Stuck

by Chris Grabenstein, Mark Sanderlin (Narrator), Elizabeth Hess (Narrator)

On his 11th birthday, Jackson is nervous about moving up to middle school where he knows he'll be bullied by older kids, so he makes his wish, "I don't want to grow up!" When his 12th birthday rolls around, he discovers his wish came he's still 11, and he’s starting fifth grade (again). At first, this is the perfect life. Jackson is the smartest kid in his class, the best on his baseball team, and the star of the school band. But after a few years of being 11, he realizes his life is passing him by. His little sister is suddenly his big sister, his former friends are driving, everyone else is growing older but he's still living the same fifth grade life. Will Jackson ever figure out how to grow up or will he remain Stuck?

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Childrens

3 pages, Audible Audio

Published May 14, 2020

About the author

CHRIS GRABENSTEIN is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books include the LEMONCELLO, WONDERLAND, HAUNTED MYSTERY, DOG SQUAD, and SMARTEST KID IN THE UNIVERSE series, and many fun and funny page-turners co-authored with James Patterson. You can visit Chris at ChrisGrabenstein.com.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuck
by Chris Grabenstein
This poor kid is stuck in Fifth grade due to a wish! He watches his friends move on but it's not like Groundhogs Day at all! People move on around him, he is the one that is stuck. His younger sister even passes him up! His best friend does remember being a friend. He finds someone else stuck and when they finally agree to move on, something horrible goes wrong in they plan and he isn't able to! It's pretty interesting to see how his universe rights itself!
There is a full cast of characters with multiple narrators that made it very fun! I think kids would get a kick out of this!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleven-year-old Jackson Rizkowski does not want to grow up. He is not ready to graduate to middle school where the sixth graders are the youngest class in the school. Jackson wants to stay in the fifth grade. On his birthday he gets his wish. Suddenly, instead of turning twelve, he is eleven years old again and will be repeating the fifth grade. This gives Jackson an advantage over the other students since this is his second time around. The only problem is he is the only one who is stuck. His little sister is gaining years on him. His best friend doesn't remember all of the fun times they had. And now, with another year at age eleven under his belt, it's starting all over again.

This audible original is Groundhogs Day for kids. At first Jackson loves staying eleven years old. But after a couple of years, he realizes that he is missing out on his life while everyone else goes on without him. This audiobook has several narrators with unique voices. I enjoyed it very much. My rating: 4 Stars.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a fun audible story. Can you imagine having to repeat the 5th grade over and over again? Staying 11 for many years but no one notices as they all get older? This was an entertaining kids book. You got this, Raz!

[Lucas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up because it was free, and because I'm a sucker for a good time loop story. This one wasn't great though. The characters act in completely unbelievable ways because the plot demands it: the protagonist, a kid who keeps repeating the 12th year of his life for a decade, never even tries to tell his family about his situation. The story does not have enough fun with the benefits of being stuck in a time loop. In general it just isn't fun enough, skipping many of the things that can make a time loop fun (for example, it does not explore odd, interesting iterations). Also lacks a clever ending. Story as a whole was a touch too moralistic too. There are a few decent bits in there, but overall this just wasn't very good.

[Lady Alleta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Iike parts of this book a lot. I like that he goes through the steps. That he isn't just repeating the same thing each year with no worldly changes. Even the addition of the second main character was nice.
What I dislike however, is that they have a character from India and she is the only one who.... Magically knows what's going on and talks about spirituality and planes of existence. I'm all for having cultural representation, and at first I thought she was just a cool character, but now it feels off. This character is mixing Hinduism and magic and it feels wrong, like if someone was treating a Christian as if they were a mystical stage magician. It de-legitimizes Hinduidm and relegates Indian culture to just being.... 'exotic'

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very light story - you can see some tells even if you're not paying attention - but a well done one at that. Especially the message that you can only grow as a person by loving someone other than yourself. That's a strong message this year, maybe stronger than the author intended but strong nonetheless. If only more people read instead of hating others, that'd be pretty cool.

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute and funny, with a sweet message.
Jackson is living his best life as an eleven year old and doesn't want to move on to junior high. Then he'll have to deal with bullies, a new school, and higher expectations. He makes a wish to stay eleven, but it backfires and he's trapped for the next ten years in fifth grade, while the rest of his family and friends age and move on with their lives.

The message that growing up might be scary, but it's also fun and necessary to become who you're meant to be was sweet. I also liked Jackson's grandpa, he was funny and I wish Jackson had spent more time with him.

The audiobook has a full cast and was an enjoyable listen.

[Rachel Munaires · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute middle grade book! I loved the themes of the fear and nervousness of growing up and moving into a new phase of life and the slight character development of the main boy learning to focus on more than just himself. One of my favorite things about audible originals is the cast of voices for multiple characters. Made for a more enjoyable story!

[Ida Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

BE careful what you wish for you just might get it.

Its amazing these types of stories make you look at your life and be great full for where you are.

another saying is you never know how good you have it until you dont have it anymore.
Or the grass is greener on the other side until you get over there and discovered it is brown and hay like.

In others words be satisfied where you are.

I am sure this story wasnt written to teach a lesson but it sure has a lot in it.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuck is a delightful, fully dramatized, story built with a twist on the Ground Hog’s Day theme. Jackson is an eleven-year-old fifth grader who is afraid to advance to middle school where a bully promises to make his sixth-grade-year hell. So, he makes a wish to stay in fifth grade and magically it happens—while the rest of his world advances one year further, leaving him behind.

At first, Jackson is pretty pleased with what’s going on, except that at the end of his second run through fifth grade, the clock resets for him again and he has to do it a third time. This run through he’s accompanied by a girl who is going through the same experience. Jackson is a pretty headstrong young man who really enjoys shining, so the first several times he goes through the fifth grade, he’s actually pretty happy with himself, excelling in school, getting better and better in sports and music, and generally being a cocky young man. But eventually, having his little sister get older than him, and losing track of his friends starts to beat him down and he begins to look for a way to start growing up again

Grabenstein does a great job of showing the emotional growth in Jackson as he slowly progresses from being totally self-centered person to a great young man who is truly concerned with other people and this brings me to my one serious complaint about the story. The eventual solution to Jackson’s problem erases all the character growth he has made in ten years as a fifth grader and for me, that destroyed the entire point of the story. In the original Ground Hog’s Day, Bill Murray was only freed from his calendar-trap when he emotionally grew up and the audience knows he’s going to keep being the great person he has become. But Jackson forgets his ten years of fifth grade and so the superb young man he has become disappears making the whole tale sort of pointless—although it was still a lot of fun getting there.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Alan (on December semi-hiatus) Teder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Groundhog Year
Review of the Audible Original audiobook (May 2020)

This fantasy fiction of being Stuck in time at the age of 11 while the rest of the world moves on was entertaining in the short term, but did get very repetitive after a while. It was still entertaining and was performed well by the extended cast, especially by Mark Sanderlin in the lead role of Jackson.

Stuck was originally released by Audible Original on May 14, 2020. It was one of eleven Audible Originals that were made available free to members in the final month of that program in August 2020. As of September 2020 Audible has switched to an Audible Plus program where members are able to listen to a selected group of audiobooks via app but are no longer able to download them.

[Nanu · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's an interesting premise and I liked it, *but* I don't think it's that good.
For one, it felt too long, and I was getting tired of the same loop. For another, I didn't feel like it accurately depicted 11 year olds, or 13 year olds or maybe it's a culture change? but I spend a lot of time with them and they talk or act like that.
On the other hand, the times changing and the way the repetitions happened was cool.

[Bobbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute story about an 11 year old boy who wished he’d never grow up, and his wish came true. Wonderfully narrated by a full cast.

[Leane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this story!
Chris Grabenstein tells cute and quirky stories about middle grade kids.
I listened to his Mr. Lemoncello books and loved them so I decided to give this one a try.
They are really fun and usually deal with issues and teach lessons to young kids.
Will definitely continue listening to his books.

[Carla Grossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, these kind of stories are one my favorites, they also give me a sense of nostalgia :)

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jackson has had a pretty good life so far, but now that he's in 5th grade, he doesn't want to get any older. He's at the top of the food chain in elementary school and doesn't have to worry about dealing with his bully, who's in middle school. For that reason, on his grandfather's 77th birthday on 8/8, he makes a wish at 11:11 that he would stay 11 forever. Unbeknownst to him, his grandfather, who was really feeling his age, also wished that Jordan wouldn't have to grow up. As a result, when Jackson wakes up the next day for his birthday, he realizes his wish actually came true because he's turning 11 again instead of 12.

What follows is a decade of Jackson living through the same year over and over again. But, instead of it being like Groundhog Day with everybody resetting with him, everybody else keeps getting older while Jackson stays the same age. Not surprisingly, what he thought would be a great idea wasn't so great at all. The side characters who aged around Jackson were well done, as were the characters who stayed the same even as they changed.

I loved this story. The only thing that could have made it better was if they had left out the eating and drinking sound effects. I hate hearing people chew and slurp in real life, I definitely don't want to hear it in an audiobook. I'm not deducting stars from the book on this review, because the story earned 5 stars from me, but on my review on Audible.com I did deduct 2 full stars from the Performance rating because of those sound effects.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ground Hogs Day for kids. 11 year old Jackson makes a birthday wish to never grow up because he doesn't want to move up to middle school. Then his birthday wish comes true. This short audible original follows his life as he repeats fifth grade over. And over. And over again.

At first this is his best life because he's the smartest kid in class, a superstar athlete, and the best trumpet player in the band. Then his little sister becomes his big sister and all his friends are doing cool stuff like driving. He decides he's ready to grow up but he doesn't know how to get out of his birthday wish.

I don't really like ground hogs day stories to begin with and this one dragged on for so much longer than really felt necessary. The exact mode for undoing his birthday wish was a little bit lost on me because I was so zoned out by the time we got around to the resolution so I dunno. Ultimately a waste of my time but my 8 and 6 year olds said they enjoyed and recited back to me exactly how Jackson got unstuck but I was still like, "huh?" Oh well. Two stars.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was cute! I could tell it was written as an Audible Original as repetition was an integral part of both plot and style, but to good effect. Could have done without the "mystical music" every time a certain Hindu character appeared - she could still be quirky and wise without reinforcing that stereotype. Otherwise, still enjoyed. Light and fluffy, good for what it is.

[Lis Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jackson Raczkowski, eleven years old, is not quite looking forward to turning twelve. Turning twelve means going to sixth grade, and middle school, where his personal bully, Brandon, will be there to torment him. On his grandfather's birthday, August 8, the day before his own, he wishes to never turn twelve, to remain eleven forever and never move on to middle school.

On the next day, his own birthday, he finds that he has, for the second time, just turned eleven.

He's startled to find that his friends have turned twelve and are going to middle school--he really didn't think this thing through--but initially, not being at middle school with Brandon, and repeating fifth grade, with everything getting easier and easier, seems to have its advantages. But as the years pass, his little sister becomes his older sister, his beloved grandfather gets older and frailer, and fifth grade gets boring instead of fun.

Oh, and Brandon's younger brother, Evan, catches up with him and is now also in fifth grade.

And despite himself, Jackson is starting to grow up, mentally and emotionally, even if not physically.

It's an interesting look at what having your wishes come true might really be like. Jackson is a likable kid, and is he's a bit selfish, it's a normal kid kind of selfish, and he has no bad intentions. He just as some things to learn about life. He learns those things a bit differently than most of us.

It's an enjoyable book, Recommended.

I got this audiobook as part of Audible's Audible Originals program, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

[Ronald Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this when I was an audible premium member years ago and just never got around to listening to it. I have a habit of binging nonfiction, and I needed some thing light, quick, and at least mildly interesting to break up the monotony that can sometimes come from doing that… And I was pleasantly surprised!

The story revolves around a “Groundhog Day “ style premise. A young boy and his grandfather simultaneously make the same wish for him: that he should never grow old. He repeats the fifth grade, in a solo time loop multiple times while everyone else around him ages, which ads a lot of interest to the plant. Particularly if you’re a young reader, and he’s not the only one. One of his classmates on his second time in the Fifth grade ends up in the exact same circumstances and they spent a great deal of their life going through the same loop well everyone around them and gets older, and they begin to yearn for a wife that progresses in a natural direction.

Thinking about it intended audience, I think there is a wonderful lesson in this book, it is interesting enough to keep young readers engaged… And if you’re an adult that really enjoyed Groundhog Day, I would recommend it for you also!

[LindaJ^ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an Audible Original that I received for free as a perk with my Audible subscription. It is a tale about and for middle schoolers. Jackson just finished the 5th grade and is not looking forward to middle school because the bully who has been giving him a hard time is still in the middle school. So Jackson makes a wish at his grandfather's birthday party on a day when a lot of double digits lined up -- 11, 77, 88 -- and it comes true -- on his birthday, the next day, Jackson does not turn 12. His life is reset and he repeats 5th grade, doing much better the second time through, too. Jackson's life resets back to age 11 and he repeats 5th grade for quite a few years until, with the help of a friend's grandmother, he learns how to undo the birthday wish (which turns out wasn't even his!). But learning how and actually getting it done is not so easy! It is too bad that he'll forget how many times he repeated year 11 and 5th grade because he learned a lot over those repeated years and was a better person that during his first time through!

I enjoyed this short audiobook.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and funny. Short, so doesn't explore all the aspects of the premise. I saw another review that says this hits the moral hard, but ... that's expected in a MG story, and with this plot. In order to become unstuck, you have to learn a lesson, figure out why you're stuck, experience growth, and it's probably going to come down to letting go of your ego and becoming a more altruistic human. I don't think the author emphasized that too much, though, considering the main audience for this might be very new to this theme. Adults understand the Groundhog's Day of it all, but a child might not, and so it's a new concept.

The voice actors were pretty good, especially as many of them had to "age up." Even the main character had to mentally age up, even if he physically did not.

There's a bully character who actually, um, gets over it who I'd like to know more about. What happened?

[Blut_Binden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this cute book because it was free, and I’m glad that I did.

Sometimes, you just need a good book to get you to relax and have fun. I am in no way the target audience for this book, but I found myself fascinated by the story and the cast of characters. I’ve seen so many movies where the main character is stuck in one day or a week, but an entire year is intense! Especially when the other people around you are aging while you’re not. That leaves a lot of questions that aren’t particularly answered, but I found that I really didn't them to be. This book encourages you to have fun, think of others, and live your best life. That works for me!

[Suellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible Original - 3 hr 13 min audible - Jackson makes a wish on his 11th birthday that he’d never grow older - And “poof”, just like that, next year there are still only 11 candles on his birthday cake 🎂 and this goes on year after year - Fun story - I wish I could convince my grandson to listen to it

[Alicia J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good time travel story . The first book I fell in love with was Opposite of Always. Stuck had a time loop similar to Opposite of Always but the meaning behind the loop is what I enjoyed. Great story for all ages .

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story with a lesson to learn

Considering I'm a HUGE Peter Pan fan, I REALLY liked the concept of this story. And there were several lessons to learn as well. It was über cute and the cast narration was also pretty cool.

4 stars

[Derek Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent kids book. It's got your groundhog day feel, but with it's own twist. A bit odd in some of the "rules" it made. It does mark Hindu beliefs and other new age type thoughts for the reasons behind the "why", but it's ultimately a story about growing up told in a funny way. I enjoyed it.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun listen, although some of the voices were a bit robotic sounding.

A wish is made and the unintended consequences are fun at first and then frustrating. 10 years later and we’ve experienced many versions of the main characters life.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can you imagine being stuck in 5th grade for 10 years? That is what this story is about. A wish gets made and 11 forever. This would be a good read for the start of 5th grade becuase the boy enters most years with different outlooks and goals.

[Jodi_ice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cawpile: 4* 7.5

Very thought provoking middle grade novel. Was a lot deeper than I thought it’d be for the age group.
Fresh.
A couple of loose ends I’d like to have had tied up, but those were the nature of the beast with the subject.