There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

Sachar, L. (1987). There's a boy in the girls' bathroom. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

-Texas Blubonnet Award, 1990

          Bradley Chalkers is the main character in this book.  He is considered a bully and just plain bad.  No one likes him. He has no friends, and up until now, he has relied on his toy animals to play with. 

          Bradley’s behavior keeps everyone at a distance.  There’s a new kid in town however.  As much as the new kid (Jeff) tries, Bradley gives him a hard time not being able to accept the fact that Jeff wants to be friends.

          A new counselor (Carla) has come to Bradley’s school.  Bradley thinks she’s weird at first, but ends up liking her just fine.   He begins to make an effort at school, but thinks that no matter what, he will not get a gold star on that chart. She begins to motivate him, tell him how smart he is, and how good he can be.  Unfortunately, parents eventually disagree with the counselor’s practices, and she gets transferred.  Just as he was making a change for the better, Bradley is devastated, but the counselor is confident that Bradley will continue along the right path to success in all areas, and he does. 

          The main character is in constant conflict with many of the other characters in the story. It is not until he accepts change that things begin to change in his relationships with others. Personification could be seen as he played out scenes with his two animal figures.  This was who he played with.  He liked them, and they liked him.