SYCAMORE STREET

Best friends Angel and Chloe, who enjoy ``pretending'' together, have no time for new boy Rupert, who makes a pest of himself until Chloe discovers (while Angel's on vacation) that he's a good pretender, too. The inclusion/exclusion issue looms large for the target audience, but its exploration here isn't always credible—Rupert's still hanging around after being rebuffed for months, and, oddly, the girls never confront him when they suspect him of swiping their mittens. Still, humorous and nonpreachy, with short paragraphs, plenty of repetition for newly independent readers, and likable watercolor illustrations: unusually attractive for this genre. (Young reader. 5-7)