by Sally Warner & illustrated by Jamie Harper ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2005
Emma has now reached her next milestone: She is in her second month of third grade at her new school. She is the same insecure person she was in September, but now she’s looking for friends besides the controlling Cynthia. Even though Cynthia can be mean and has a bad habit of making up mocking names for classmates, Emma doesn’t want to dump her, but she wants to have other friends as well. When Emma and new-ish friend Annie Pat cook up a little of Cynthia’s own medicine, they quickly regret their actions. While readers will at times tire of Emma’s self-pity, her refreshing voice rings true with the angst that third graders can feel about school, their friends and their family. The energetic teacher, Ms. Sanchez, in a completely realistic moment of temper and quick thinking, moves the third graders from their name-calling to seeing the classroom as a place where everyone belongs. Young readers will recognize Emma and her classmates and will look forward to hearing how they do in the third month of school. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-670-06005-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2005
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by Sally Warner illustrated by Shearry Malone
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by Suzy Kline ; illustrated by Amy Wummer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 27, 2018
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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by Suzy Kline & illustrated by Sami Sweeten
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by Suzy Kline & illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
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by Sara Pennypacker & illustrated by Marla Frazee ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2006
Maybe it was because third-grader Clementine was a little bit angry with her best friend Margaret that things got out of hand with the scissors and the permanent markers and the hair. Or maybe she really was just trying to help. In short chapters, set in the city apartment building her father manages or the school where she has some tough days, Clementine relates the events of the trying week she discovered she was the difficult child in her family and thought she was about to be given away. Middle-grade readers will sympathize with Clementine’s conflicted feelings about her friend and her family, and laugh out loud at her impulsive antics, narrated in a fresh first-person voice and illustrated with plenty of humor. Just like her family they will cheer when she comes up with a way to end The Great Pigeon War as well as the temporary rift with her friend. Energetic and imaginative, Clementine is gifted with understanding and patient parents. Give this to readers of Cleary and Blume and cross your fingers for more. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7868-3882-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2006
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by Sara Pennypacker ; illustrated by Matthew Cordell
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by Sara Pennypacker ; illustrated by Jon Klassen
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