“Dyamonde liked to know everything, and she’d made up her mind that she was going to get to know Damaris Dancer.” Third graders Dyamonde and her friend Free make a new friend and discover what it really means to be rich. Free, whose father’s job loss has meant unfamiliar and unwelcome belt-tightening, is challenged by ever-optimistic Dyamonde to rethink his definition of what it means to be poor. A poetry contest with a cash reward offers Free the hope of a coveted video game. When shy, enigmatic Damaris also enters the competition, the duo becomes a trio. Damaris’s hidden life in a homeless shelter becomes public through her poetry, and the three friends learn together about true wealth. Fast-paced, believable urban school situations, including a memorable visit to a thrift store, make this a particularly relevant series entry for chapter-book readers. Christie’s light pen-and-ink sketches bring these good-hearted characters to life. Young readers will wish they had a friend like Dyamonde. (Fiction. 6-9)
