I'm not too sure u understood the point of this book. The kid, Sam, loses his grandfather in some kind of way. EH wake up one morning to find he is himself but he looks like his grandfather. The doctors say he has some sort of skin diseases, so he looks old. HE goes to school and all the kids tease him. He eventually feels lonely and tries to run away. He ends up riding a skateboard in the park and people cheer on what they assume is an old man riding a skateboard. Sam goes home and accepts that he cannot change who he is. When he wakes up the next morning, he's himself again. I feel the way the book was old did not do a good job on what the message as supposed to be. ( )

Impulse grab from the library. Not sure I get it the point. I mean, yes, people do judge based on appearances, but gosh, if you have wrinkles and gray hair you're *probably* old, and *probably* frail - so ok, people are going to react to you based on those expectations. Deal. ( )

The boy in this story gets a taste for what it's like to look like an older person, though he still interacts with his classmates (who shun him). The puzzling thing is that the boy's parents are stand-offish too. Wierd things happen in dreams, though, right?

The Allen Say illustrations are fascinating as usual. I keep going between 2 and 3 stars on this one. ( )

This book deals with the often neglected subject of agism, though I have to say that it didn't really resolve the issue at the end. The main character just seemed to recover and respected his grandfather a little more for the experience. Everyone else didn't change their attitude, only Sam whose initial opinions you're never really clear about anyway. For all we know, he might not have had any real issue to begin with. It's beautifully illustrated, as are all of Allen Say's books, but I kind of wanted more resolution from the ending or at least a clearer statement on the wrongness of treating the elderly like inferior beings. I guess it could open the conversation on agism, but it leaves it to readers to draw a conclusion of their own as to the wrongness of agism in general. ( )

When young Sam wakes up looking like an elderly man, the people around him treat him very differently because of his appearance. Inside he still feels like the same skateboard-riding Sam and he comes to accept this strange transformation before waking up as himself the next morning. The mysterious story will have readers asking questions and learning about compassion for others. The paintings accurately portray the emotions of the characters.

Recommended for ages 8-12. ( )