VALENTINE FRANKENSTEIN

Amanda is Walter's only friend; she knows he dreads Valentine's Day, when he'll be publicly humiliated as the least popular fifth grader, so she stuffs the class Valentine box with 50 cards, all addressed to Walter in different handwritings. It transpires that every other fifth grader believes that everyone else has noticed hitherto unappreciated qualities in Walter, and, not wanting to be hindmost, each avidly courts him. Amanda is chagrined by Waiter's reaction to his sudden popularity--he hardly has time to speak to her--but by book's end they're putting their friendship into a new, mutually satisfactory balance. Lightweight and only marginally amusing. For an easily read valentine story with similar circumstances but more interesting characters and a more substantial story, try Barbara Cohen's 213 Valentines (p. 1008).