Reviews for Jack Adrift: Fourth Grade Without a Clue

The average rating for Jack Adrift: Fourth Grade Without a Clue based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-05-19 00:00:00 John Baird A quick read about a boy in 4th grade. I really enjoy Jack Gantos' books.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-12-25 00:00:00 YUTAKA NAGASAKI Jack Adrift is the first in the Jack Gantos' five-part Jack Henry Adventures. Based on a journal the author started in elementary school, the books are at times funny, at times relatable, and at times heartbreakingly sad. While the account of Jack's fourth grade year ends on something of a high note, one cannot forget the reality of his day-to-day existence laid bare just a few pages earlier: My room was the one place I wanted to be. It was easy to sit by myself and feel all alone in the world. Like Dad sleeping out in the car, it was easier to just not talk about things that bothered me. It was easier to try to forget my past than to sort it out. It made me sad to think that, like Dad, I was already wanting a part of myself to disappear. I reached across my bed to my nightstand where I had saved one model, PT-109. I pulled it close to me, as if I were keeping it in a safe harbor. I didn't want to let it go. It was a little bit of hope that my year had been worth remembering. While obviously written for kids, I think in many ways this tale would be useful for adults to read so as to remember the often entirely-contradictory messages their fourth-grade selves received from their parents, how kids try to take on their parents' problems, and how children often have this ineffable ability to make an otherwise crappy situation an adventure.