Undone!

Uncollected

by Paul Jennings

A collection of eight quirky, bizarre, and very funny short stories.

Genres: Childrens, Short Stories, Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Humor, Horror

Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Paul Jennings was born in Heston near London, and at the age of 6 emigrated to Melbourne, Australia on a boat. He was on the boat for 5 weeks with his family. He attended Bentleigh West Primary School and Caulfield Grammar School.

After graduating from school, he went to Frankston Teachers College (now part of Monash University) and became a teacher. He taught students at Frankston State School, Kangaroo Flat State School, the Turana Youth Training Centre, and the Royal Children's Hospital State School in Mount Eliza. He later went on to study at the Lincoln Institute of Health Science (now part of LaTrobe University) and became a speech pathologist, then worked as a Lecturer in Special Education at Burwood State College (now part of Deakin University). In 1979 he became Senior Lecturer in Language and Literature at Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education (now part of Deakin University).

In 1985, Jennings' first book of short stories, Unreal! was published, during which he worked as a lecturer and wrote part-time; in 1989, he made the decision to devote his full time to writing. Many of his short stories, published between 1985 and 1991, were also adapted into the first and second series of the popular Australian television show Round the Twist.

Winner of the Dromkeen Medal (2000).

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book 'Undone' by Paul Jennings because I have this book at home and it looked like a really good choice for the category i was doing it for. The picture on the front also made me want to read it because it is very unusual but possible in a way.

This is from the category 'Three short stories or poems'. I liked this category because it was a quick way to get another book on my wide reading assessment. It is also good because in long novels the story drags on and gets boring but in short stories they are fast and i like them.

From the first story 'Moonies' my favourite character is Adam. I like him because he is very good at art and is a very smart decision maker. He cant read but he is not afraid to tell anyone. In the second story 'What a Woman' Sally is my favourite character. She is a tomboy but is the only girl at her school. she always looses at sporting events. she wants to show the cocky boys wrong and she does. Her grandmas lucky box helped her along. In the end the box had her grandmas cut off toe in it. All the boys fainted except Sally.

My favourite quote from the third book 'You be the Judge' is 'Did I do the right thing? You be the judge'. This is when a curious boy tries to find a mythical creature into the dangerous wilderness. He manages to find the 'Wobbly Gurgle' in the end but gets in danger. The animal saves his life by taking him home. The boy wants to get rich by telling everyone about the creature but he doesn't in the end because all the fame might hurt it. I think it was the right thing to do.

I Thought that if all the other mythical creatures out there like the loch ness monster or the yeti or if big-foot get discovered then everyone would want to see them and they would die out quicker than they would normally because of all the cameras and noise.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

122 pages in total.
There's 8 short stories in this book.
I loved the 1st story where Rachel was determined to save Phillip after knowing his story of how long he has gone without his parents and love.

[Pip · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my absolute favourite books by Paul Jennings. He captures both the miseries and the joys of being a child in full colour imaginative stories, with hateful bullies, nasty teachers, awesome parents and amazing characters. His stories are more a part of me than most of my "family" and will always stay with me.

Crazy, brilliant and will probably not make sense to a lot of people, but they are some of the only stories that make sense to me.

"I wish I was an ant so that I could crawl down a hole and never be seen again. But I am not an ant so I go into the toilets instead. I sit down in a cubicle where no one can see me. I stay there all lunch time. The minutes drag by. No one knows where I am. No one cares. Finally the bell rings and I am saved. I can go into class." - Wake Up To Yourself

[Kasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fun and wacky stories from Paul Jennings!

Batty-Good story.

Moonies-Very funny, but I wouldn't let my son read it. I don't think he even understands the concept of mooning someone yet, and let's not give him any ideas.

Noseweed-Another classicaly strange story.

Wake up to yourself-This is a very interesting idea about dreams. Good story.

Thought full-Very funny! This one has a funny little twist at the end.

Clear as Mud-Unfortunately this one is a little predictable. Maybe it's just because I've read so many of his stories. The end would have been great if it had taken me more by surprise.

What a Woman-This is just kind of a silly story.

You Be the Judge-Very strange. This is exactly the kind of thing that my son loves to read.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great hilarious short story's yet another laugh and a quick read only took 11/2 hours and it's a great book to cheer anyone up.
I'AM UNDONE...
Yes. I know.
I'm a fink. A rat. A creep.
Nobady likes Eric mud and
it's all my own fault.
but I deserve this. do I?
Plans undone.
zips come undone.
Bullies come undone.
And so will you readers who try to predict the endings of these eight weird and wonderful stories.

[Cleve Devine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5/5

I guess this is a later compilation of Paul’s “Un” books, so maybe the ideas ran a bit dry, but half the stories were a bit predicable and boring, hopefully going back to the earlier ones soon give me more nostalgia.
No wonder none of these ones were used as Round The Twist scripts

[Liss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Paul Jennings! Easy short stories that have great characters (even if you hate them!) An easy read, finished this in 2 hours. Takes me back to my childhood when I first got into reading and he also manages to put a smile on my face.

Sometimes you need to read for fun, and Paul Jennings does fun!

[Mreynoldsmuir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I liked to read, if anyone reads undone you made the right decision.
I'm still reading this I'm not saying what happened in the book because I'm not a spoiler myself.

5/5 stars is a rating you give it and its really a funny book.

[Siân Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series when I was a kid! Reading this book again as an adult was fun. Surprisingly I remembered a lot of the stories, although I probably read them about 13 years ago. I'll definitely look for the other books in this series.

[The Book Squirrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as kid.
Best/most memorable stories in this book: Clear as mud, You be the judge.

Titles in this book:
Batty - I don't recall this story.

Moonies - I remember the bully (or protagonist?) getting into trouble for mooning the principal.

Noseweed - This was a sweet story about an apple growing out of a boy's nose, and he named it "golden gran" in memory of his grandmother.

Wake up to yourself - I don't recall this story.

Thought full - I always thought that being able to hear everything other people were thinking would be terrible. I remember thinking it was so bizarre that the boy was drinking from this bottle like a baby.

Clear as mud - This is another story which has stuck. I hated the thought of being bitten by a bug and having your skin go clear, but it was even worse that after being in hiding in the bush, the boy was bitten again and then went back to society to find that everyone else now had clear skin. It was so tragic that he'd killed the bug!

What a woman - I only vaguely recall this story. Something about a girl at school suddenly being a fast runner. There's a twist, but I can't remember it.

You be the judge - Another memorable story. A boy goes out into the desert and is rescued by a thing made of water (like a bag of water). He drinks the thing until it is only little, and then a 'girl' version of the thing comes out of the desert. The two things kiss until they are both the same size (smaller than when they started). They lead the boy back home and then walk back into the desert. The boy thinks about telling his story and sees all the tourism and fuss that would create. He decides not to tell the "truth", and thus protect the "things" (called wibbly wobblies or wobbly gooblies or something). I judge that he made the right choice :) .

[Emkoshka · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a little embarrassing that it took me three weeks to read a 122-page book of short stories, but anyway. Life is a little busier at age 39 compared to age 11. This is perhaps my favourite Paul Jennings collection, with consistently enjoyable, original and moving stories, and always with that signature ironic twist. 'You Be the Judge' in particular is just lovely, depicting water people living in the desert. Definitely worth revisiting.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short collection of strange tales. Great for young teens to read. Some stories were solid, while one or two were mediocre. All were creepy and with similar narrative voices, no matter the age of the narrator. I say narrator rather than protagonist, because some aren’t the hero, nor are they likeable.

[Isabel Vanderwoude · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read all of paul jennings books but this series is something else
its the ultimate book series that u mention when someone says something completely random and u say ' yeah i read a book like that it was about a mean bully being bitten by a new bug species and going invisible and he became an outcast from killing it, anyone else?'

[Cyrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

7 years later, and this book still holds up. Paul Jennings is a legendary author and his stories leave you feeling so many different ways. Undone is a compilation of stories that are all great, accompanied by Jennings’ amazing writing style that is good for children but still great.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to love these books back in the 90s. Honestly the stories, if they were written today, would be vastly different. And that's okay. The copy I read was an original copy from 1993 that I found in a Street Library, and I couldn't go past reading it for the nostalgia.

[ashani · Rating 5 out of 5]

the story about cod-liver-apple tree which grew inside the boy traumatised me a lil, but it’s ok

[Mitzi Vicera · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is so good. Omg! I love every single one of the stories.

[Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood classic.

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bom

[Trentyn W · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for a weird and wacky short story to have good laugh well this is the book for you. It's full of wonderful mystery's to be solved and uncover. I recommend this book for children and adults as this book contains a bit of bad words but this book is amazing highly recommend you read this book
:)

[Erma Talamante · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short, eerie stories set in Australia and featuring brave, bold, daring kids. Each story is written in short chapters, good for new readers or readers with short attentions, but don't let the shortness of each story fool you, they are written simply and richly, so that they draw the reader in. A joining factor of all of these dissimilar stories is the twist endings. Ideal for a spooky halloween read.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky tales for Paul Jennings. These books got me through a few of my awkward years I tell you. Even kids in these stories is the underdog or the want you want to cheer for. There is often twists and turns in every story and he also has a way with coming up with a killer ending. For 7 to 13 year olds.

[Alisha Brook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: Undone
Series: Collected
Author: Paul Jennings
Genre: Children's
Rating: 3 stars

Great read. Paul Jennings work is always good, always a light humorous read, and always a quick read. It's refreshing.

[Kristin R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. They had some fantasy elements, but mainly set in present day Australia. The audio version was well done and easy to listen to. You didn't know what to expect - they all had a bit of a twist to the stories.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

* Moonies
* Noseweed
* Wake up to Yourself
* Thought Full
* Clear as Mud
* What a Woman
* You Be the Judge

[Hilary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uneven offering. Gross rather than horror. "ookie"

[νєяαℓι∂αιиє · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has many hilarious short stories in it. Good book for a rainy day.

[Zach Vowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun stories for young teens, and a series that should be in every junior library.

[Ella Grice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am currently reading this book and I have read 3 story's from it and the are very fascinating and my fav part/story is batty so this book is a must read

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny