Van
Draanen, W. (2004). Shredderman: Secret identity. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf.
Shredderman: Secret Identity, by Wendelin Van Draanen,
is a children’s realistic fiction chapter book about a fifth-grade boy, Nolan,
who creates a secret identity to stop the mean school bully, Bubba. In the beginning of this progressive plot, we
learn about the background. Bubba, the
antagonist of the story, is described as having “rocky knuckles” (pg. 1) and
“killer breath” (pg. 1). He is also
known to lie, cheat, steal, and give his peers mean names (pg. 4-5). Nolan is the protagonist and is described as
having a sloppy appearance. His hair
“has a life of its own” (pg. 27) and his dad reminds him that his socks go
inside his pants (pg. 27). There are two
different types of conflict that occur throughout the plot. The person-against-person conflict develops
at school where Bubba, his friends, and Freddy all pick on Nolan. They call him “Nerd”, which is the name Bubba
created for him. Nolan struggles with
the person-again-person conflict because he is not confident in himself enough
to stand up against Bubba. When Nolan’s
“Happy Hippie” teacher, Mr. Green, writes the words “Nolan—You shred, man! Awesome!” (pg. 39) on his paper, Nolan gets
an idea to create a secret identity (pg. 45), named Shredderman, in order to
stop Bubba from bullying him and his peers.
As the conflict develops, Nolan creates a website called Shredderman,
where he “shreds” information about Bubba.
This information includes pictures and videos of Bubba doing mean things
to others, such as knocking over his peers’ lunch trays and calling people
names. Will Bubba find out that Nolan is
the Shredderman? Will the Shredderman
make a positive impact on Bubba? Will
the students finally take a stand against Bubba? You’ll have to read this book to find out the
answers to these questions!
Wendelin Van Draanen used different
types of literary devices throughout the story.
One of the literary devices she used was a simile, which compares two
unlike things. An example of this is
when Nolan compared the information about Shredderman website’s spreading like
a cyber-virus. “It spread like a
cyber-virus around the playground.” (pg. 96).
Another literary device she used was a metaphor, which suggests similarity
between two objects or ideas. “I was
still standing, but my knees had turned to jelly.” (pg. 124). A third literary device she used was an
onomatopoeia, which imitates the sound that it is representing. “Whoosh!
Whoosh! Whoosh!” (pg. 91).
I found this book listed under the
recommended realistic fiction books section in our textbook, Essentials of Children’s Literature. I had never heard of this book before. The title sounded interesting, so I wrote it
down and looked it up at my local public library. When I read the synopsis on the inside of the
dust jacket, I knew it sounded like a book I would like. In fact, this book is the first in the
Shredderman series. There are three more
books in the series, which I look forward to reading. I would absolutely recommend this book, as
well as the rest of the series, to other teachers and for students (2nd-4th
grade).
This book lends itself to an open
discussion on bullying at school.
Unfortunately, bullying is a growing problem in our schools today. Students are not only getting called names or
getting beat up, but they are also being cyber-bullied. Some BIG
questions you could ask your students are, “If you could create a superhero
based on your talents and abilities, what would it be and how would you use
them? How would you respond if someone
bullied you or your friend(s) at school?
On Shredderman’s
website, there is a wealth of information and resources to use in the
classroom. There is a biography of the
author and illustrator, a meet the characters section, fun for superheroes, and
several resources and activities (crossword puzzles, word jumbles, quizzes, and
math story problems). Click on the link below to go to
Shredderman’s website.
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