Clementine

By Sara Pennypacker

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

In this funny story, 8 year old Clementine has not had a very good week. No one appreciates how good she is at paying attention (although not to what they think she should be paying attention to!). She gets sent to the principal's office for cutting off her best friend Margaret's hair--but it was just to help fix Margaret's own cutting job! And why is everyone angry at her for cutting her own hair off in sympathy? But she does help her father figure out how to win the Great Pigeon War. But when Clementine hears that she isn't the "easy kid" in the family, with the week she's been having, can her parents be planning to trade her in? Readers will find this story extremely entertaining and Clementine is a very real life kid that anyone who has read a Ramona or Junie B. story will find familiar and likeable. Fans will want to read the sequels, The Talented Clementine and Clementine's Letter.