Stars: 5
Author: Andrew Clements
Format: 162 pages, some drawings.
Reading level: grades 4 and up


Summary: This is another fabulous book by Clements. We read two books by him this week, both delightful reads. In one of the books a characters wishes that what he is reading would never end. That is exactly how we felt with this book. It tells the story of Ted, a 6th grader in a very small town in Nebraska, who during his paper route discovers a girl of his age (April), and her family, hiding in an abandoned house. The family is in trouble and Ted acts as detective to find out who they are and what happened. In the process, he befriends the girl. The story continues with Ted helping the family and becoming further friends with April. However, things are complicated and very sensitive. You really wish the story could continue to see how the friendship would develop further, and that it could have a different ending (for us readers!), but it is not exactly a Hollywood ending. A real jewel and joy to read.

My son says this is the best book by Clements, better than Frindle, and he could not stop reading it, he read the whole thing in a matter of hours.

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