I Got a D in Salami #2 (Hank Zipzer)

I have two boys ages 8 and 4. At first they didn't seem that interested, but soon were laughing! My oldest son is struggling in school right now, and I thought these books would be a fun way to let him know that he is not the only one. It's perfect for this! Hank Zipzer easily points out all his acadamic flaws but is very creative in how he works around these issues. I can hear it now... "What would Hank do?" I'm looking forward to all the other books in the series. Thank you Henry Winkler for bringing laughter to what can be a very fustrating time in a childs life. And helping the parents and teachers see it from their point of view. This is a great book for all Elem. kids!

We first met our hero, Hank Zipzer, in the book Niagra Falls... or Does It? and learned what a funny guy Hank can be. We met his crossword puzzle crazy dad, his mom who owns the family delicatessen called "The Crunchy Pickle" and who is always trying to invent new lunch meats made out of soy, and also his weird, lizard-loving sister Emily and her pet iguana, Katherine (I ask you, how weird do you have to be to name a lizard "Katherine"??) In that first book we read the adventures that Hank went through trying to make a working model of Niagra Falls instead of just writing a paper about it, and at the very end when Hank's project make a horrible mess and he spent a week in detention with the music teacher, Mr. Rock, he thought that Hank might have learning challenges and suggested that Hank get tested. Well, at the beginning of this book Hank is practicing for his weekly spelling test and is having a terrible time trying to remember all the tricky words, like "rhythm". Jumping around the room seems to help, but when he gets to school the next day all those words seemed to have leaked out his ears and he can't remember a thing. In fact, because he argues with his teacher, he winds up being sent to Principal Love's office to do what Hank calls "mole time"-that is, sitting and staring at the Statue of Liberty-shaped mole on the principal's face. To add insult to injury, he gets his REPORT CARD later that day. Now, MOST kids wind up getting small envelopes with their cards in it, but not Hankie-boy. HE gets a gigantic manila envelope with his report card and a letter from his teacher! What's worse, he has gotten THREE D's!!! He might as well pack his bags and go to South Africa, like Joshua T. Bates was planning to do (ha! Text-to-text connection!) While Hank is trying to think of a way out of this situation, his DAD and NOT his Papa Pete come to pick him and his friends up from school. This is not good and unexpected! He was hoping to talk to Papa Pete and get some advice for how to handle this situation. They all go to The Crunchy Pickle, and it's there that things get REALLY interesting (and funny!) Hank's mom discovers that report cards are due out and asks Hank for his. Hank pretends to look in his bookbag, and passes his report card off to one of his friends. The report card gets passed around like an unwanted Christmas fruitcake until Robert, a small, geeky kid, sticks the whole darned thing into a MEAT GRINDER! There it gets ripped into shreds and added to a soy salami mix that Hank's mother was working on. She was hoping that a local grocery store owner would like her new soy salami and want to buy some, but when Papa Pete takes one look at the nasty glop in the bowl (complete now with bits of report card) he says they should start over again. Hank is relieved because, at least for the weekend, he's gotten away with not having to produce his report card. He's sure something will occur to him to help fix the situation

1)In my book there is about a boy who cant spell very well but he wants to win the spelling Bee. Because The winner gets an A in spelling. His friend Asely won the spelling bee. Then he ends up with all D's in school. When they go to his mom's Deli his other friend put it in the meet grinder. Then the next day they took it to a very important buyer. So read the book and find out what happens. 2)I think this is an Exilent book Because it is very funny. Also because of the sispens you never know what is going to happen next. 3) There is some irony in my book because he sutdy's hard for the spelling bee but he misspells his first word. 4)I gave this book a five star rating becasue it was a wounder ful book. Also it is funny.

My son struggled to read, we had troubles finding books that interest him. He is on the last book the zippety zinger and has read all the other ones and just loves them all. Thanks Henry Winkler for the wonderful work that you have done. I recommend these books to all kids...

This book is hysterical. It helps to have read NIAGRA FALLS, OR DOES IT first, just for the sake of continuity in the story. The description of how the report card ends up in the meat grinder and the meeting of Cheerio the Dachsund and the big dog are hysterical. This book would make a great classroom read aloud for grades 2-5. I think that even the most reluctant of readers would be caught up in Hank's adventures and might even see some familiar traits. Winkler and Oliver vividly and realistically show the struggle that kids like Hank have each day in school. I know that Arthur Fonzarelli would find Hank Zipper to be a cool guy. Aaaay!