The Janitor's Boy
Readers rate it 3.5 (6 on Hardcover)
164 pages · Released Sep 1, 2001 · Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Content report card
The Janitor's Boy parent’s guide: what’s inside
Violence
Language
Sexual content
LGBTQ+ themes
Scary or mature
Substance use
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This is a gentle coming-of-age story about a boy learning to understand and respect his custodian father through forced time together. The conflict stems from adolescent misunderstanding and resentment rather than anything dark, and resolves through empathy and communication. Andrew Clements writes accessibly for middle-grade readers with themes of family reconciliation and seeing people differently.
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From the publisher
IT WAS THE PERFECT CRIME Unfortunately, it also led to the perfect punishment. When Jack Rankin gets busted for defacing a school desk with a huge wad of disgusting, watermelon bubble gum, the principal sentences him to three weeks of after-school gum cleanup for the chief custodian. The problem is, Jack's anger at the... IT WAS THE PERFECT CRIME Unfortunately, it also led to the perfect punishment. When Jack Rankin gets busted for defacing a school desk with a huge wad of disgusting, watermelon bubble gum, the principal sentences him to three weeks of after-school gum cleanup for the chief custodian. The problem is, Jack's anger at the chief custodian was the reason for his gum project in the first place. The chief custodian happens to be Jack's dad. But doing time in the school basement after hours reveals some pretty surprising things: about the school, about Jack's father, and about Jack himself.
Shelved under
- Juvenile Fiction
- Fathers and sons
- Fiction
- Schools
- Janitors
- Children's fiction
- Schools, fiction
- Parent and child, fiction
- Boys, fiction
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ISBN 9780689835858 · Atheneum Books for Young Readers