From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6. Author Judy Blume reads this lively recording of her novel (Dutton, pap. 1972), and her voice perfectly personifies Sheila's scrappiness and bravado. Listeners will be drawn easily into the familiar story of Sheila's summer escapades?city kid transplanted to the suburbs where she's forced to deal with her fears and misconceptions about dogs, swimming, and not being the preeminent know-it-all she always thought she was. When she and Mouse Ellis become friends, Sheila learns that saving face is not necessary to keep a friendship. The story harkens back to the time when children lived with two parents in cozy neighborhoods and met in the afternoons at the pool. Listeners will be charmed by the story's strong female heroine and will happily follow Sheila through her summer adventures.?Marcia Brightman, Mark's Meadow Laboratory School, Amherst,
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
It's going to be hard for 10-year-old Sheila to sustain her "The Great" image as the Tubman family spends the summer in Tarrytown and she must face two of her greatest fears -- dogs (their rental house includes a beagle) and water (her parents are insisting on swimming lessons). Judy Blume has written numerous books in which she expresses the certainties and uncertainties of childhood and adolescence with wit, understanding and sympathy; this is one of her best. She's a talented reader, too. Every bit of the warmth, humor and insightfulness of her writing comes across in her reading. Blume's fans read her books over and over; they'll listen to this audiobook again and again. C.R.A. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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