Reviews for The Present Tense of Prinny Murphy

The average rating for The Present Tense of Prinny Murphy based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-02-07 00:00:00 Lance Vestal Reviewed by Sandra O'Brien Prinny Murphy has a tough life. Her mom is an alcoholic, she has a difficult time relating to her distant father and she's stuck in remedial reading with Mrs. Dooks. To make matters worse the school bullies are extorting money from her - and her best friend, Travis, has started dating Laice, a snobby new girl from Halifax. But when a substitute teacher loans Prinny a copy of Make Lemonade, a free verse novel about a character named LaVaughn, things begin to turn around. Prinny finds herself drawn into a book for the first time in her life and discovers the magic of poetry. As new friendships are forged and her parents find a way back to each other, Prinny begins to realize that loving and trusting people is much like a roller coaster ride but all the ups and downs are worth it. In The Present Tense of Prinny Murphy, Jill MacLean has written another sensational novel for readers in the junior/intermediate grades. Many children today deal with issues similar to Prinny's - parental separation, alcoholism, bullying and loneliness. In Prinny, MacLean creates a conflicted character - one who wants to be kind and compassionate yet carries around a great deal of anger about her home life, her lack of female friends and her inability to read well. And now that we know Prinny's secrets, Jill MacLean has raised our curiosity about the other residents of Ratchet. Providing teachers with an excellent platform to begin conversations about the stresses of home life, academic issues and friendship this novel is a must-read for fans of her previous book The Nine Lives of Travis Keating. Canadian Children's Book News (Winter 2010, Vol. 33, No. 1)

Review # 2 was written on 2011-10-18 00:00:00 Brandon Pillsbury I kept wanting to yell at so many people in this book! The clueless adults, the Shrikes, and everyone who perpetuates bullying or simply allows it to happen. I was so mad. But I think it is true that the adults don't always know what is going on and can't step in. I really liked all of the ways that Prinny's classmates stepped in and stood up for each other. And I couldn't help but root for Prinny - what a girl! Although this book got me plenty upset, it was because of the ways people were treating each other, not because of any flaws in the plot or writing. I would highly recommend it, and think it could be a real eye-opener for quite a few kids. I also love how Ms. MacLean works in Virginia Euwer Wolff's Make Lemonade and how much of an impact the book's main character LaVaughn has on Prinny. Prinny really gets LaVaughn and where she is coming from, and that is an important thing that books can do for you. Prinny learns that things aren't perfect - not in books, and not in the world - and this fabulous book is part of her discovery that she is not alone.