I read this for the first time last year when rainbowbabe sent a copy to my kids to red. For me,
Beverly Cleary meant Ramona, a series I never loved as
child, prefering Estes family tales. However, I enjoyed this slim novel of a middle school age boy
dealing with his parent's estrangement and his growing
awareness of adult, especially parental, imperfection.
Cleary deals with the boy's frustrations and
unhappiness and his often self absorbed pettishness
with a light hand that mixes humor with a respect
for the feelings of the young.

I bought this copy to be released into my classroom
library. Many of them deal with the same problems as
Leigh, plus the fairly simple language may make it a
good fit for some of my students who are just now
learning English.

RELEASE NOTES: