| Booktalk
#1
"O.L.D. Friends" ... Mitchell
wondered who dreamed that up. Actually, the letters stood for "On-Line
Discussion", a new police program for minor juvenile offenders. Kids
are connected with chat partners from a nursing home across town.
The idea was that the offender would hopefully gain some wisdom from an
elderly person while the elderly person would enjoy having contact with
a youngster. Mitch wasn't a criminal ... not at all. How was
he to know the prank they pulled would cause his cranky old neighbor to
be injured and sent to the hospital? He shouldn't be taking the rap
for this anyway. It was Trotter, the bully next door, who was really
responsible. But, of course, he told the police tit was his fault.
Actually, doing time on-line didn't turn out to be so bad after all.
Wootie, the old lady a the Maple Grove Nursing Home, was quite a character.
Cranky, at first, but she had a reason to be. Since his mom passed
away, he needed someone to talk to. Dad was great and they had good
times together, but lately he's been working long hours at the plant.
Mitch learned a lot and so did Wootie. So will you when you read
Doing
Time On-Line. (New
Hampshire Great Stone Face Committee)
Booktalk #2
Mitchell now had to pay the
price for the practical joke. Oh he was dreading his police assignment
of “chatting” with someone who lived at a Nursing home. His instructions
were don’t be rude and no foul language. Just sign in and go…
Read page 3-6
Now you know what Mitchell
is doing twice a week. But what was it that got Mitchell into trouble
in the first place? Will he tell Wootie? And is Mitchell sorry?
You’ll only know if you finish reading Doing Time Online by Jan Siebold.
(Beth Lindsay, Senior Librarian, Youth Services, South County Regional
Library blindsay@leegov.com,
Sunshine State list 2003-2004 Grades 3-5 and 6-8)
Booktalk #3
OK. He can get through
this. It's just for one month. He has been assigned to the
O.L.D. Friends program. He must come to the police station every
Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and have an email chat with someone from
a nursing home. As much as he doesn't want to do this, he knows he
has to. After all, when he thinks about what happened, what got him
into this mess, he can't stand what he sees. Maybe this will make
up for it somehow. But, what will happen during the next month?
Booktalk #4
It wasn't Mitch's fault, it
was Trotter's. Now Mitch has to do time online. Each week Mitch has to
go to the police station and talk online to some old person at the nursing
home. It's not fair, nothing happened to Trotter. Then Mitch discovers
something online that changes him and the person he has to chat with. What
could be so important? Read Doing Time Online by Jan Siebold and find out
for yourself. (Catherine Ryan, c_ryan16@yahoo.com)
Booktal #5
It was really the fault of
that bully, Trotter, but now twice a week Mitch must go to the police station
to serve time, finishing out his parole assignment. What is his punishment
for the practical joke that backfired and hurt his elderly neighbor? He
has been assigned to the O.L.D. Friends program. “O.L.D.” is really short
for “On Line Discussion”, but Mitch wonders what on earth he will have
in common with the elderly lady he must chat with online? Every Tuesday
and Thursday after school, Mitch talks via e-mail with Wootie, a resident
of the Maple Grove Nursing Home. What a bore, but is it? Read this book
to discover what Mitch and Wootie learn. You may especially like this book
if you like Donald Sobol’s “Encyclopedia Brown” series, or Jerry Spinelli’s
book, Maniac Magee. (Jean B. Bellavance for Pennsylvania
Young Reader's Choice Awards, 2004-2005) |
