Clementine

Clementine

Author: Sara Pennypacker

Illustrator: Marla Frazee

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade: 3rd grade and up

Clementine is the type of person who pays attention to everything even though she is mistaken of not paying attention. She always talks inside her head and thinks a lot. One day, her friend Margaret, had glue stuck in her hair. Margaret cut it and Clementine saw her crying in the bathroom with her messed up hair. Clementine then decided to help her and the hair got even worse and then she got sent to the principal’s office. From then on forward, things got worse. Margaret stopped talking to her, Clementine gets her hair cut and played with colors. She started comparing herself and she felt emotions and was confused. She also got scared of her parents being mad at her due to her actions and how her parents are going to get rid of her because she is the hard one to keep. In the end, she cried and confessed to her parents how she is going to think about the consequences before she takes action. How she is going to pay attention now to school and how she is not going to be like her anymore. But turned out it was a surprise party for her and she got a kitten, which she was delighted. She also made up with Margaret and Margaret’s mom.

This book is really witty and nice. The reader gets to read Clementine’s perspective and get to explore what her reasons for doing things. The author brings out Clementine’s personality and really writes how a young student will react or say, which brings out Clementine as lively. I will read this aloud to my students and spread it throughout the week. I can also assign it as a summer reading or out of class reading. The story is very relatable to students and especially girls for it deals with insecurity and emotions. The illustrations in this book is just black and white drawings and sketches. It shows what Clementine looks like and Margaret’s hair which is funny for it provides visual even though it is not colored.