Review of “The Landry News,” by Andrew Clement
“The Landry News,” by Andrew Clement, is a meaningful novel about the effects of a young girl’s newspaper project, first on her class, and finally on her entire school.
In every school that Cara Landry goes to she starts her newspaper: The Landry News. Reporting is something that she loves to do. Unfortunately, Cara always seems to get in trouble because of her newspapers, which are known for scathing editorials written by Cara herself. Sometimes she jumps to wrong conclusions and reports incorrectly. Other times she gets ahead of herself and makes false accusations. At any rate, The Landry News always seems to end with Cara in the principal’s office trying to explain herself.
When Cara and mother move yet again, Cara has chance to start over at a new school. Unfortunately, Cara ends up in the class of Mr. Larson, a teacher know for drinking coffee and reading the newspaper rather than teaching his students. Bored with the lack of real teaching Cara starts writing The Landry News.
At first it seems that Cara’s newspaper is just going to be another trouble point in her school career, but the results end up quite different from what she had originally expected. As her newspaper grows it revitalizes Mr. Larson and the whole fifth-grade class, motivating them to work harder. Soon the children are all involved in the writing for the newspaper and handling layout and printing. It appears that The Landry News is exactly what Mr. Larson and his class needed.
When the principal reads a copy of Cara’s newspaper, though, he sees an opportunity to accomplish a long term goal: fire Mr. Larson. The principal uses the content of the paper to threaten Mr. Larson’s career, and the class must stand together to help protect their teacher’s job.
“The Landry News” explores the first amendment right of free speech. Andrew Clements does an excellent job with his characters. Each of them is lifelike, with interesting personalities and hidden details. In addition, the book’s theme is inspiring, and its plot satisfying.
“The Landry News” is a truly wonderful book that I recommend to all school age children.
Books For Sale Rating:
PlotCharactersPresentationOverall