Big Nate: In a Class by Himself

Big Nate: In a Class by Himself
Author Lincoln Peirce
Series Big Nate
Genre Fiction
Publisher HarperCollins
Publication date
March 23, 2010
Media type Print (Paperback and Hardcover)
Pages 224
ISBN 0061944343
LC Class PZ7.P361Bi 2010
Followed by Big Nate: Strikes Again

Big Nate: In a Class by Himself (referred to as Big Nate: The Boy with the Biggest Head in the World in the United Kingdom) is a children's fiction novel based on the Big Nate comic strip, written and illustrated by American cartoonist Lincoln Peirce. It is the first of the Big Nate novel series, followed by Big Nate Strikes Again. It was published on March 23, 2010 by HarperCollins and was nominated in 2011 for a Children's Choice Book Award by the Children's Book Council.[1]

Plot

Sixth grader Nate Wright is dreaming when he wakes up to another ordinary morning of his life: breakfast of lumpy raisin oatmeal, his annoying older sister Ellen, and school. Believing that there will be a test that day, Nate becomes afraid of failing and having to attend summer school. Nate attempts to forge an excuse note, only to be caught by his best friend Francis. Nate confesses to the forgery, to which Francis replies that there was no test scheduled for that day. At school Nate's second best friend Teddy gives Nate some General Tso's chicken, Spare ribs, eggs and a fortune cookie at lunch ,by which the fortune cookie tells him "TODAY YOU WILL SURPASS ALL OTHERS". Despite previously not believing in fortune cookies, Nate chooses to believe what the fortune claims. The school day starts off with Social Studies, in which Nate makes up insulting names about Mrs. Godfrey, in which he is caught by the teacher whom he insulted. In English, Nate yells at his nemesis Gina for publicly humiliating him for writing a love letter to his crush, Jenny, and is caught by Mrs. Clarke. During Mr. Rosa's art class, Nate sees that his rival Artur's picture has received the spotlight instead of his own picture, causing Nate to attempt to convince Mr. Rosa to place his (Nate's) picture in the spotlight instead. When Mr. Rosa refuses, Nate attempts to swap the pictures himself, only to get caught by Mr. Rosa and get his third detention slip of the day. After that, Nate attempts to gain attention in the cafeteria by eating 45 slices of pizza in ten minutes, only to discover that pizza is not being served in the cafeteria that day. Instead Nate is encouraged to eat 148 servings of green beans, one of Nate's least favorite foods. The record setting is cut short when Principal Nichols notices the commotion and yells at Nate to clean the mess. Principal Nichols ends up slipping in a puddle of juice, causing him to give Nate both a lecture and his fourth detention slip of the day. As a result Nate ends up being late for PE. Nate attempts to wash the bean taste out of his mouth, only for water to spill onto his gym clothes, making it appear as if he'd wet himself. Unable to find any other gym shorts, Nate grabs a pair of large shorts, which ends up belonging to the substitute gym teacher, Coach John. Because of this, Nate is forced by Coach John to run sprints and is given yet another detention slip. In Math, Mr. Staples assigns a pop quiz, which Nate appears to just barely have finished in time. After time is up, Nate discovers that the quiz was double sided and that he'd only done the front side. Nate attempts to finish the back of the quiz, only to get caught by Mr. Staples. Both parties tug on the quiz paper, only for it to rip and cause Nate to receive a detention slip from Mr. Staples. During Science, Nate attempts to get Mr. Galvin to laugh using several pranks, only for his pen to get confiscated. When the pen stains Mr. Galvin's shirt, Nate ends up laughing hysterically, prompting Mr. Galvin to give Nate a detention slip. At the end of the day Nate has to report to detention, only for Ms. Czerwicki to inform Nate that he has "surpassed all others" in having the most detention slips. Upon realizing that his fortune had "come true", Nate becomes happy and vain therefore leading to writing on his desk signs "NATE WRIGHT, SCHOOL RECORD HOLDER", disrespecting the "no writing on desks" rule.

Characters

Reception

Booklist and Publishers Weekly praised Big Nate: In a Class by Himself,[2] with Publishers Weekly calling the character of Nate "sharp-witted and unflappable".[3] Kirkus Reviews recommended the book as a read for "fans of Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid", stating that Pierce "skillfully and often hilariously imports his comic-strip character into a full-length story."[4] The School Library Journal also gave the book a positive review, stating that "Kids will love Nate and all the trouble he gets into" and recommending it as a way to entice children into reading.[5][6]

References

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