Clementine

I am going to review two books today Clementine and Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

Brandi read Clemetine at school and fell in love with it and had to check it out from our library. She then started reading it to me and I fell just as in love with darling Clementine.

From School Library JournalStarred Review. Grade 2-4–Clementine, a not-so-common third grader, knows her way around the principal's office as well as she does the art-supply closet. Daily rituals take on a different view when seen from her eyes. She's constantly being told that she needs to pay attention, but to her mind she is paying attention and making astute observations. Whether looking out the window during the Pledge of Allegiance at the janitor locked in an embrace with the lunch lady or dealing with a pesky pigeon problem at her apartment building, her concentration is always focused. Clementine goes to great lengths to be friends with fourth-grade neighbor, Margaret, but more times than not, both girls end up in trouble. Humorous scenarios tumble together, blending picturesque dialogue with a fresh perspective as only the unique Clementine can offer. When the protagonist pleads to skip school because of a self-inflicted haircut fiasco, she tries to convince her mom that she must have caught arthritis from old Mrs. Jacobi or has possibly come down with the heartbreak of sore irises. Frazee's engaging pen-and-ink drawings capture the energy and fresh-faced expressions of the irrepressible heroine. And even though she confesses that I do not think fathers should be comedians, her parents are portrayed as being fairly cool. A delightful addition to any beginning chapter-book collection.–Cheryl Ashton, Amherst Public Library, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the back of the book:

"We'll go through my talents alphabetically." said Margaret. She went to a shelf and pulled down her accordion. She looked at myhands and then she looked at the keys. She put the accordion back. "Fingerpirnts," she said.

Then she handed me her baton. Which I dropped.

"Baton twirling's out."

"How about your clarinet?" I asked.

Margaret shook her head. "Spit."

"D is for dramatic acting class," she told me. "Pretend you've just heard some surprising news."

I clapped my hands to the sidesof my face and made my mouth a capital O.

"Dramatic acting's out, too," Margaret decided.

Clementine is so cute and so funny, you can't help but love her. I love the way Ms. Pennypacker captured the nuance of someone trying so very hard to pay attention. Well, Clementine is paying attention, just not to what the grownups want her to pay attention to. And Clementine is great at coming up with ideas for solutions. Her dad calls it seeing things from a differnt point of view.

There is a spot in both books where I cried. That is called being empathetic, as Clementine would say.

In the first book it happened when Clementine overheard her mother tell her father, "We only need one." This happened right after Clementine was thinking about the fact that in her family she was the child that is considered "The Hard One" and her brother is N-O-T, not. The confusion in her mind just broke my heart.

In the second book, it came during the talent show when Clementine just wanted to know what it felt like to be clapped for. Even though as a grownup, I could tell what was going to happen, again, my heart felt for this little 8 year old that wanted to belong. Maybe because I was her when I was 8.

Anyway, I loved, no I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED these two books. I haven't laughed so much as I did when read these books in a very long time. I want to know Clementine for real. We have a couple of kids at the jr. high that Clementine reminded me of, as I was reading.

I also see that there is a third book, Clementine's Letter, coming out in April. Let me tell you, I can hardly wait, as I will be purchasing all three books for our home library. That way I can read them whenever I want a full outloud laugh.

Here is Brandi reading the first two pages of "Talented Clementine". She is also reading a couple of pages from chapter 5 where Clementine explains how to make it look as if you have washed your hands when at a friends house. She also explains how to make homemade tap shoes.