Cheating cover

Cheating

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Chapters
13
Series
Clements School Stories
ISBN
9787530959558

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Summary

Natalie is a twelve-year-old sixth grader who has written a novel, and she thinks it's really good. Her best friend Zoe is convinced the book deserves to be published, but here's the problem: at the age of a girl who has just finished elementary school, which publisher would sign her and treat her as a real author? So the two children come up with a "cheating" scheme: Natalie takes an adult pen name and hides her true age, while Zoe appoints herself her agent, handling publishers and editors on her behalf. Just like that, two sixth graders stumble into the adult-run world of publishing—negotiating contracts, fielding editors' questions, attending meetings, and trying not to let their identities slip. With a light, humorous touch, Clements writes about the two children maneuvering between lies and sincerity: what began as a "cheat" simply to get a good work seen gradually turns into consequences they must bear themselves. It is both a school comedy about the dream of publishing a book and a quiet question: when rules and passion collide, what will a child choose?

Editor's review

克莱门斯是那种能把学校生活写得活灵活现的作家,《纽约时报书评》称“当代作家无人能出其右”。《作弊》延续了他一贯的巧思:一个听起来荒唐、细想起来却合情合理的点子——孩子为了让自己写的小说被出版,假装成大人。故事里没有说教式的道德审判,而是把孩子放进真实的大人世界,让他们自己去撞、去谈、去承担。情节节奏快,悬念足够,读起来一路轻松;读完之后,孩子大概会开始想“什么叫作弊”“为什么规则重要”,而大人也会重新记起:孩子对一件真正热爱的事,能认真到什么程度。适合放在班级书架上,也适合亲子共读后聊一聊。

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • 9—14 岁、喜欢校园故事和幽默小说的孩子
  • 对写作、出书、当“小作家”有憧憬的学生
  • 想找一本轻松又带点思辨的共读书的家长与老师
  • 喜欢克莱门斯《我们叫它粉灵豆》系列作品的读者

Not a good fit for

  • 希望阅读严肃社会议题深度剖析的成年读者
  • 偏好冒险、奇幻、科幻等强情节类型的读者
  • 年龄较小的低年级儿童,部分出版行业情节理解门槛偏高

Reading tips

  1. 可以先聊聊“作弊”这个词:考试作弊和故事里的“伪装身份”有什么不同。
  2. 读到娜塔莉与编辑打交道时,停一停,让孩子猜猜身份会不会穿帮。
  3. 读完后一起讨论:如果换成你,会不会也这样做?代价是什么?

About the publisher

Tianjin Education Press China · Founded in 1983

Tianjin Education Press is a Chinese publisher focused mainly on educational publishing; publicly available information about it is limited. Judging from the fifteen titles in the collection, its output also spans essays and miscellaneous works, foreign literature, general biography, Western philosophy, and inspirational growth. These include classic translations such as Prishvin's The Water Droplets in the Forest, Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and Helen Keller's Three Days to See (new edition), as well as nature writing like A Sand County Almanac and The Forest Unseen, and intellectual and cultural works such as Baltasar Gracián's The Art of Worldly Wisdom (published as Persuasion). Its contributors include Prishvin, Carroll, Keller, and Gracián, along with translators and authors such as Mu Zi, Li Hanzhao, Guo Danni, and Zhou Haibin. Overall, it presents a publishing profile characterized by classic translations and nature- and education-related reading.

Contents

  1. Top Fan
  2. Writing Expert
  3. The Mysterious Man
  4. City Kid
  5. The Plan Takes Shape
  6. The Test of Reality
  7. The Big Lesson of Publishing
  8. The Smooth Talker
  9. The Agent
  10. The Adult Dragged In
  11. Welcome to the Club
  12. Time to Quit?
  13. Open for Business

FAQ

《作弊》是讲考试作弊吗?
不是。书里的“作弊”指的是十二岁的娜塔莉用成年人笔名出版自己的小说、由好友佐伊假扮经纪人,并不是考场作弊。故事聚焦在两个孩子进入成人出版世界后的种种周折与选择。
这本书适合几年级的孩子读?
大致适合小学中高年级到初一,约九至十四岁。篇幅不长、语言轻松,但涉及出版合同、经纪人等成人世界的内容,低年级孩子可能需要家长陪同解释。
和克莱门斯的其他作品有关联吗?
本书属于“克莱门斯校园小说”系列,与《我们叫它粉灵豆》《成绩单》等同属一个书系,人物与情节各自独立,可从任意一本开始读,不必按顺序。
译者是谁?
中文版由周怡伶翻译,她生于中国台北,曾于约克大学就读社会研究所,译有《地球急诊室》等作品。大陆版由天津教育出版社出版。

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