There are so many ways that a boy like Bradley Chalkers can humiliate himself at school. Most of them are explored by the hero of There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, a story of isolation, bravery and gradual acceptance told with great humour by Louis Sachar, the author of the brilliant Holes.

Bradley is the only one in Mrs Ebbels class without a gold star next to his name on the wall chart. He doesn't have any friends and that's the way he likes it. Nobody wants to sit next to him at the back of the class, until Jeff Fishkin starts school. At the same time Carla, the new school counsellor shows Bradley that with a huge amount of courage and a bit of self-belief he can break the repetitive cycle of heartbreaking rejection by his peers, disappointment from family and weary indifference from teachers.

Bradley has a long road to travel with the help of his new friends but the resultant changes aren't pious or predictable but slow, painful and humorous. The witty, thoughtful exchanges between Bradley and Carla are exceptionally well written and the slow and delicate process of building trust is completely believable. A touching, warm and funny tale with no saccachrine aftertaste. --Rachel Ediss

I read this book with my Year five class and we LOVED it!!
Bradley Chalkers was an island, he sat at the back of the class, last seat, last row. He meets a new school councillor and from there the story shows us how he learns to make friends, communicate and behave well. He even tries to get a gold star from Mrs Ebbel! We see two sides to Bradley, at school he's a bully, at home he has a caring fantasy world made up of toy animals. One of my class really enjoyed playing "one potato, two potato.." after reading it on one of Bradley's lists.
I won't give too much away needless to say it left us in tears!
Go on read it we know you'll enjoy it as much as we did.

Our English teacher has been reading us this book for the past month and I am totally inspired by it. Louis Sachar is an exellent writer and I adore his books. I must say that this is probobly the best book I have ever read!! I recommend it for ages of 8-12. I am trying to convince my parents to buy it for me for Christmas. I hope you have found my rewiew helpful and if you buy the book (which I'm most certain you will) I hope you enjoy it.

I bought this book to teach my Y4/5 children as it is recommended on the Renewed Framwork as an exemplified unit. The story itself is concerned with Bradley Chalker, a boy who is universally disliked in school because he's a bully. He sits alone at the back of the class - last seat, last row. He begins to see a new counselor called Carla Davis and they begin to strike up a close friendship. Bradley wishes to change people's perception of him and begin to try hard and succeed in school instead of always getting an 'F' in his tests.

My children are absolutely loving the story as we're about half-way through, it's such a universal thread that all can refer back to as it deals with childhood and life in school. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This is simply, a sweet book. It's quirky narrative and interesting main character, Bradley is compelling although not in a way you might think. The indirect way of telling you what is happenning means that you can see things from a different perspective and finally the plot is uncomplicated but relevant and begs us to ask, what makes a bully a bully? This will be a fantastic read for any 8-12 year olds.

WOW! this book is brill, if you are in two minds, there is no need to be- its worth it! this was the second book i read of Louis Sacher's after reading the also amazing holes and have gone on to read as many of his books i can get hold of. As you read the book you fall in love with bradley and at times it becomes a bit of a tearjerker! I also loved reading the various techniques of the counceller- brill!
buy it!