There's a Girl in my Hammerlock was written by Jerry Spinelli and it was published in 1991. Spinelli has written other books, such as Maniac Magee, Crash, Wringer, and Stargirl.
This book is a very good book and I highly recommend it because it isn't one of those books where the main character isn't absolutely perfect. It has just the right balance of comedy and reality, which makes it so that it never gets boring or cheesey!
There's a Girl in My Hammerlock is about a girl named Maisie Potter. At first Maisie is a normal active girl, and then came Eric Delong. She tried to get close to him by trying out for the cheerleading squad. When she doesn't make the squad she tries a different approach; she tries out for the formally all-male wrestling team. She gets ridiculed, criticized and embarrassed. By this time, she's gotta quit, right? WRONG!!! Maybe a "normal" girl would, but Maisie Potter is no normal girl! Maisie is the girl who won the "Most Outstanding Female Athlete" award. Maisie Potter is the girl who really knows how to drive a basketball down the court. Maisie Potter is the head-strong girl, the one girl who ever even dared to try out for the traditionally all-boy wrestling team! Well, for Maisie Potter it's time to break tradition! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books about independince and loyalty.

This book is about a girl named Maisie who doesn't make the cheerleading squad so she joins the all boys wrestling team to be by Eric Delong the most popular jock in the school. One problem is the head cheerleader also likes Eric. Maisie decides to stay on the wrestling team, but she notices that she startes to lose all her friends. Maisie as usual is not going to get Eric but they still remain friends with each other. This book is very good for both boys and girls and you should read this book if you like sports and a little bit of romance mixed together!!

There's A Girl In My Hammerlock is written by Jerry Spinelli. The publisher is Half Moon Books. It is about a girl named Maisie who tries out for the cheer squad, but doesn't make it. Then to get a little closer to Eric Delong, she goes out for the wrestling team and makes it, despite everyone really dsen't want her to. The main characters are Maisie a girl who strives for what she wants, Eric, Liz's boyfriend, Liz, a true cheerleader, her family, the wrestling team and finally Tank, P.K Maisie's litlle sister's best bud. There was a little suspense. For example, how was Maisie going to do on the wresting team? Exacly how close was she going to get to Eric? I would like to recommend this book because it tells how Maisie had courage and struggled to get her way even though it was hard, as a woman.

I was a bit hesitant when I started reading Wringer, by Jerry Spinelli. A book about killing pigeons in mass numbers wasn't exactly my idea of an enjoyable book...but I'm glad I decided otherwise.
I was introduced to an eight-year-old Palmer LaRue, a boy without any true friends. Palmer has a growing secret inside him he doesn't even consider telling anyone. Palmer is afraid of being a wringer when he turns ten. This occurs at the annual Family Fest. Pigeons are released and shot at; the wounded ones are what the 10-year-old wringers are for.
On his ninth birthday he's accepted into a group of boys (Beans, Mutto, and Henry, AKA the Beans Boys). Beans is the leader of the group and is quite a mean boy who enjoys tormenting people, especially Palmer's neighbor, Dorothy Gruzik. Beans calls Dorothy 'Fishface', and soon Beans' strong influence on Palmer causes him to call her 'Fishsface' as well. One night a pigeon tapping on Palmer's window causes him to wake up. Palmer doesn't realize it, but this little pigeon (whom Palmer names Nipper) is going to change his life forever. Palmer gets closer and closer to turning ten. As becoming a wringer at the Family Fest creeps up on him, Nipper's life is in danger, Palmer discovers who his friends really are, and he befriends someone he never imagined would impact his life.
I rated this book four stars because I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it. Palmer's strong belief in what he thought was right, even under peer pressure, was truly inspirational. The only thing that prevented me from rating the book five stars was the choice of ages for the characters. If they had been possibly several years older, their thoughts and actions would seem much more realistic, but other than that, this is a book you should look into.

Wringer is a great book for the upper elementary student. It is about a boy named Palmer who faces many real challenges is his life. He is dreading the day of his tenth birthday because that is the day he will become a wringer. In the town that he lives in they have an annual pigoen shooting day. Boys ten and up must run out onto the field and wring the necks of the wounded pigeons. Palmer thinks this is terrible and he doesn't think that he can be a part of this tradition. During the time before his birthday he gets invovled with a gang. This gang pressures him into things he doesn't want to do. It is an excellent story of peer pressure. Then one day a pigeon comes to his window and ends up being his house pet. This has to be kept secret from his friends or they might kill the pigeon. He confides in his neighbor Dorothy, who helps him keep his secret. Palmer's birthday is fast approaching and he must make a decision. A decision to follow the crowd or do what he feels is right in his heart. A great story of a boy's inner struggles to do the right thing.

Robby Gwisdala
Wringer
By: Jerry Spinelli

Rating:****

Birthdays can be good and can be bad, that is what ten year old George Palmer found out. Palmer lives were locals like to shoot and wring pigeons. People say that when you become ten years old you are suppose to become a wringer which is the kid who wrings the neck on the bird if its not dead from the shot. You are suppose to do this at the annual local family fest which is held every year. Young palmer had it in his head that he was going to be a wringer after his treatment as they call it which every young boy gets on there tenth birthday. He changed his mind though when he met a pigeon that he named Nipper. This bird would fly to his window every day after school and would sleep in his room all night long till at five in the morning when he would nip at palmers ear to wake him up. His best friends Henry, Beans, Mutto which hate pigeons and hate Dorothy that lives across the street. So through the story palmer has to hide from his friends and his pigeon until he gets home were he is safe in his room with Nipper and Dorothy. After a while everything starts heading down hill when his friends find out he likes Dorothy and pigeons and has been avoiding his friends. I really enjoyed this book and would suggest it to anyone who likes serious books and likes books with pets.

Maniac Magee is a boy with avery sad life, but he is very caring. his parents died in a famous trolly crash. He has to live with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, but they hated each other. Finally, Maniac gave up up and runs away. He ran 200 miles! Back then the whites and blacks were seperated. The blacks lived on the East End and the whites lived on the West End. Maniac ran to the East End and met a girl, his age, that let him stay with them and be part of the family. Her name was Amanda. Later on in the book, Maniac goes back to the West End and meets a 40 year old man whos name was Grayson. Grayson found Maniac at the zoo, sleeping with the baffalo. They had a great time until, this man, Grayson died. Maniac ran away AGAIN and he stayed back at the zoo Finally, he finds a home, but whos house is it? I recommend this book for ages 8-12 and people that like Jerry Spinelli's books. He is the author of Maniac Magee. I enjoyed reading this book because I could picture every scene from the book, in my head Its great to know you could be part of the book too!

Jerry Spinelli's, Maniac Magee, is the tale of a boy named Jeffrey Lionel Magee, who loses his parents at the age of three and is forced to live with his aunt and uncle. Jeffrey after eight years of living with his aunt and uncle gets fed up with how they are "separated," but still together and decides to runaway. He ends up two-hundred miles away in a little town called Two-Mills, where the whites and blacks are divided into the West End (whites), and the East End (blacks). Jeffrey embarks on the journey of a lifetime and learns many life lessons from all those that he encounters and becomes a town legend, earning the nickname, "maniac", in the process. Throughout the story Jeffrey does not have a stable place to live, he moves around through the whole story. With this idea in mind one is lead to believe that having a home and family is the center focus of this book, as you read in to the second chapter you realize that there is also another focus, racism. Not much is mentioned of Jeffrey's biological parents except when the author gives details of how they were killed, but you can tell that Jeffrey wanted a place to call home, and he did not know when he found a home and a family, how to deal with the fact that he was of a different color. Home, the one thing that Jeffrey so desperately wanted seemed to dwindle away every time he came close to keeping it. At eleven he could no longer bear living with his aunt and uncle who for eight years lived as a separated married couple. They had two of everything. So when he ran away he was in search of a new life, a whole new family. He ran away, two-hundred miles away to the town of Two-Mills, where he ended up with the Beale family. He felt love and a distinct feeling of home there, and he had a address now, which to him meant he had a permanent home. But something stood in the way of this loving home and new address, his color. He never really noticed that the entire town was divided into East End and West End, until he went out to play as any child would. This went on for months and months, until one day an old man told him to go back to his kind. So for the first time Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee realized that he was very different from the people in which he called his family were. This is explained thoroughly by Jean Baudrilland, from the Lion and the Unicorn (21.2 (1997) 215-229, she calls this personal discovery. This "personal discovery" she talks about is realized when Jeffrey recognizes that the people one the East End of Two-Mills hated him not because he was good at everything he did, but because of the fact that his skin color was different from the people that lived on that end. He loved the Beale family but could not see them terrorized because he was living with them, and once again he left becoming amongst the homeless again. His next "home" came when he met an elderly man by the name of Grayson, who lived in the baseball basement. They became real good friends and Jeffrey felt like he had a home again, when he put the numbers "1-0-1" on the basement door. Signifying that he again had a place to call home. That ended abruptly with the death of his longtime friend, so he was once again thrust back into society as homeless. But in the end he realized that he never should have left the first true home he had with the Beales, and so that is how the story ended with him being content that this was where he was supposed to be.

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli is a wonderfully written novel that explores several delicate topics in a lighthearted manner. The main character, Jeffrey Lionel Magee, must deal with not only the loss of his parents, but also feeling unwanted by his relatives. Due to feeling unwanted by his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, Maniac runs away and finds himself in a variety of sticky situations. The situations range from gangs to racial prejudice. The way that Maniac befriends Amanda Beale and the how he becomes friends with Mars Bar helps students learn how to overcome racial prejusdice. He teaches an old man how to read and even rescues two young boys and convinces them not to run away from their home. Maniac tries to unite the East End (Whites) and the West End (Blacks) by getting them to see past the color of a persons skin and see a person.
This book is a wonderful tool to open up discussions. My students loved discussing the "Finsterwallies" and envisioning the "frogball". Young teens are excited to read this book simply to find out what is going to happen to Maniac next. He gets himself into some hilarious situations and some sad situations. The short, fast moving chapters help to keep the reader motivated. Everyday when we would stop reading, my students would beg for more time to read. I think that Jerry Spinelli did a fabulous job writing this novel and my students and I absolutely loved it!

This book was fun to read. It's perfect for any nine year old who wants to read a good book with a wide selection of of stories. It's not 12 books all crammed into one it's 12 parts of books that lead you to one (Or how ever many you want) very good books. They picked really good parts of each book. It has parts of books from authors like Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Patricia Maclachlan and Danial Pinkwater and many more.

It's Fine To Be Nine is a wonderful book, as I've come to expect from authors such as these! As a mother of a nine year old (going on 20! ), I read many books when I WAS her age. Many by authors of It's fine to be nine.

This book, like the others, lives up to the fine writing and imagination-holding in the mind of a child.

Well written and attention grabbing, I, as a mom, recommend this to all children in this age group!

These books make me remember the times of MY childhood. The times that are FUN to remember.

Also, as a mother, I know it is SAFE to read by books by Judy Blume, therefore, I had no qualms of ordering it.

Kudos! Sheila

Bertie is already bored on the second day of summer vacation. Her not-so-typical grandma suggests she create a gang to do things with. Her best friend, Damaris Pickwell can't join because gangs always lead to trouble.

She advertises a pizza party for her gang. She also advertises "Girls Only". The pizza party is a success, but only two others show up to the first meeting. They start having fun and the fun turns into a feud with a boy gang. Grandma comes to the rescue again with some great ideas.

This is a fun, easy to read book for younger readers. They are introduced to Jerry Spinelli and Maniac Magee's world of Two Mills. I think they will be excited to continue reading his novels as they grow up.

It also can be used to teach children about including others, the problems with gangs, and the value of service without getting too heavy. It's another great book by Jerry Spinelli.

I bought "It's Heaven To Be Seven" last year for my Audrey Lynn and haven't heard the end of "I want the next one." With this next book in the series "It's Great To Be Eight," is a fun collect of stories that make it a real pleasure to read with your young ones. We have have some the classics like Beverly Clearly contributing and you can't go wrong. Make this apart of your child's library and let them get a glimps of some of the great writers and stories their are to enjoy.

I'm normally a fan of Jerry Spinelli and his books but this one was, well, bad. The characters, for the most part, were pretty stupid and not very interesting. The plot was also pretty stupid and kind of dull. Also, many of the parts were disgusting. Especially the part in which the guys are talking about wanting to stick their faces in a girl's chest! (Eeeeewwwww!!!) I hope boys really don't talk like that in real life! Talk about sick!!! I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read. Jerry Spinelli can do much, much better than this!

I grew up with this book. It mirrored my confusion about life and relationships (including the quote in the subject, which is from Jason's first date; maybe it doesn't seem too profound to you, but when I first read that at the age of 14, it was incredibly enlightening). It offered some light on issues I hadn't considered (like the impact of a boyfreind-girlfriend situation on an already existing close relationship). Most importantly, Jason felt like a good friend who listened to my embarassing stories, all the while offering up some of his own stories and advice. I can't stress enough how much this book meant to me, then and now. Even more so than the first book in this two-book series, Space Station Seventh Grade, this book helped me understand in a time when nothing made sense.

Anyone who thinks this is a book that handles topics too "mature" for 14 year olds simply doesn't understand the situations people of this age find themselves in. And, yes, they are people. They are just smaller and less experienced, the latter problem being one that this book helps alleviate. If you are a parent, you owe it to yourself, and your offspring, to buy this book for your son or daughter. If you are at the age where you are feeling that intense pressure to hook up and go out, you owe it to your sanity.

Kids love Jerry Spinelli. Know why? Because Jerry Spinelli loves kids. I am quite distressed to know a teacher wouldn't recommend this to students. As a youth librarian, I highlight it. Why? Well, the writing is fresh and painful, confusing and relevant. . .just like ninth grade. Marceline is a real person, she's scared but true to herself. And Jason is real too, sorry to break your heart. Guys actually care about "boobs" and "doing it"! But you know what? Jason cares about Marceline's individual nature and her quirks more. He can't get by without her, and he knows it. This book is a modern classic, full of humor and wisdom and characters so real, you never forget them. BUY THIS BOOK. You will not regret it.

Jerry Spinelli was one of my favourite authors. I decided to read his biography for school. Now he is still one of my favorite authors only now, when i read one of his books i always think back at what could have made him right that? The book Knots In My Yo-Yo string was written in Jerry Spinneli's style which is why i think i found it so interesting to read. His childhood may bore some people for he found it exciting to get his first t.v but it made me realise how much that we have at this time with all of our technology. Knots In My Yo-Yo string makes you realise a ton of things that we take for granted now a days and it truly is a good book.

Knots In My Yoyo String was a great book about Jerry Spinelli's younger years. You will find out things that never would've crossed your mind -like that Spinelli hated writing, or that he still has all of the notes from his 9th grade girlfriend! Besides being just plain fun to read, you will uncover lots of people that he named his characters (in other books) after. There was really a boy named Magee and there was a real East and West side of town. After reading his books, you'll get lots of those "ah ha!" moments. Every Jerry Spinelli fan should read this amazing biography! ~

This book is so great! It tells all about Jerry Spinelli's childhood in big events in his life. It is very humerous and touching. It talks about his dreams and accomplishments as a kid and how they effected him as a person and as an author. I highly recommend you read this book!

I The Library Card three would give stars because I don't really like that the athur put like four books in one, and every chapter they change charcters. Every chapter they change the charcter. Every chapter they change every thing except the Library Card, witch keeps showing up.I especially like Mongoose and Weasle.I would read this book if I were you. You will regret it if don't read book.So you better start reading it now!

What sounds like a boring topic actually turns out to be a wonderful series of four individual stories, about four different young people whose lives are about to change because of the mysterious appearance of a blue plastic card.

Mongoose lives in the inner city. With his good friend, Weasel, he writes graffiti all over the neighborhood. Weasel eventually drops out of school -- Mongoose has found a strange blue card that opens up a world he hadn't even dreamed of...

Sonseray lives in a car, with his uncle. They travel from city to city, often leaving earlier than his uncle wants because of Sonseray's anger over the early loss of his mother. But that funny blue card shows up mysteriously, leading him to a nice cool library with more than central air conditioning.

Brenda loves television. Her life evolves around her favorite shows -- until one week, when she has to participate in her school's Great TV Turnoff. How will she ever survive? That blue card pulls her so far away from the television, she may never return.

And April Mendez, who loves to read. Stuck in a funny farm... when her family moves, she meets Nanette, a tough runaway teen who loses April's library card! Some strange blue card shows up -- April eventually gives it to Nanette and -- well, things really change.

My almost 10 year old son and I read this. He is NOT an avid reader, which is why I am always reading WITH him, and he surprised me by begging to read the next story after we finished each one (he had to wait a whole day for each story!)

Very different, high quality story that gives a message without being at all preachy.

Once again Jerry Spinelli has dazzled me with his kids-eye view of a subject-a library card. Each story has a different situation in which a kid must make a decision about the mysterious library card. The idea of a magic "blue" card that takes the user to the library is a new twist on the magic carpet premis, taking the rider to different destinations. Give this book a chance, it will not disappoint you.

This book has boring parts in it, but some parts are exciting. I don't think it stinks or anything. I mean, I really do like it, but a few chapters aren't as good as the other chapters. This book has 25 chapters, but on the 12th chapter they might still be on the first few days of school. We read this book as a class and most of the class liked this book. I also liked it, but it could have been better.

I recommend this book. It's about school. Sunny gets separated with Hillary. Sunny tries to get kicked out of school. At the end-wait, I don't want to spoil it and tell you what happens. YOU are going to find out what happens! Get this book! You KNOW you want to. 25 chapters of exciting and interesting adventures at school? Come ON! Get it. The ending's good. I'm not saying why they were at the principal's office, (because YOU are gonna find out-if you get this book) but they weren't there for such a bad reason. Just TRY it. Get it, you'll LIKE it. Just look at the reviews! 5 stars are everywhere. Maybe 4 stars, too. I don't think I'd EVER see 1 star for this book! NEVER! EVER! EVER! You KNOW you want to get this book, so go for it! Just GO... FOR... IT!

This book grabs you and ... you in! It has a great beginning and it's very funny. You feel the emotions of the characters and I never laugh out loud when reading a book, but I did when reading this one! I got this book from RIF, a program where you get a free book. Thid book is about 4 kids who are starting in Junior High at 6th grade. On the first day, the WHOLE first day(!) they get into some very crazy things.

1. They get hijected on the school bus and are taken to the local Getty Gas Station. Then they walk home.

2. While trying to eat lunch with the principal, a hamster burrows into thier burritos!

And more! I reccomend this book to Jerry Spinnelli fans