Student Book Review:


Of Mice and Men - classic

by: John Steinbeck


Review done by:

 Ben C.
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

My favorite classic from this year is Of Mice and Men . This book was about 118 pages long and was written by John Steinbeck. This book really gets you into the minds of the characters.
Of Mice and Men is about two friends Lennie and George. Lennie is a large man, who is slightly autistic. He loves to pet soft things. For example, he will pick up dead mice he finds and pet them. George is a small man, who is normal. George had been watching out for Lennie almost his whole life.
George and Lennie would work on ranches. When they came to a new ranch, they made many friends, and they made an enemy. The boss's son, whose name is Curley was their enemy. Curley is always picking fights around the barn. None of the workers liked Curley. Curley's co-workers said he would always win his fights, even if he lost them. What this means is that if he fought a small man, he would win. If he fought a big man and lost, people would say, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" to the big man. Curley had a special hatred towards Lennie for now obvious reason. He once started a fight with him!
Lennie was always getting in all sorts of trouble. They once had to leave a ranch they worked on because of him. There was a woman there, who had a soft dress. Lennie touched the dress and the woman started screaming. The screaming scared him. So, he just held the dress. When he finally let go, the woman ran away. Lennie and George had to hide in an irrigation ditch the whole day because the woman had told people, who were now looking for Lennie!
One day Curley's wife approached Lennie in the farm. They started talking. Then something terrible happened! If you want to know what happens after here, you'll have to read the book.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book to read. This book is easy, but you have to think in a mature way to be able to really understand the characters' thoughts. For example, you might find Lennie difficult to understand because he's autistic. His thoughts and dreams are different from normal peoples'. This book is short also, so if you need to read a book in a short amount of time then this book would be a good choice. Because this book is a classic, you might think it is too difficult, but it's not. It is a very simple book to read.
The reason I liked this book is because it lets you feel what the characters are feeling. At the end of the book Lennie has a dream. This dream let's you see what Lennie thinks about himself.
Other books written by John Steinbeck include The Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row. If you have read either of these books, you will probably like this one. Both these books are also classics.
As I said before, I highly recommended this book to anyone. I will make sure that I read other books by John Steinbeck.

Student Book Review:


Of Mice and Men - classic

by: John Steinbeck


Review done by:

 Kevin J.
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

Of Mice and Men is a great classic that I read this year. The book is an easy book to read. It's such a great book because the author showed a lot of thought and feeling of what the characters expressed. It takes place during the time of The Depression. So, if you're trying to look for an easy book, but enjoyable to read, this book is highly recommended by me.
This book is about two nice guys, Lennie and George, who travel together and work together. Lennie is slightly retarded. He looses his memory a lot. George will tell him something and, in a matter of minutes, Lennie forgets what George is saying. One time, George tells Lennie that they were going to work in a different place. About ten seconds later, Lennie asks the same question because he forgets.
George is Lennie's friend since they were kids. Lennie used to have been taken care of by his Aunt Clara. But then his Aunt Clara died. He has nobody to stay with. George lets him stay with him. At first, he is mean to Lennie. But Lennie forgets everything that happened, so he wouldn't get mad. One time George got out of hand. He tells Lennie to jump off a bridge just to show his friends that he is cool. Lennie does jump off the bridge, and he is drowning. Then George comes to save him and Lennie doesn't know what happened, so he thanks George. That's when George finally stops making fun of him.
So, the two friends travel everywhere. Because of Lennie, George looses out on a lot of jobs. Lennie often makes bad judgment calls, and it causes problems for both him and George. George never gets mad though. He might show his anger and start yelling at Lennie, telling him how much his life would be without him, but Lennie always says that he is sorry. But one time, Lennie makes a big mistake. George has nothing to do with it, but the pressure is on him. George makes a decision that he will regret forever. But in my opinion, he makes the right choice.
You'll have to read this book to find out what happens. This is a terrific and very stimulating book. I read this book in about three days. And I'm not a person who likes to read. I would rate this book a ten, with ten being the highest. Since this school year, I started reading a couple of classics. This classic is one the best, if not the best. So if your looking for an easy but exciting book, Of Mice and Men is a book that I highly recommend.

Student Book Review:


Of Mice and Men

by:John Steinbeck


Review done by:

 Kevin R
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

A great classic that I read is Of Mice and Men. This is a great book that shows how two people can be so close, and express their feelings to one another. This book is not hard at all, and I think any young adult in junior high, could read this novel. So, I definitely recommend this novel to you!
The two characters George and Lennie, are very close friends. But for some reason, George is always mean to Lennie. He says things like, "I wish you weren't here," and "I would be better off if you would just leave me alone." George and Lennie have only one dream in their minds. They wanted to buy a house, and have rabbits for pets. Lennie wanted to tend the rabbits. So they went to a ranch where they could earn some money. They worked in the fields, and they tended the animals. But, the only bad thing is that Lennie always would kill animals by accident. He didn't mean to. He just did because they would bite him. But, later on, something bad happened. He killed a little pup. Lennie was a big and gentle man. But he was very strong. He would always stand up for George when he was in trouble. He would always be by his side. Lennie loved animals, and he wanted to have a puppy for a pet. But, George wouldn't let him. Working on the ranch is a great experience for Lennie. I say this because he doesn't have many friends, and he could learn how to do things. For example, learn how to do field work, or even be more gentle with those pore animals. George is Lennie's best friend. And George has to take care of him because Lennie's Aunt died. It was hard for George to take care of Lennie but he managed. One night, Lennie went into the barn to see how the little puppies are doing. But he made a big mistake.
If you want to know what happens, you should definitely read Of Mice and Men . You will learn many things about life, and friends in this book. This was a very moving book, and it made my heart tingle. I hope it does the same for you.

Student Book Review:


Of Mice and Men -

classic

by: John Steinbeck


Review done by:

 Elisse Sliwinski
Grade 6
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

One book I read this year was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. It is a classic book which is full of sorrow and happiness. This story is about two men that are looking for a place to work so that they can fulfill their dream of buying a farm and becoming rich.
Lennie and George are two very different men. George is a responsible, aggressive, but small man. Lennie is large and strong, but acts like a child. Lennie and George are looking for a job. They finally find a job where they pack different types of grains. Lennie is like a hero because he is so strong and helps make the work for other men go faster. They make friends very fast. One of the first friends they made was Slim, a skinner in the factory. Curley, the boss's son, doesn't trust George or Lennie. Every day Curley's wife walked off and was no where to be found. Curley always thought that Slim might be with her because of his good looks. He would accuse Slim of doing things that he didn't do, because he never liked him. One night Lennie was out in the barn playing with his puppy, when Curley's wife came. Curley's wife was teasing Lennie, she told him to feel her hair because it was soft and Lennie liked soft things. Once she told him to stop Lennie started to panic, he didn't want to let go. Lennie's grip was so tight he had no idea if he should let go or just to keep holding on. By mistake Lennie pulled her hair and snapped her neck. Lennie ran away and everyone was looking for him because they knew that he had hurt her just by seeing her laying on the ground. Once they found him George told them to keep back and let him take care if it. The action, happiness, and sorrow of the book makes you not want to put it down.
Of Mice and Men was a great book for anyone who likes to read sad books. It is an easy book, but it is worth reading. This book teaches you about life itself, and that sometimes you have to do something that might not please you just to make others feel better.

Student Book Review:


Of Mice And Men

by: John Steinbeck


Review done by:

 S. Miller
Grade 6
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

Of Mice And Men was a novel about two men trying to get away from their old lives. In this novel, Lennie and George are hoping to find new work. George and Lennie are good friends who stick together throughout the book. Lennie seemed to get in a lot of trouble because he was slow and didn't learn easily, and the two were running away from their old lives.
Lennie got in a situation at his old work. He did something that was inappropriate, and George found that it was better for Lennie to leave. If he didn't, there could be danger! George is such good friends with Lennie that he decides to run away with him. That is how the novel starts.
While Lennie and George were at a new job, Lennie gets in more situations. The two friends try to cover up for the mistakes that Lennie makes. This sometimes happens but there is one situation that they can not hide. Lennie is in great danger after this situation is made. Lennie is forced to leave and like before, George goes with him.
I liked this book because it is full of suspense and danger. While reading this novel, I wondered what would happen next. Once I started reading this novel, I couldn't put it down until I was done. I would recommend this book to all young adults. This is not a hard book but It is very good.
Of Mice And Men was an excellent book and has a wonderful friendship involved in it. The characters in this book stuck together . If you want to find out the end of this book then read it. Whenever you are looking for a good book, and are not sure what to read, pick up Of Mice And Men and I am sure that you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Student Book Review:


Of Mice and Men

-

classic

by: John Steinbeck


Review done by:

 Taylor R
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

Of Mice and Men is a heart-warming tale about an unusual friendship between George and Lennie. This story takes place in the early 1900's in southern California.
George and Lennie have been friends ever since George was asked to take care of Lennie. Lennie is a person who has great physical strength but is not too smart. He needs someone to watch over him. Even though Lennie is strong, he would never hurt a fly. He also loves animals, especially rabbits. George is very different from Lennie. He seems to have a darker personality and is not as happy. He sometimes uses Lennie and doesn't treat him that well. George and Lennie have a very large dream that they have had for many years. The wish is that someday they will have a farm by themselves where no one can boss them around. They will have lots of animals and a big house. If they are ever feeling sad, they talk about how wonderful it will be.
In the beginning, you find that Lennie and George were fired from their job and tried to go get a job at a farm in Southern California. They went there, got the job, and started right away. At the farm they have to share a bunk house with many people. They seem to get along with everyone except a man named Curly. Curly works there too, but has a higher rank than George and Lennie. Right away, before he even got to know George and Lennie, Curly had something against them. He was always trying to start trouble, which George and Lennie didn't understand. Lennie always tries to be friends with everyone. So, when Curly acted that way, he felt hurt and didn't know what to do.
This story is a great tale of the ups and downs of friendship. John Steinbeck does a great job of making you really understand the way life is with George and Lennie. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good book.

Student Book Review:


Of Mice and Men - classic

by: John Steinbeck

Review done by:

 Anjuli
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

One of my favorite books I read this year was Of Mice and Men . This book was a moving novel that touched the heart. It is about every man's desire to own land in the early 1900's.
Of Mice and Men tells about two men who travel together. One is named George and the other is named Lenny. Lenny is mentally retarded and before he met George, lived with his aunt. Before his aunt died, George promised her he would take care of Lenny. Taking care of Lenny is no picnic though. He is extremely strong and many times his strength gets him into trouble.
Once you hear about Lenny, you will probably jump to the conclusion that he is not very nice. This is not the case at all! Lenny is just like a little child. He is very sweet and he loves animals. On many occasions, he takes a mouse in his hand and pets it. Unfortunately he doesn't know his own strength and he squeezes the mouse too hard. This is just one example of where his strength gets him or someone else into trouble.
After they are fired from a job in Weed, California, George and Lenny apply and receive a job on a ranch near Weed. Their troubles do not end there. They meet the boss's son, Curly. For some reason, Curly starts to pick on Lenny. George knows that if Lenny looses his temper with Curly, they can kiss their jobs goodbye. As if they do not have enough troubles, along comes Curly's wife. She causes prolbems, especially with Lennie. Lennie makes some choices that cause problems. If Curly found out, George and Lenny's jobs could be in jeopardy.
This book was extremely intriguing. You never knew what would happen next. Of Mice and Men 's 118 pages of excitement, grief, and much more, exceeded that of any other book I have read. I would highly recommend it to someone who would like to read a challenging book about love, hate, and everything in between.

Student Book Review:


Of Mice and Men - classic

by: John Steinbeck


Review done by:

 Jamie Lee N.
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

This year I read the classic Of Mice and Men. It is a great novel by John Steinbeck. This story takes place in the early 1900's. This novel is about a guy named Lenny. Lenny is a really strange guy. He has a sickness that he can't get help with. He has a good friend named George. George takes care of Lenny. During the story George is very nice to Lenny and he treats him with respect, that is another reason why I like this story.
Lenny really likes soft furry objects. In the beginning of the novel Lenny does something horrible and illegal to a girl. So George has to bring Lenny to a place where it would be safer for them to live. So they moved to a farm. Lenny is really strong and he did a lot of the yard work to earn them money. George is really smart and he figured out what to do with the money.
During the novel Lenny and George meet nice and mean people. A really nice guy that they meet is Candy. Candy is the nicest person to Lenny and he respected him. Curly is very mean to Lenny and he does not respect Lenny. Lenny doesn't know why Curly is mean to him and he is confused. He didn't do anything to Curly until one day when Curly's wife is accompanying Lenny and Lenny does something terrible to her. Curly is very very angry at Lenny. So Curly reported him to the police and now Lenny is in big trouble.
I really liked this book because I learned about different disabilities. I read that there really was something as true friendship but you just need to find the right person, like how Lenny found George. I would recommend this novel to people who like to read short and good books. I would also recommend this novel to people that enjoy reading novels that are very good worded. I think John Steinbeck is a very good writer. In this book he shows that because of the words he used.

Student Book Review:


Of Mice and Men -classic

by: John Steinback


Review done by:

 Billy Vacca
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

The classic, Of Mice and Men , is a wonderful and compelling novel by John Steinback. It is about two men that try to reach for their dreams. They spend most of their adult hood trying to accomplish their dream. Their dream was to live in their own house and raise their own farm instead of always working on one.
The two young adults (Lenny and George) tried to accomplish their goal by going from ranch to ranch trying to get money to buy a house. The problem with their plan is that Lenny always gets himself and George kicked out. Lenny is mentally retarded and screws things up. He looks like a full grown man but he asks like a child.
George is like a father to Lenny. He takes care of him and watches over him. George sticks up for him and he even gets Lenny out of trouble. The only problem with George is his attitude. When George gets angry, he really gets angry. He says things that he doesn't mean to say. When George says those things to Lenny, Lenny takes his words the wrong way. An example is if George says be quiet, Lenny might not all to George for days because he told him to be quiet.
This is my favorite book because of the quality of this writing. I don't really see this kind of good English in a while. I also like how the author made the kind of events that happened to Lenny and George. I don't think that there would any way to change the novel to make it better.
I would recommend this book to people in grade 6 and up. Of Mice and Men isn't a very hard book to read. It also isn't very long. Adults that haven't read this book should because the plot of the story is very well written. Otherwise, I give it two thumbs up!

Of Mice and Men -classic

by: John Steinback


Review done by:

 Billy Vacca
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

The classic, Of Mice and Men , is a wonderful and compelling novel by John Steinback. It is about two men that try to reach for their dreams. They spend most of their adult hood trying to accomplish their dream. Their dream was to live in their own house and raise their own farm instead of always working on one.
The two young adults (Lenny and George) tried to accomplish their goal by going from ranch to ranch trying to get money to buy a house. The problem with their plan is that Lenny always gets himself and George kicked out. Lenny is mentally retarded and screws things up. He looks like a full grown man but he asks like a child.
George is like a father to Lenny. He takes care of him and watches over him. George sticks up for him and he even gets Lenny out of trouble. The only problem with George is his attitude. When George gets angry, he really gets angry. He says things that he doesn't mean to say. When George says those things to Lenny, Lenny takes his words the wrong way. An example is if George says be quiet, Lenny might not all to George for days because he told him to be quiet.
This is my favorite book because of the quality of this writing. I don't really see this kind of good English in a while. I also like how the author made the kind of events that happened to Lenny and George. I don't think that there would any way to change the novel to make it better.
I would recommend this book to people in grade 6 and up. Of Mice and Men isn't a very hard book to read. It also isn't very long. Adults that haven't read this book should because the plot of the story is very well written. Otherwise, I give it two thumbs up!

Student Book Review:


Of Mice and Men - classic

by: John Steinbeck


Review done by:

 Jamie Lee N.
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

This year I read the classic Of Mice and Men. It is a great novel by John Steinbeck. This story takes place in the early 1900's. This novel is about a guy named Lenny. Lenny is a really strange guy. He has a sickness that he can't get help with. He has a good friend named George. George takes care of Lenny. During the story George is very nice to Lenny and he treats him with respect, that is another reason why I like this story.
Lenny really likes soft furry objects. In the beginning of the novel Lenny does something horrible and illegal to a girl. So George has to bring Lenny to a place where it would be safer for them to live. So they moved to a farm. Lenny is really strong and he did a lot of the yard work to earn them money. George is really smart and he figured out what to do with the money.
During the novel Lenny and George meet nice and mean people. A really nice guy that they meet is Candy. Candy is the nicest person to Lenny and he respected him. Curly is very mean to Lenny and he does not respect Lenny. Lenny doesn't know why Curly is mean to him and he is confused. He didn't do anything to Curly until one day when Curly's wife is accompanying Lenny and Lenny does something terrible to her. Curly is very very angry at Lenny. So Curly reported him to the police and now Lenny is in big trouble.
I really liked this book because I learned about different disabilities. I read that there really was something as true friendship but you just need to find the right person, like how Lenny found George. I would recommend this novel to people who like to read short and good books. I would also recommend this novel to people that enjoy reading novels that are very good worded. I think John Steinbeck is a very good writer. In this book he shows that because of the words he used.

Of Mice and Men

by: John Steinback


Review done by:

 Zachary Kelly
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

Of Mice and Men is a classic tale about two men named Lennie and George. Lennie and George are two friends who do everything together. Lennie is a huge guy who is very strong but has the brains of a three year old. George on the other hand is the person who watches over Lennie like a father. Whenever Lennie gets himself in trouble, George has to get him out of it. George and Lennie go to work on a ranch to earn money for the dream home they want to buy. What they don't know is that something terrible is going to happen. Right when they arrive, a man named Curley tries to start a fight with Lennie but Lennie got scared and walked away. Lennie and George meet a man named Candy who agrees to split the cost of Lennie and George's dream home. In one month, they will have enough money to buy it if nothing goes wrong. Curley also has a dog who had just had puppies and since he knew Lennie liked soft things he promised to give him one when they were matured. Lennie played with the puppy every day and waited for the time when it would be his.
One day Lennie was walking around in the barn were they slept and Curley the man who was very mean to Lennie started pushing him around. Lennie got very scared because he tasted blood in his mouth. At that moment, George walked into the room and told Lennie to fight back. Lennie did not know what that meant so he grabbed Curley's hand and squeezed as hard as he could. When he let go, Curley was screaming in pain with his hand all crippled. Curley would not mess with Lennie again. After that Lennie went back to visit the puppies. One of the puppies tried to bight Lennie so Lennie squeezed its head and because Lennie did not know his own strength he killed it. At that moment Curley's wife walked into the room and saw the puppy lying on the ground dead. She asked Lennie what happened and Lennie told her he liked to feel soft things and he felt the puppy to hard and killed it. Curley's wife told Lennie to feel her hair because it was so soft. When Lennie felt her hair she began to scream because Lennie was really pulling it. Lennie was scared because he did not like screaming so he put his hand on her neck and twisted. When she fell to the ground dead he started running. When Curley found his wife dead on the ground he put together a search party to kill Lennie. To find out what happens you will have to read the book.

I would definently recommend the book Of Mice and Men to anyone who likes to read classics. I read a lot of classics and this was one of my favorites so you should read it too.

Of Mice and Men

classic

by: John Steinbeck


Review done by:

Peter Plakas
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

The book, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a classic and an enjoyable novel that you won't want to put down for one moment. This is also a book of easy reading, so if you like to read and don't want a difficult book, look for this one.
The story is about two men, Lennie and George, who are always looking for jobs. The story was very exciting, tragic, and suspenseful. Lennie was a person who always wanted what he saw. George, Lennie's companion, was irritated by some of the things that Lennie did. One of Lennie's problems was that he loved things with fur, such as dogs, and mice. If Lennie found a mouse or something like that, he would keep it as a pet. Most of the time he would end up killing it because he rubbed it too hard. Lennie was retarded and he didn't realize what he was doing. George was a quiet guy except when he got angry. Many times George got frustrated with Lennie. When George and Lennie found jobs they usually stayed there for two to three months. Then they would most likely get fired because Lennie would do something ridiculous.
At one job that Lennie and George were working at, Lennie liked a girl who was the wife of Curley. one of the bosses. He was really strict. Lennie was told by George to stay away from her. He did but she wouldn't stay away from him. Whenever Curlie's wife got the chance, she would talk to Lennie. Lennie and Curlie's wife had never become best of friends.
George hated situations such as this. One obstacle Lennie had to overcome was that he love for fur. One way Lennie could defeat his love was that George gave him a puppy and he thought that if the puppy died he would forget his love for fur. George thought it would work but he was wrong. George had told Lennie that one day they would own a house of there own. George had also told him that they would have rabbits and all Lennie cared about was the rabbits and George hated that about Lennie.
Lennie and George never did get there dream but George had got one
his. Lennie hadn't ever got what he wanted he just got in trouble.
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