Rich kids are snobs and slackers. They think they're too good for anyone else, and that they don't have to work hard at anything. That, at least, is the opinion of fifth-grade science teacher Mr. Maxwell, and the super-rich new kid, Mark Chelmsley, is showing no signs of transcending the stereotype. Or is Mr. Maxwell just too anti-elitist or ego-driven to notice? Once again, the talented Andrew Clements (Frindle, The Janitor's Boy) allows adult characters to "come of age" right along with his adolescent characters in the most refreshing and insightful of ways.

Mark has low expectations of his new school in rural New Hampshire, and he'll be there for less than four months anyway, so he can't let himself get attached. It's the glory of the countryside around him that shakes him awake--and the urban boy's first trek on snowshoes, discovery of an old barn, and rediscovery of Jack London are exciting to behold. For the first time in his busy, absentee parent-controlled life, Mark discovers "his own sense of time--time present--and he had discovered how much this time was worth."

As the reader starts to like this curious, resourceful, clearly not lazy kid, Mr. Maxwell's preconceptions start to seem all the worse. It all comes to a head at the school's annual camp out (called A Week in the Woods), where Mr. Maxwell accuses Mark of breaking a rule--without getting all the facts that would have proven his innocence. Mark escapes into the woods before he can be driven home: "If Mr. Maxwell wants to get rid of me so bad, then he's gonna have to find me first!" Will Mark survive on his own in the woods overnight? What will Mr. Maxwell do when he learns his own prejudices have colored his judgment? What starts out as a school camp out turns into a terrifically suspenseful survival story of a man and boy who come head-to-head, and learn a few lessons while they're at it. Readers will be on the edges of their seats! (Ages 9 to 13) --Karin Snelson


From Publishers Weekly
Mark, the 11-year-old at the center of Clements's (Frindle; The Jacket) brooding and uneven novel, initially has no interest in making friends at his new school in Whitson, N.H., where his constantly traveling parents have just renovated and enlarged a 1798 farmhouse. Knowing that he's headed off to a prestigious boarding school next year, the boy has no incentive for pleasing his teachers and spends much of the day gazing out the classroom window. His science teacher, Mr. Maxwell, passes judgment on Mark before the boy finally decides to give the school a chance ("The only kind of people Mr. Maxwell disliked more than slackers were... buy-the-whole-world rich folks"). A showdown between boy and teacher occurs at the start of the annual environmental program organized by Mr. Maxwell for the fifth graders, who spend a week in a wooded state park. The teacher's discovery of Mark with a tool containing a knife (which actually belongs to another boy) climaxes with a pursuit through the woods. Unfortunately, the suspenseful sequence that follows and the engaging denouement account for only a fraction of the novel. Laborious passages about Mark's family's home and barn and the boy's preparations for the school trip, plus perhaps a bit too much description of Mr. Maxwell's background, bog down the story line and may derail readers drawn to the book's enticing title. Ages 9-13.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-Angered by his family's move from Scarsdale, NY, to rural New Hampshire, Mark refuses to make friends or please his teachers. Because of his indifference, one teacher decides that he's dealing with a "slacker" and a "spoiled rich kid." To make matters worse, the fifth grader acts unimpressed with Mr. Maxwell's annual outing to the state park for a week of nature studies. However, the boy becomes increasingly interested in the outdoors and camping and signs up for the trip. On the first day there, the teacher discovers Mark with a camping tool that contains a knife, an item that students were asked not to bring. He decides that someone needs to teach the boy a lesson and decides to send him home. Mark runs away, gets lost, and must use his newly acquired skills to survive a night in the woods. The story explores both Mark's and Mr. Maxwell's point of view, and the final resolution of their conflict is effective. The boy's relationships with his ever-absent parents and his caregivers are interestingly developed. The novel includes a helpful map of the state park. Like many of Clements's titles, this one will be a popular choice, particularly with fans of Gary Paulsen and Jean Craighead George.Jean Gaffney, Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library, Miamisburg, OHCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
In a melodious and expressive voice, Ron Livingston delivers a great rendition of a boy finding his soul in the wilderness and a teacher learning that even with many years of experience in the classroom, he still has much to learn about his students. In a case of mutual misjudgment, Mark and Mr. Maxwell square off in a test of wills, culminating in a test of survival. In the end, each learns about himself and the other. Reminiscent of Paulsen's classic story, HATCHET, this is a great story for the younger set. The narration is keen and illuminates each character in a satisfying and meaningful way. D.L.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Gr. 4-8. Mr. Maxwell has taught fifth-grade science and supervised the class weeklong field trip to a nearby New Hampshire state park for many years. He is sure of his teaching methods and equally confident that his respect for nature is transmitted, a hundred students at a time, through the sessions in the woods. Mark Chelmsley, clearly bright, bored, and (in Mr. Maxwell's opinion) probably spoiled, moves to the small New Hampshire town just weeks before the trip. It's inevitable that the two clash. The third-person narrative alternates between the powerful adult and the lonely, stalwart boy, allowing readers to see both characters' strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the week in the woods, both boy and man have changed. Clements' compassionate character studies are realistic and hopeful, and the characters' subtle conflicts and eventual transformations will linger with readers long after the book is finished. Francisca Goldsmith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
School Library Journal This one will be a popular choice, particularly with fans of Gary Paulsen and Jean Craighead George.


Review
School Library Journal This one will be a popular choice, particularly with fans of Gary Paulsen and Jean Craighead George.


Book Description
Collision course The fifth-grade Week in the Woods is a beloved tradition of Hardy Elementary, where Mark Chelmsley (the Fourth) is pretty much killing time before his parents send him off to an exclusive prep school. But then Mark realizes the Week might be a chance to prove to Mr. Maxwell that he's not just another of the slacker rich kids the teacher can't stand. But it may be too late for Mark to change Mr. Maxwell's opinion of him. On the first day of the Week, the tension between teacher and student explodes, and in a reckless moment, Mark puts not only himself, but also Mr. Maxwell, in grave danger. Can two such strong adversaries work together to save their lives?


Download Description
Mark didn't ask to move to New Hampshire. Or to go to a hick school like Hardy Elementary. And he certainly didn't request Mr. Maxwell as his teacher. Mr. Maxwell doesn't like rich kids, or slackers, or know-it-alls. And he's decided that Mark is all of those things. Now the whole school is headed out for a week of camping - Hardy's famous Week in the Woods. At first it sounds dumb, but then Mark begins to open up to life in the country, and he decides it might be okay to learn something new. It might even be fun. But things go all wrong for Mark. The Week in the Woods is not what anyone planned. Especially not Mr. Maxwell. With his uncanny knack to reach right to the heart of kids, Andrew Clements asks - and answers - questions about first impressions, fairness, loyalty, and courage - and exactly what it takes to spend a Week in the Woods.


Card catalog description
The fifth grade's annual camping trip in the woods tests Mark's survival skills and his ability to relate to a teacher who seems out to get him.

ANNOTATION

The fifth grade's annual camping trip in the woods tests Mark's survival skills and his ability to relate to a teacher who seems out to get him.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Mark didn't ask to move to New Hampshire. Or to go to a hick school like Hardy Elementary. And he certainly didn't request Mr. Maxwell as his teacher. Mr. Maxwell doesn't like rich kids, or slackers, or know-it-alls. And he's decided that Mark is all of those things. Now the whole fifth grade is headed out for a week of camping -- Hardy's famous Week in the Woods. At first it sounds dumb to Mark, but then he begins to open up to life in the country, and he decides it might be okay to learn something new. It might even be fun. But things go all wrong for Mark. This Week in the Woods is not what anyone planned. Especially not Mr. Maxwell.

SYNOPSIS

Mark didn't ask to move to New Hampshire. Or to go to a hick school like Hardy Elementary. And he certainly didn't request Mr. Maxwell as his teacher. Mr. Maxwell doesn't like rich kids, or slackers, or know-it-alls. And he's decided that Mark is all of those things.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

A showdown between an 11-year-old and his teacher occurs at the start of an annual environmental program when they spend a week in a wooded state park. Ages 9-13. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-Angered by his family's move from Scarsdale, NY, to rural New Hampshire, Mark refuses to make friends or please his teachers. Because of his indifference, one teacher decides that he's dealing with a "slacker" and a "spoiled rich kid." To make matters worse, the fifth grader acts unimpressed with Mr. Maxwell's annual outing to the state park for a week of nature studies. However, the boy becomes increasingly interested in the outdoors and camping and signs up for the trip. On the first day there, the teacher discovers Mark with a camping tool that contains a knife, an item that students were asked not to bring. He decides that someone needs to teach the boy a lesson and decides to send him home. Mark runs away, gets lost, and must use his newly acquired skills to survive a night in the woods. The story explores both Mark's and Mr. Maxwell's point of view, and the final resolution of their conflict is effective. The boy's relationships with his ever-absent parents and his caregivers are interestingly developed. The novel includes a helpful map of the state park. Like many of Clements's titles, this one will be a popular choice, particularly with fans of Gary Paulsen and Jean Craighead George.-Jean Gaffney, Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library, Miamisburg, OH Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile

In a melodious and expressive voice, Ron Livingston delivers a great rendition of a boy finding his soul in the wilderness and a teacher learning that even with many years of experience in the classroom, he still has much to learn about his students. In a case of mutual misjudgment, Mark and Mr. Maxwell square off in a test of wills, culminating in a test of survival. In the end, each learns about himself and the other. Reminiscent of Paulsen's classic story, HATCHET, this is a great story for the younger set. The narration is keen and illuminates each character in a satisfying and meaningful way. D.L.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews