TheTurbulent Term of Tyke Tyler

[JellySaurus]

Does anybody remember this book from the 70s or early 80s? Tyke is a schoolkid who keeps getting into trouble. Danny has learning difficulties and is Tyke's friend. There is no indication whether Tyke is a girl or a boy. To my recollection boy readers always assumed that Tyke was a a boy, whereas girl readers were about equally divided into boy/girl/not sure, depending on how tomboyish they were. You find out towards the end of the book.

It's due a resurgence, I think.

I remember this book! Vaguely...

Yes remember it well although the title more than the content

Yes! I remember it when my children were small. I think there was a tv series made from the book, in the happy days when tv stations bothered about children's drama.

Yes! One of my favourite books as a child and the way she stands up for her friend when the adults want to send him to ‘special’ school. ❤️

We read it in school in the early 2000s (but I didn't know it was that old - maybe my high school didn't have anything newer to offer us!). I recall it being discussed that boys were more likely to read it if they thought the main character was a boy.

I found a copy in a charity shop last year and bought it. I suspect it would stir up too many gender arguements these days.

Yes, I read it at primary in the early 80s. Brilliantly done. I hope they never try to update it.

I read it at school in south London in the early 80s.

I remember reading it in the 80s. I felt like I’d been thoroughly tricked when it turned out she was a girl! Didn’t she fall off a roof or something during her adventures, and when she was in hospital, it was finally revealed she was a girl? I was a tomboy myself - but just assumed Tyke was a boy. I think it was written in first person, so her pronouns were I/me, until that section at the end, which switches to third person.

Yes, she is a girl, called Theresa. I am hoping she is now a GC feminist!

I loved that book so much

I loved teaching this book back in the late 80s/early 90s - got them every time and led to some fantastic discussions! 😁

Isn't one of Joanne Harris's books a bit like this? Also set it a school I think, though the main character is not a pupil but a child of a staff member or something. But it's a book for adults.

I seem to remember the line, very near the end, ‘Theodora Tyler, you naughty, disobedient girl!’

I remember it very well, I think I may still have my copy somewhere!

I absolutely adored this book as a child!

Yes, she climbed up onto the school roof and rang the bell- it was forbidden for anyone to ring it because the bell tower had been weakened in the war or something. Sure enough, the tower collapses under her and she ends up in hospital. (I'm pretty sure she reckoned it was worth it!)

It was so well done- I was in no way conscious of any tortured language in trying to conceal whether Tyke was a boy or a girl. I was completely dumbfounded when they did reveal she was a girl. I searched back through the book because I was sure it had stated (casually / matter-of-factly) that Tyke was a boy. But no- no lies.
I was amazed by how the author had done that, and it made me love the character and the story even more.

I remember this too! We read it at school circa 1991

I loved that book!

Yes! We have a copy somewhere, my daughter loved it.

Yes, we read it at school in the mid 80s. I loved it!

I can clearly remember the moment I found out she was a girl, as I, like many others, had assumed she was a boy. We had a really interesting discussion about it in class, and why we had assumed that.

It seems to have passed me by - which age range was it for?

Ds1 got rid of a number of his early teen books and i got ds2 to look through and see if he wanted any

ds1 read dystopian/ fantasy type books and had quite a few with a female protagonist, ds2 ditched all the books with a female lead character except for one…and that was because he had no idea til the end of that book that the hero was a girl

that’ll learn him 😀

I've still never got round to reading it although I've heard of it. What age would people recommend it for? I'm wondering if my year 3 class would enjoy it.

I used to read my sisters' Mallory Towers, Pippi Longstocking and the like, it never bothered me.

It's a long time since I read it, it I'd have thought Y5/6

We actually studied it in English in my first year of secondary school.