The Shadow Club

I have been reading the Shadow Club to my 7th graders for more than 10 years. The humor, especially in the character of Ralphy Sherman, keeps the class listening. The suspense builds to the point that I have students begging me not to stop reading. Many students tried to buy the book because they just couldn't wait for me to finish reading. I was happy for a few years that it was out of print, so they couldn't find it to read ahead of me. There are many lessons that apply directly to children of middle school age, and my favorite is looking at how the students laughed at Tyson McGaw at the beginning, but feel for him at the end of the book. Hopefully they will look closer at individuals and not make fun of them because they are different. I have never had a student who didn't like this book and it is the only one that I have read that when I finish, the students applaud.

Meet the second-bests: a group of kids who, although they have one thing they're best at, still get beat daily by the "unbeatables." Although these kids are good kids, well-behaved, smart, athletic, interesting, their lives are being ruined by those who always seem to be one step ahead, stealing the limelight and rubbing it in until you just wish they'd never been born. Thus is the basis for THE SHADOW CLUB, a secret group of seven kids who decided to get back at those who make their lives miserable by playing harmless pranks on them--pranks that will embarass them before their admirers, and give the second-besters their just due. Except revenge, as revenge always seems to do, comes back to bite you in the butt. Pranks start getting out of control, even though they're not being comitted by the Shadow Club members. Someone's out to sabotage their club, and one of the "unbeatables" could wind up getting seriously hurt--even killed. As the Club seeks to get the biggest loser in school, Tyson McGaw, to confess to the pranks, the Shadow Club comes to realize that they might not be the all-around good kids that they thought they were. What started out as fun is turning into something darker, and no one seems to know how to make it stop. THE SHADOW CLUB is a great read by Neal Shusterman. Dealing with human nature, the fact that kids can traumatize each other more than anyone else can, and the fact that we all have anger inside of us is forefront in the story. A great read!

I can really picture this book in real life. Even though I'm only 10. The things the characters do and say teach you that you have to be very careful before you say or do something. I thought that this was a very realistic book. This book is set in a highschool and there are the number ones who get all the glory and the number twos who hate the number ones. All these number twos get together and form the shadow club where they play tricks on the number ones. But then tricks happen that the club didn't do. Who did them? Why? Read the Shadow Club to find out.

I have recntly had the Shadow Club read to me by my 6th grade teacher. I believe this book is wonderful. It is incredibly intersting and i garauntee anyone from 9-13 will love this book. It also has a great moral, and teaches a valuable lesson. Trust Me, This book is excellent read it!!

This story is about seven kids that are second best at everything. They started a club. At first it was just pranks, but then somebody started framing them. Now it wasn't a joke at all, people were getting hurt. The members of the club were wondering who was pulling the pranks, and when one of the members did...........