JOSIE'S TROUBLES
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor & illustrated by Shelley Matheis
Lovingly, Naylor spoofs the domino effect of a fourth- grader's difficulties. New in town, Josie is grateful to have found a best friend in Sarah, who has abandoned another friend, Kimberly, for her. When the girls break Sarah's mother's rosewood piano bench, Josie—only too aware of her burden of blame— willingly takes on earning money for its repair. Optimistically seeking donations, she writes to a local football hero, but the comedy really begins when she and Sarah become involved in the pet-care business. Kimberly exerts a little spunk of her own and, with another girl, makes the two best friends into a lucrative foursome. This lacks the funny philosophizing of Naylor's Alice books, but Josie has an inventive sort of pragmatism and single- mindedness that are just right for this age. Readers are sure to enjoy the antics. (Fiction. 8-12)