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  Jean and Johnny by Beverly Cleary                                      Illustrated by Joe and Beth Krush (1959)                                                                                                                                                                  10 chapters                                                                                                             284 pages   Chapter 1             Standing in the kitchen of their modest two bedroom, one bath home, Jean Jarrett dreamily muses to her older sister Sue one evening in December what it might be like if something really nice happened: a rich uncle leaving them a small fortune so their father wouldn’t have to support the family paycheck-to-paycheck (he’s a United States Postal Worker) or a magical transformation to make her taller and not having to wear glasses so she might be more interesting. Having enough disposable income to walk into a department store at the shopping center and bu
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The Luckiest Girl

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  The Luckiest Girl by Beverly Cleary (1958) 16 chapters 288 pages   Chapter 1             Our story begins on a Saturday morning. A peaceful scene, sitting at the breakfast table in September just before a new school year is due to start is Shelley Latham and she is plotting. Shelley is determined this year, her junior year in high school, is going to be different. She will break up with steady boyfriend, Jack, who is the most boring, predictable, unromantic boy on earth. She also wants to change up her boring wardrobe and so announces out loud to her mother that today she is going downtown to buy herself a slicker, never mind her mother’s negative opinion about them. Shelley smiles to herself remembering the “list” she started when she was around thirteen-all the things she would let HER future daughter do as opposed to Mrs. Latham who never lets Shelley have any fun.             Arrival of the mail postpones any further slicker discussions. Mavis Michie, Mrs. Latham’s
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