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BEHAVING BRADLEY by Perry Nodelman

BEHAVING BRADLEY

by Perry Nodelman

Pub Date: July 1st, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81466-6
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Self-pitying, Holden Caulfield—wannabe Bradley Gold narrates Nodelman’s tale of much ado about nothing. When Roblin Memorial High decides to draft a Code of Conduct for the students, the last thing 11th grader Bradley wants is to be involved. But his best friend, Coll Anderson, talks him into taking an interest and before he knows it, Brad starts a crusade to revise the document to include a code for teachers as well. That doesn’t come easily: Student bullies, teachers, and parents stand in Brad’s way before he triumphs. If readers don’t tire of the one-note plot, they will quickly grow impatient with Bradley’s tirades; his rambling, cynical observations don’t make him particularly likable or sympathetic. Brad’s skewering of adults—who are all cruel, deviant, or imbecilic—and classmates, whom he defines by stereotypes and quirks, substitutes for a storyline. In Brad’s unrealistic world, he seems to count himself as the only one with any redeeming qualities—no wonder he’s miserable. (Fiction. 12-15)