Summary

Big Nate in a Class by Himself is the first book in the Big Nate series of funny illustrated middle grade novels by cartoonist and author Lincoln Peirce. Nate Wright is a small 11-year-old sixth grader who has big ideas. In fact, he says, “I’m meant for better things. I am…DESTINED FOR GREATNESS!”  Big Nate is an appealing character whose trials and tribulations are both funny and ones kids can relate to.


In Big Nate in a Class by Himself, Nate’s day, which starts out terribly, improves when he receives a special fortune cookie fortune. However, things work out exactly the opposite of what he’s waiting for ... or do they? I recommend this book and the others in the series for ages 8 to 12.

Format

The book’s format is a major part of its charm. While the story is Nate’s first person account of his school day, every page also includes cartoonist Peirce’s illustrations, which add to the humor of the story. In addition, on the endpapers and interspersed here and there throughout the book are comic strips and other drawings by11-year-old Nate.

The words and pictures work together to create an amusing story with lots of action. This type of format can be particularly appealing to reluctant readers, even young teens, who don’t do well with books that are full of pages dense with words.

The Main Characters

Since most of the action takes place at Nate’s school, his father and 15-year-old sister, Ellen, play minor parts in the book, although Nate is quick to point out how annoying it is to have a sister who is a teenager and who is always held up by teachers as an example of how Nate should behave.

Big Nate has two close friends, Francis and Tommy, and takes his friendships seriously. While classmate Artur is not a friend, he is also not exactly an enemy. It’s just that “Mr. Perfect,” as Nate calls Artur, is better at a lot of things than Nate and is the boyfriend of the unattainable (at least for Nate) Jenny, the girl Nate likes more than any other. Nate doesn’t like his classmate, Gina, who among other things, “sucks up” to their homeroom and social studies teacher, Mrs. Godfrey, whom Nate detests.

According to Lincoln Peirce, there are good reasons for Nate’s dislike of Mrs. Godfrey, “She’s the embodiment of everything a sixth grade boy like Nate objects to in a teacher. She’s loud, she’s erratic, and worst of all, she’s unfair. She clearly favors some students (like Gina) over others (like Nate). For a kid, that’s an unforgivable sin.” (Source: GeekDad interview, 3/3/15)

The Story

Sixth grader Nate Wright has his own grades for school days at P.S. 38, with Field Trip Days getting an A+, Special Events Days, a B; Substitute Teacher Days, a C-; Normal Days, a D; and Train Wreck Days, when any number of different things go wrong, an F.

Nate’s day starts as a Train Wreck Day when he mistakenly believes there’s going to be a social studies test. He’s not prepared, and the detestable Mrs. Godfrey, his teacher, has threatened him with summer school if he doesn’t get better grades on his next test. Although it turns out there’s not a test, several other things go wrong.

Among other thing, Nate forgets his lunch. When his friend Teddy gives him a fortune cookie with a fortune that promises, “Today you will surpass all others,” Nate is ready for good things to happen. You might call Big Nate in a Class by Himself “A Day in the Life of Big Nate” because it’s the story of one school day, one good fortune, great expectations, great disappointments and a lot of detention slips.

How thing go from bad to good to worse to fantastic will keep readers laughing as Nate goes from class to class creating his own kind of chaos throughout the day. When Nate ends up in detention, an amazing discovery completely changes his perspective on what kind of day it’s been.

Lincoln Peirce, Big Nate’s Creator

Lincoln Peirce has been drawing and writing about Big Nate for more than 20 years, starting with his “Big Nate” newspaper comic strip. Big Nate in a Class by Himself is his first middle school novel as well as the first book in his series of Big Nate novels.

Lincoln Peirce has stated a number of times that he writes about middle school because of his own vivid memories of that time of transition in his own life. For more about his life and work, read my article 10 Things You Should Know About Big Nate’s Creator Lincoln Peirce.

My Recommendation

I recommend Big Nate in a Class by Himself for boys and girls 8 to 12 year olds. Kids who enjoy humorous school stories, particularly stories with equally humorous illustrations, will be delighted with the first book in the Big Nate series and eager to read more novels about Nate, his friends and middle school. 

Nate is an appealing character. The story is cohesive and fun to follow as Big Nate continually fails in his efforts to ensure his fortune comes true.  However, the book ends with Nate adjusting his view of what it means to “surpass all others,” which enables him to move from seeing himself as a failure to being full of joy that he's a record-breaking success.

Other Recommended Funny Books

If you are looking for other funny books that include lots of comic illustrations, I recommend the Star Wars Jedi Academy series and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Other humorous illustrated books that I like include the Origami Yoda series, which starts with The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, plus Timothy Failure: Mistakes Were Made and the other books in that series.

For an annotated directory of recommended books, with and without illustrations, that feature boys and humor, see Funny Boys! Books for Fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.