History Literature / NothingsFairInFifthGrade

* SternTeacher: Mrs. Hanson doesn't tolerate monkey business (she punishes the class for laughing at Elsie's WardrobeMalfunction by assigning a massive 42-problem set of long division), but she is also caring and supportive. Likewise Miss Jewell in ''The Fourth Grade Wizards.'' Compare this to other examples of this trope in the sequels - such as Miss Bickford in ''How Do You Lose Those Ninth Grade Blues?'' or Mrs. Lobb in ''Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You'' - who are strict but neither caring nor supportive.

* WardrobeMalfunction: Elsie's skirt falls down as she walks to the front of the class to get her report card, the reason being that Elsie is losing weight so her clothes are now too big for her. This scene is the catalyst for Jenny's conversation with a tearful Elsie in the girls' room.

There are two direct sequels, ''How Do You Lose Those Ninth-Grade Blues?'' (1983) and ''Seventeen and In-Between'' (1984) (both narrated by the slimmed-down but still insecure Elsie as she gets a boyfriend and struggles to come to terms with her still-strained relationship with her mother). There are also a few side stories, including ''Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You'' (1985), which relegates Elsie and Jenny to the sidelines and focuses on Helen, a girl with learning disabilities who hides her insecurities by acting out in class, and ''I Never Asked You to Understand Me'' (1986), which introduces Didi, who attends an alternative high school for troubled kids. None of the sequels or side stories are anywhere near as popular and beloved. It also has a prequel, ''The Fourth Grade Wizards'' (1988), which gives backstories to Jack and Marianne, two minor characters.

* ParentalNeglect: When Elsie's mother isn't being [[AbusiveParent abusive to her]], this is her default state. When Elsie begins to lose weight and her old clothes don't fit well anymore, her mother can't be bothered to buy her new clothes, and Diane's mother takes it upon herself to alter Elsie's clothes so they fit better. This results in a shouting match between Elsie's and Diane's mothers over the phone, in which Diane's mother outright accuses Elsie's mother of neglect. The next day at school, Elsie's wearing a brand-new pants suit which fits perfectly.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Sharon may be gossipy and spoiled, but she is Jenny's friend (although Diane only puts up with her because Jenny's and Sharon's mothers are friends) and eventually warms up to Elsie as well, to the point of giving her useful advice to improve her school performance so she won't be sent to boarding school. The other books in the series, however, portray her more or less one-dimensionally as a big-mouthed gossip. She's even downright nasty in the prequel ''The Fourth Grade Wizards''.

* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Sharon Hinkler is a big-mouthed gossip, and it's implied this is because her mother is one as well. Sharon spends most of her time parroting what her mother says. Jenny still genuinely likes her as a friend, but

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Sharon may be gossipy and spoiled, but she is Jenny's friend and eventually warms up to Elsie as well, to the point of giving her useful advice to improve her school performance so she won't be sent to boarding school.

* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Sharon Hinkler is a big-mouthed gossip, and it's implied this is because her mother is one as well. Sharon spends most of her time parroting what her mother says (or any other gossip she might hear), without thinking about whom it might hurt.

** Likewise, after Jenny's conversation with Elsie in the girls' room, all enmity for Elsie seems to melt away, although her friends Sharon and Diane are a little harder to convince.

* DisappearedDad / MissingMom: Elsie and Diane are both children of divorce who live with their mothers, and in both cases their fathers are nowhere in the picture (Elsie believes her father doesn't want her around because of her appearance). In the sequels, Elsie's relationship with her father does improve, but she still harbors some resentment over his abandoning her. Also, Marianne's mother is dead (although this plot point is not mentioned until ''The Fourth Grade Wizards'').

* {{Jerkass}}: All the kids in the class except Marianne act like this toward Elsie at the beginning but perhaps none more than red-headed ClassClown Jack Hanson. [[spoiler:In the sequels, however, Jack and Elsie become very close friends.]]

* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Sharon Hinkler is a big-mouthed gossip, and it's implied this is because her mother is one as well. Sharon spends most of her time parroting what her mother says.

* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Sharon Hinkler's mother is a big-mouthed gossip, and Sharon has turned into a miniature version of her mother. Sharon spends most of her time talking about what her mother says.

** Also applies with Elsie, as she mentions that both she and her mother gained weight after their parents' divorce due to stress eating. The difference was that her mother gained control of her eating while Elsie's spiraled out of control.

* MeaningfulName: Jenny names her kitten D.D. after the kitten's troubles with becoming housebroken, because kids who get D's are slow to catch on.

* TheSeventies / TheEighties: Although the book was published in 1981, a few of the cultural references seem to suggest that it takes place circa 1979 - for example, Jenny and her friends hang out listening to ''Music/TheBeeGees'', who were no longer consistent hitmakers by 1981. The sequels are also [[TheEighties similarly dated]] by the mentioning of popular musical acts of the era, such as ''Music/TheGo-Go's'' (''How Do You Lose Those Ninth Grade Blues?'', 1983) and ''Music/VanHalen'' (''Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You'', 1985).

* DisappearedDad / MissingMom: Jenny's friend Diane lives alone with her mother. Elsie and her sister Robyn live with their mother as their parents are divorced, and it's also hinted that their father wants nothing to do with Elsie (although her relationship with her father does improve in the sequels - in ''Ninth Grade Blues'' Elsie considers moving in with him and his new girlfriend Jeanne). Marianne's mother is dead, as we learn in ''The Fourth Grade Wizards.''

* DisappearedDad / MissingMom: Jenny's friend Diane lives alone with her mother. Elsie and her sister Robyn live with their mother as their parents are divorced, and it's also hinted that their father wants nothing to do with Elsie (although her relationship with her father does improve in the sequels). Marianne's mother is dead, as we learn in ''The Fourth Grade Wizards.''

* TheCutie: Marianne, who's cheerful, somewhat childish, and nice to everyone, even Elsie when the class hates her. She's later the main character of the prequel ''The Fourth Grade Wizards'' in which we learn that she has her own dark past: [[spoiler:Her mother was killed in a plane crash]].

* {{Jerkass}}: All the kids in the class except Marianne act like this toward Elsie at the beginning but perhaps none more than red-headed ClassClown Jack Hanson. [[Spoiler:In the sequels, however, Jack and Elsie become very close friends.]]

* StrictTeacher: Mrs. Hanson doesn't tolerate monkey business, but she is also caring and supportive. Likewise Miss Jewell in ''The Fourth Grade Wizards.'' Compare this to other examples of this trope in the sequels - such as Miss Bickford in ''How Do You Lose Those Ninth Grade Blues?'' or Mrs. Lobb in ''Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You'' - who are strict but neither caring nor supportive.

Near the end, when Elsie has been doing well, one of Jenny's friends thumbs a ride and hitchhikes, and Jenny and the rest (including Elsie and Elsie's little sister) go along for the ride out of fear of leaving their friend behind. The man drives far away from the kids' intended destination, and they eventually end up having to escape the man's truck. When they do, Elsie's little sister stupidly goes back in the truck to retrieve her purse, and it drives off with her in it. The kids, horrified, walk to the nearest building, a tavern, and call the police. Yet another strike against Elsie, just when her mom was starting to (maybe) warm up to her. Or at least not be a total bitch to her.

Things get better over time even with more disasters and strikes against Elsie's good behavior, and it ends on a positive note.

* TheCutie: Marianne, who's cheerful, somewhat childish, and nice to everyone, even Elsie when the class hates her.

* GossipyHens: Sharon Hinkler is an example, especially in the sequels. We

There are two direct sequels, ''How Do You Lose Those Ninth-Grade Blues?'' (1983) and ''Seventeen and In-Between'' (1984) (both narrated by the slimmed-down but still insecure Elsie). There are also a few side stories, including ''Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You'' (1985), which relegates Elsie and Jenny to the sidelines and focuses on Helen, a girl with learning disabilities who hides her insecurities by acting out in class, and ''I Never Asked You to Understand Me'' (1986), which introduces Didi, who attends an alternative high school for troubled kids. None of the sequels or side stories are anywhere near as popular and beloved. It also has a prequel, ''The Fourth Grade Wizards'' (1988), which gives backstories to Jack and Marianne, two minor characters.

* GossipyHens: Sharon Hinkler is an example, especially in the sequels.

* SpoiledBrat: Robyn, Elsie's little sister

''Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade'', a novel by Barthe Declements, won several awards for being the most popular children's book in thirteen states.

There are sequels, ''Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You'', ''How Do You Lose Those Ninth-Grade Blues?'' and ''Seventeen and In-Between'' (which features a now-gorgeous Elsie), neither of which are anywhere near as popular and beloved. It also has a prequel, ''The Fourth Grade Wizards'', which gives backstories to Jack and Marianne, two minor characters.

* CharacterDevelopment: Jenny learns to be nicer and not as judgmental, while Elsie's home life improves.

* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: While the story is told by Jenny, it is mostly Elsie's story.

* KidsAreCruel: The teasing Elsie endures.

* WriteWhatYouKnow - The reason the book is so spot-on accurate with its portrayal of fifth-graders both in and out of school.
* YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb - The hitchhiking scene, and the subsequent greater trouble it led to, would not have occurred if the kids weren't acting so dumb and impulsive then. The seven-year-old going back to the truck to retrieve her purse is the icing on the cake.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer - The rest of the class, not including Marianne.
* CharacterDevelopment - Jenny learns to be nicer and not as judgmental, while Elsie's home life improves.
* TheCutie - Marianne, who's cheerful, somewhat childish, and nice to everyone, even Elsie when the class hates her.
* EvilMatriarch - Every time we see Elsie's mother, we like her even less.
* FatGirl - Elsie.
* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: While the story is told by Jenny, it is mostly the Elsie's story.
* HopeSpot - Just when things get better, another disaster occurs.
* InnerMonologue - Jenny makes jokes at Elsie's expense, but never out loud. She makes less of them as she grows to like her, but still makes a few.
* KidsAreCruel - The teasing Elsie endures.
* MostWritersAreAdults - ''Excellently'' averted. The dialog, characterizations, and concerns of the children are actually very realistic. The fact that the author is both a former teacher and former school psychologist might have [[strike:something]] a lot to do with that.
* NotMyDriver - Shouldn't have picked the potential kidnapper for a ride, hitchhiking fools!
* OddFriendship - A normal, average girl and a morbidly obese bully magnet.
* OffToBoardingSchool - The fate that awaits Elsie if she doesn't shape up and if her mother can't be convinced otherwise.
* PeerPressureMakesYouEvil - Or stupid, as in the hitchhiking instance. Or good, as in being nicer to Elsie. Or for that matter, evil, as in mocking Elsie because others are doing it.
* SpoiledBrat - Robyn, Elsie's little sister
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour - The hitchhiking scene.
* TheUnfavourite - Elsie is the unloved one.

* YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb - The hitchhiking scene, and the subsequent greater trouble it led to, would not have occurred if the kids weren't acting so dumb and impulsive then. (The 7 year old going back to the truck to retrieve her purse is the icing on the cake)