The Janitor's Boy

The Janitor's Boy

First edition
Author	Andrew Clements
Cover artist	Brian Selznick
Language	English
Subject	Language Arts
Genre	children's literature
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Publication date	2000
Publication place	United States
Pages	160
ISBN	978-0-689-83585-8
OCLC	48039831

The Janitor's Boy is a children's book by Andrew Clements. Part of his school series, it was released by Simon & Schuster in 2000.

Plot summary

The book tells the story of a school student, Jack Rankin, whose father is the janitor of his school. Jack is made fun of by his friends for this, and he hates his father because of it. Lashing out, he puts a massive quantity of bubble gum up under his desk so that his father will have to clean it off. Unfortunately, he is caught and ends up having to clean it up himself under the supervision of his father the janitor. During this, he learns that it's very hard work to be a janitor, and learns of his father's dark past. He and his father become friends. As the book closes, a student shouts "You gonna be a janitor when you grow up too?!" and Jack says "Yes," smiles up at his father's face, and says, "yes I do."