From: steven engelfried <stevene>
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 12:40:47 -0700

Dear Mr. Henshaw" and "Strider" are fascinating because we get to see the
"Cleary touch" applied outside her regular imaginative world. I know Ramona's family had some troubles and issues, but "Henshaw" was, much more directly, a Problem Novel about divorce. In Cleary's hands, though, the characters are so well developed that it stand above most other books on the topic. Her perceptive insights make it more powerful than most Problem Novels that deal with issues in more heavy handed ways. There were plenty of books about Junior High age boys too, but in "Strider," Leigh is a truly unique character. His experiences aren't that unusual, but the insight we get into his character is. His growth is gradual, but substantial and totally believable. As she does with Ramona and Henry, Cleary can take a relatively minor episode, like writing an essay about a race Leigh won (but changing the ending), and make it resonate with importance and meaning. Her ability to capture the quiet subtleties of big problems in these two books makes me almost wish she had tried more like them...

Steven Engelfried, Children's Librarian Deschutes Public Library System, Bend Branch 601 NW Wall Street Bend, OR 97701 ph: 541a7p72 fax: 541a7p73 e-mail: stevene at dpls.lib.or.us
Received on Thu 10 Aug 2000 02:40:47 PM CDT