But instead Cara and Mr. Larson find themselves joined in the fight of their lives against the principal and the school board. Once Mr. Larson was a great teacher. Now he is burned out, and spends his class periods hiding behind a newspaper while his students do as they please.
Cara Landry is new in school. She expresses her anger over her parents' divorce by creating a viciously accurate little newspaper, and includes an editorial on Mr. Larson's nonexistent teaching. This forces Mr. Larson to face what he has become, and Cara's mother, in despair, tells her, "When you are publishing all that truth, just be sure there's some mercy too."
Mr. Larson encourages Cara to lead the class in creating a school newspaper, whose motto is "Truth and Mercy." But while Mr. Larson begins to reconnect with his students--and Cara connects with her peers and channels her formidable talents into something positive--the principal sees the newspaper as the weapon he has been waiting for to force Mr. Larson out.
Cara Landry is new in school. She expresses her anger over her parents' divorce by creating a viciously accurate little newspaper, and includes an editorial on Mr. Larson's nonexistent teaching. This forces Mr. Larson to face what he has become, and Cara's mother, in despair, tells her, "When you are publishing all that truth, just be sure there's some mercy too."
Mr. Larson encourages Cara to lead the class in creating a school newspaper, whose motto is "Truth and Mercy." But while Mr. Larson begins to reconnect with his students--and Cara connects with her peers and channels her formidable talents into something positive--the principal sees the newspaper as the weapon he has been waiting for to force Mr. Larson out.
January 23, 2019
This book contains some amazing topics and treats them all respectfully as well. Reading this as a grown up and as a teacher, I was especially amazed at Andrew Clements insights into how politics at schools can work. In addition, I quickly drew parallels between our main character Cara and Harriet from Harriet the Spy, but unlike Harriet, Cara quickly learns her lesson and sets out to do better.
Also, it's a good discussion of free speech and the press and everything that it entails.
Also, it's a good discussion of free speech and the press and everything that it entails.
November 26, 2024
Read for the 2015 YA/MG Book Battle. Full review--and my ultimate decision--can be found here.
- - - (copying for posterity) - - -
I think Beth rigged this thing.
(I think Beth rigged this thing because both of my books deal with new-in-town kids and their attempts to define their place in their new homes. Coincidence? I THINK NOT. IT’S RIGGED. CANCEL YOUR BETS.)
First: This recap will contain spoilers. I wish I could talk around them, but the truth is that I can’t honestly discuss my selection without delving into the heart of each book. I will mark the paragraphs that are spoiler-heavy, and cross my fingers that you’ll check out both books regardless.
Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt is told from the point of view of thug-in-training Doug Swieteck, a teenaged boy who has the world out to get him. Upon arrival in his new town, he stumbles into the library and discovers a book containing James Audubon’s paintings of birds – and sees in the Arctic Tern his own terrified eye.
It’s a heavy, messy book: Doug struggles with just about everything a teenage boy can struggle with. His father is an abusive alcoholic. His brother is accused of breaking into local stores, which causes the rest of the town to ostracize Doug. He has problems with reading, and so lashes out at school and finds himself in the principal’s office regularly. He likes a girl that may or may not think he’s a thug. His mother is miserable and he just wants to make her happy. His older brother is returning from Vietnam, horribly injured and changed.
The Landry News by Andrew Clements is an entirely different sort of book. It’s about Cara Landry, a new girl who starts a school newspaper and challenges her teacher, Mr. Larson, to remember what gets him excited about teaching.
It’s a clean, precise book: Cara’s parents are divorced, but she’s come to terms with it already. Her first editorial on Mr. Larson is cruel, but it’s true so he forgives her. Her interest in journalism inspires the entire class to join together and create a school newspaper. The school principal dislikes Mr. Larson but he and the kids have optimism on their side!
Therein lies the crux of the matter: one book was almost melodramatic in its layers; the other was so straightforward it felt sterile. I disliked Schmidt’s too-busy narrative (and how that interacted with its ending – but more on that later) because it felt too sporadic and unwoven. But then I read The Landry News and missed some of the messiness of childhood, how lives are snarls of interests and pains and hopes and stuff.
And then there were the endings [Here are the spoiler-heavy paragraphs, so beware! Look away! Shield your unwilling eyes!]:
And then Beth emailed me about how I needed to get off my butt and write her a review. In doing so, we started a discussion about the books she had rigged for me – I mean “randomly selected” for me, which led to a conversation about genre.
Okay For Now is set very firmly in 1968/1969, during the Vietnam war and the height of the space race. It talks baseball and bicycles and suburban life. It’s very much a book of a certain era; it feels like it was written during that confessional time when books about the “rough stuff” were coming into vogue.
But here’s the thing: it was published in 2011.
And I wouldn’t have known that it was published in this millennium if I hadn’t gone looking. But I think that’s the point: I think Okay For Now was written very intentionally to feel as if it could have been published not long after the end of the Vietnam war – when “YA” and “MG” weren’t really classifiable genres.
The creation of so many genre distinctions – YA, MG, New Adult, etc. – has made it easy to rely upon genre to sell books. It has also, to my way of thinking, taken the teeth out of story-telling. Instead of focusing on truth-y, rough, messy human stuff, genre-conventional books focus on Important Issues and neglect to tell a relatable human story.
Which is what I think The Landry News did. It had an Important Point to tell about the freedom of speech, so it told that story. And it told it competently. And it told it neatly. But it didn’t delve into any of the human stuff. The interesting bits – Mr. Larson’s fading interest in his job, Cara’s handling of her parents’ divorce, the hoity-toity Dr. Barnes – are all paragraph-long asides in an essay about the Important Issue. There’s no humanity in this book: merely puppets, preaching and creaking on command.
Ultimately, I had to choose between a very flawed, messy book about the truths of puberty and strife and life, and a very sterile, brief book about the freedom of speech. I thought it would be more difficult to decide, but ultimately a flaw is better than a shell so my pick to advance to the next round is…
Okay For Now.
- - - (copying for posterity) - - -
I think Beth rigged this thing.
(I think Beth rigged this thing because both of my books deal with new-in-town kids and their attempts to define their place in their new homes. Coincidence? I THINK NOT. IT’S RIGGED. CANCEL YOUR BETS.)
First: This recap will contain spoilers. I wish I could talk around them, but the truth is that I can’t honestly discuss my selection without delving into the heart of each book. I will mark the paragraphs that are spoiler-heavy, and cross my fingers that you’ll check out both books regardless.
Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt is told from the point of view of thug-in-training Doug Swieteck, a teenaged boy who has the world out to get him. Upon arrival in his new town, he stumbles into the library and discovers a book containing James Audubon’s paintings of birds – and sees in the Arctic Tern his own terrified eye.
It’s a heavy, messy book: Doug struggles with just about everything a teenage boy can struggle with. His father is an abusive alcoholic. His brother is accused of breaking into local stores, which causes the rest of the town to ostracize Doug. He has problems with reading, and so lashes out at school and finds himself in the principal’s office regularly. He likes a girl that may or may not think he’s a thug. His mother is miserable and he just wants to make her happy. His older brother is returning from Vietnam, horribly injured and changed.
The Landry News by Andrew Clements is an entirely different sort of book. It’s about Cara Landry, a new girl who starts a school newspaper and challenges her teacher, Mr. Larson, to remember what gets him excited about teaching.
It’s a clean, precise book: Cara’s parents are divorced, but she’s come to terms with it already. Her first editorial on Mr. Larson is cruel, but it’s true so he forgives her. Her interest in journalism inspires the entire class to join together and create a school newspaper. The school principal dislikes Mr. Larson but he and the kids have optimism on their side!
Therein lies the crux of the matter: one book was almost melodramatic in its layers; the other was so straightforward it felt sterile. I disliked Schmidt’s too-busy narrative (and how that interacted with its ending – but more on that later) because it felt too sporadic and unwoven. But then I read The Landry News and missed some of the messiness of childhood, how lives are snarls of interests and pains and hopes and stuff.
And then there were the endings [Here are the spoiler-heavy paragraphs, so beware! Look away! Shield your unwilling eyes!]:
And then Beth emailed me about how I needed to get off my butt and write her a review. In doing so, we started a discussion about the books she had rigged for me – I mean “randomly selected” for me, which led to a conversation about genre.
Okay For Now is set very firmly in 1968/1969, during the Vietnam war and the height of the space race. It talks baseball and bicycles and suburban life. It’s very much a book of a certain era; it feels like it was written during that confessional time when books about the “rough stuff” were coming into vogue.
But here’s the thing: it was published in 2011.
And I wouldn’t have known that it was published in this millennium if I hadn’t gone looking. But I think that’s the point: I think Okay For Now was written very intentionally to feel as if it could have been published not long after the end of the Vietnam war – when “YA” and “MG” weren’t really classifiable genres.
The creation of so many genre distinctions – YA, MG, New Adult, etc. – has made it easy to rely upon genre to sell books. It has also, to my way of thinking, taken the teeth out of story-telling. Instead of focusing on truth-y, rough, messy human stuff, genre-conventional books focus on Important Issues and neglect to tell a relatable human story.
Which is what I think The Landry News did. It had an Important Point to tell about the freedom of speech, so it told that story. And it told it competently. And it told it neatly. But it didn’t delve into any of the human stuff. The interesting bits – Mr. Larson’s fading interest in his job, Cara’s handling of her parents’ divorce, the hoity-toity Dr. Barnes – are all paragraph-long asides in an essay about the Important Issue. There’s no humanity in this book: merely puppets, preaching and creaking on command.
Ultimately, I had to choose between a very flawed, messy book about the truths of puberty and strife and life, and a very sterile, brief book about the freedom of speech. I thought it would be more difficult to decide, but ultimately a flaw is better than a shell so my pick to advance to the next round is…
Okay For Now.
September 26, 2014
A Quickie Review
An excellent portrayal of what freedom of the press should be. With a likable heroine, plenty of charm, touching moments, and even a quotation from the Bible, this is one of the best juvenile chapter books I've read in a while.
An excellent portrayal of what freedom of the press should be. With a likable heroine, plenty of charm, touching moments, and even a quotation from the Bible, this is one of the best juvenile chapter books I've read in a while.
September 8, 2016
I could not get through this whole book. It was very dry and boring to me, I was kind of disappointed in it. I got very confused through out who was being featured in each chapter, I did not enjoy reading it at all.
January 8, 2021
I really want to read more books by this guy
April 5, 2009
Cara Landry is a new kid at Denton Elementary School.Her fifth grade teacher is none other than, Mr. Larson, who reads newspapers instead of teacher the kids. He believes that the children learn best when they learn by themselves and he believes in having an opened classroom. Cara doesn't mind having an opened classroom but what she does mind is having a teacher that doesn't teach. Cara always had loved to write her own little newspaper. So she wrote a classroom newspaper, which she hung on the wall. Mr. Larson came over and read the newspaper, when he found his name in the editorial he got very mad and tore up the paper. Cara's classmates start to help her make a newspaper on the computer so that they can give it to more people. But when an unexpected copy of the Landry News land on the principal's desk he thinks he has found the way to get Mr. Larson out of the school.When another copy of the Landry News lands on the principal's desk the Principal finds the story that he thinks can get Mr. Larson,OUT. But in the court the audience realizes that the story is actually good, Mr. Larson's gets to keep his job and everyone is happy again.
December 9, 2013
Cara shook her head. "No, that's the new plaque. I'm talking about the old one, way back in the corner of the case. The teachers and the PTA have been giving that award for over twenty-five years. And about fifteen years ago, guess whose name got carved on that plaque?"
"Him?" asked LeeAnn...
Cara nodded. "Yup. Mr. Karl Larson - Teacher of the Year, three years in the row." Cara heaved her knapsack up onto one shoulder. As she headed for the door she looked back at the three kids starting after her, and she said, "Now that's what I call news."
This book was one of my childhood favorites, and it holds up amazingly well. It's not a slight read, though the book isn't very large; it's a nuanced, balanced work on friendship and honest reporting and quality teaching and freedom of the press and messy situations in children's lives. It's poignant, but it's also entertaining, in that unique, old-style Clements way that defines his classics (and that I think has been missing from a few of his recent books).
January 25, 2016
I read this story with one of the kids that I am tutoring and it was a fast read (compared to the other books we've read together recently). It was a great story to introduce him to topics like freedom of speech, respect, honesty, divorce, coping with personal hardships, and believing in others. We both enjoyed the story and loved Cara's attitude towards her news paper.
February 20, 2023
The Landry News might be summarized as being about a student newspaper that is challenged by the principal on account of a controversial article. The principal's real reason is that he hates Mr. Larson, the teacher who is the newspaper's advisor, and has been looking for an excuse to get him fired. (Clements portrays the principal with no redeeming traits at all.)
But beyond freedom of the press, the book addresses two other issues as well. The first is that of a teacher's responsibility to teach. At the beginning of the book, Mr. Larson prides himself on his hands-off teaching style – his fifth-grade classroom is full of resource material, and he encourages the students to work on whatever they want while he reads the newspaper. But then Cara Landry, aspiring journalist in his class, tacks up her handmade newspaper on the bulletin board. Her harsh editorial takes Mr. Larson to task for not doing any actual teaching. At first he's furious, but then he realizes that she's right.
(Sadly, this itself is news. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, complains in his bitter 1987 book School is Hell that "Teachers hate saying 'I don't know," and they cannot ever, ever say 'I'm sorry'." It's on the bottom middle of this page.)
So Mr. Larson encourages Cara to expand the newspaper and get her classmates involved in it, while he teaches them actual classes about editorials, journalism, and the First Amendment.
The second issue raised by the book is journalistic ethics and morality. It seems that in Cara's previous school, she had put out a newspaper fueled by spite, a la Harriet the Spy. Cara's mom, trying to help her, shows her the verse that says, "Mercy and truth are met together" (Psalms 85:11). Her mom explains, "Truth is good, and it's all right to let the truth be known. But when you are publishing all that truth, just be sure there’s some mercy, too. Then you’ll be okay." Inspired, Cara makes "Truth and Mercy" her newspaper's motto. Perhaps The Landry News should be on the curriculum of j-schools.
But beyond freedom of the press, the book addresses two other issues as well. The first is that of a teacher's responsibility to teach. At the beginning of the book, Mr. Larson prides himself on his hands-off teaching style – his fifth-grade classroom is full of resource material, and he encourages the students to work on whatever they want while he reads the newspaper. But then Cara Landry, aspiring journalist in his class, tacks up her handmade newspaper on the bulletin board. Her harsh editorial takes Mr. Larson to task for not doing any actual teaching. At first he's furious, but then he realizes that she's right.
(Sadly, this itself is news. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, complains in his bitter 1987 book School is Hell that "Teachers hate saying 'I don't know," and they cannot ever, ever say 'I'm sorry'." It's on the bottom middle of this page.)
So Mr. Larson encourages Cara to expand the newspaper and get her classmates involved in it, while he teaches them actual classes about editorials, journalism, and the First Amendment.
The second issue raised by the book is journalistic ethics and morality. It seems that in Cara's previous school, she had put out a newspaper fueled by spite, a la Harriet the Spy. Cara's mom, trying to help her, shows her the verse that says, "Mercy and truth are met together" (Psalms 85:11). Her mom explains, "Truth is good, and it's all right to let the truth be known. But when you are publishing all that truth, just be sure there’s some mercy, too. Then you’ll be okay." Inspired, Cara makes "Truth and Mercy" her newspaper's motto. Perhaps The Landry News should be on the curriculum of j-schools.
September 20, 2020
There are many things to like about The Landry News. The main character, Cara, is a 5th grade girl who was easy to ignore—“just another brainy, quiet girl...”. She begins writing a newspaper (I love that she chooses to express herself through public writing) and soon discovers that reporting cold, hard facts isn’t enough. Her paper has to have truth and mercy, which becomes the motto of her paper. Her burned-out teacher’s passion for teaching is reignited as he realizes he has an opportunity to inspire and guide his students to do some of their most challenging and impassioned work, so I also appreciated the reclamation of this teacher’s life. Cara becomes Editor in Chief and her classmates become reporters, writers, editors, layout designers, collaborating and appreciating each other. Finally, the story takes place in a made-up suburb of Chicago, so there are all kinds of references to Chicago news media. Being from Chicago and now living 2000 miles away, I always appreciate a quick, mental visit there. Thanks to my grandson for this great recommendation!
June 3, 2019
This was a quick and easy read. I liked how the girl went from saying all these hateful things in her newspaper, to helping a teacher get out of being fired. This was a great book and I would most definitely read it again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2021
Great book, highly recommend. It is probably my second favorite Andrew Clements books (after School Story) and I read it in fourth grade (same age as the characters) which made me like the characters more who were accurately depicted, in my opinion.
August 19, 2025
Another wonderful story with Andrew Clements name on it. I'm never disappointed with his plots, characters, and endings. This one was especially neat as it explored the first amendment and what that amendment meant to a fifth grade class. I also liked the personal growth of Cara and Mr Larson.
December 16, 2022
Not his best work, but still pretty good.
November 11, 2024
Has some great lessons for kids. Not one of AC's stronger books though.
March 30, 2025
I love me a good book about kids beating the system.😆 Seriously, though, this was a very good balance of entertainment to education.
October 19, 2025
Young Adult Book Club Book #2 with my granddaughter, as selected by her. A cute read with a good message about, interestingly timed, free speech and the Constitution. Curious about this selection so I’m eager to discuss with her! ❤️
July 9, 2021
It’s was a great book!
August 19, 2021
I just love anything Andrew Clements writes!
February 14, 2019
It was on a list of summer reading for my fourth-grade daughter. Plus, I used to write an “underground” newspaper, so I couldn’t pass this up.
But it reads like it was meant to be used for curriculum. It reeks of “written to be taught”, not because the author had something to say or a good story in mind. I deduce this because it’s padded badly. The beginning doesn’t match the ending–it switches themes partway through. After about a third of the way, it stops being about the student-published newspaper and becomes about the “evil principal” trying to “get” the teacher. And then the news story he hides behind is reprinted word for word in the book. And it has nothing to do with either idea. Its content is about a kid’s divorce. It has nothing to do with the themes of the main plot. I don’t know what its meant for. I think it’s trying to cover different themes at once so there’s plenty for the class to discuss.
The inciting incident is also too implausible — I cannot believe that at teacher would sit at his desk for eight hours a day, reading the paper, while the kids futz in the classroom semi-supervised and not being taught. From 7AM to 3PM. Teachers have been fired for less, tenure or not.
It’s so instructive I expected there to be a study guide in the back. Just skip this one.
But it reads like it was meant to be used for curriculum. It reeks of “written to be taught”, not because the author had something to say or a good story in mind. I deduce this because it’s padded badly. The beginning doesn’t match the ending–it switches themes partway through. After about a third of the way, it stops being about the student-published newspaper and becomes about the “evil principal” trying to “get” the teacher. And then the news story he hides behind is reprinted word for word in the book. And it has nothing to do with either idea. Its content is about a kid’s divorce. It has nothing to do with the themes of the main plot. I don’t know what its meant for. I think it’s trying to cover different themes at once so there’s plenty for the class to discuss.
The inciting incident is also too implausible — I cannot believe that at teacher would sit at his desk for eight hours a day, reading the paper, while the kids futz in the classroom semi-supervised and not being taught. From 7AM to 3PM. Teachers have been fired for less, tenure or not.
It’s so instructive I expected there to be a study guide in the back. Just skip this one.
December 18, 2024
Really fun book! I have loved anything by Andrew Clement. While I was teaching, I would read these books to my middle schoolers, who loved them. I think these are great chapter book options for kids who appreciate humor and good writing. Always teaches a moral in a witty way, which I love!
June 7, 2017
While this story about a teacher who has stopped teaching and the student who wakes him up was good, it wasn't as good as some of Clements's other novels.
The main issue was the principal trying to get the teacher fired for allowing his students to publish a story about divorce in their classroom paper. Just didn't work for me. Of course the story should have been published, etc.
The main issue was the principal trying to get the teacher fired for allowing his students to publish a story about divorce in their classroom paper. Just didn't work for me. Of course the story should have been published, etc.
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