OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SHEILA THE GREAT

It comes as something of a surprise to learn that Sheila Tubman, Peter Hatchet's feisty companion from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (p. 134, J-38) is secretly afraid of dogs, spiders, bees, water, the dark and strange noises. While Sheila bolsters her confidence by renaming herself Sheila the Great, her new friend Mouse Ellis, junior yo-yo champion of Tarrytown, remains singularly unimpressed, but somehow Sheila manages to survive the episodic trials of the summer — the beginner's swimming test, the revelations of her friends' Slam Books, even the presence of the dog Jennifer who "goes with" the Tubmans' rented summer home. Judy Blume is a careful student of such childhood customs as slumber parties, playing "cooties" and eating Oreo cookies from the inside out, and Sheila's ongoing crisis of image ("Other kids get Home Free. Why not me?") is as easy To identify with as it is to laugh at.