When Mules Flew on Magnolia Street [Paperback]

Angela Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 2002 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

A new collection of stories by award-winning author Angela Johnson about Charlie and her adventures on Magnolia Street.

It's summertime, and that means more adventures for Charlie and her friends on Magnolia Street in this collection of short stories by the author of Maniac Monkeys on Magnolia Street. There are lots of comings and goings on the block this summer. One family disappears, while another--the Magic Family--appears from nowhere. Charlie's best friends, Billy and Lump, go off to camp and have their own adventures, and Charlie meets Ashley, a girl who likes to grow things. But perhaps most amazing of all is that Charlie and her practical-joker older brother, Sid (her nemesis), actually join forces to help a neighbor in trouble.


From the Hardcover Library Binding edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"My dad says I have what he calls a good life," writes Charlene, a.k.a. Charlie, in a letter to a friend. Not too many people would disagree with her on that. When she's not reading under the willow trees and drinking lemonade all day, she's fishing with her friends, investigating the mysterious disappearance of an entire family, or making a mule fly as a way of comforting an elderly friend in the hospital! When her best friends, Billy and Lump, go off to summer camp, Charlie manages to keep up a hilarious and informative correspondence with the two, even as she develops a new friendship with a girl who loves to garden. But the biggest surprise of all is when Charlie and her nemesis--her brother Sid--begin to get along when a neighbor needs their help.

Sequel to Maniac Monkeys on Magnolia Street, this collection of linked stories about the summertime adventures of a lively but easy-going trio is sheer delight for the independent chapter book reader. Two-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, author Angela Johnson is a master of understated humor, allowing her characters to ramble along, getting themselves into wacky predicaments, and never understanding why they crack up or exasperate the adults around them. Magnolia Street is full of warm, loving, characters--would that every kid could grow up here! (Ages 9 to 12)--Emilie Coulter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Angela Johnson returns to the characters and setting of Maniac Monkeys on Magnolia Street with When Mules Flew on Magnolia Street. Now that Charlie has settled into her new neighborhood, she is only too delighted to observe all the goings-on, including the arrival of two teenage girls and their father, a magician (the kind who saws people in half).
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (December 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440418836
• ISBN-13: 978-0440418832
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,483,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Angela Johnson is the author of the Coretta Scott King Honor picture book When I Am Old with You; as well as A Sweet Smell of Roses, illustrated by Eric Velasquez; Just Like Josh Gibson, illustrated by Beth Peck; and I Dream of Trains, which was also illustrated by Loren Long. She has won three Coretta Scott King Awards, one each for her novels Heaven, Toning the Sweep, and The First Part Last. In recognition of her outstanding talent, Angela was named a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. She lives in Kent, Ohio.