This was a fantastic book.  Yolanda, her brother Andrew and her mother move from inner-city Chicago to Michigan.  There, Yolanda must re-establish her reputation as a tough, not to be messed with girl.  She also has to look out for her little brother Andrew, who communicates to the world with his harmonica.  But when Yolanda is busy with a new friend and Andrew is harmed, she know that it is up to her to make things right again.

There are some fantastic themes developed in this book: Friendship, family, loyalty, honesty, communication, love.  Through it all, Yolanda is convinced that her brother is a genius, and she will stop at nothing to prove it to the world.  This would be a great read-aloud in a fourth or fifth grade classroom.

Another school year in the teaching career of Torey Hayden. This time, Hayden’s biggest challenge is a silent girl named Venus. Venus is a 6 year old girl, who refuses to speak, or even move or participate in any way. When provoked, Venus flies into a horrible rage. Torey also has 4 other severely disturbed children in her class full-time, in addition to numerous students who drop in for resource help.

While the book focuses on Venus and her struggles, Hayden also discusses her difficulties in working with her teacher’s aide, and in creating a sense of class unity amongst a class of kids who don’t want to be at school. Once again, I come away from this book inspired by Hayden’s dedication to her job.

This is the sequel to One Child. While working on the manuscript for One Child, Hayden decided that she needed to show it to Sheila before it was published. It took some time, but she managed to track Sheila down. Sheila was now a teenager, who had completely forgotten almost everything about the time that she had spent in Hayden’s class. Hayden and Sheila renew their relationship, and Sheila begins to remember her past.

This book wasn’t as satisfying to read as some of Hayden’s other books. I think it’s because you see that even thought Hayden pours herself into helping her students, she really can’t fix everything. While her other books are realistic, they generally do end on an upbeat note. As a reader, you imagine that now that Hayden has had a breakthrough with a child, the child will go on improving and eventually lead a normal, happy life. Of course, although we like to believe this, it’s not always true.

I must admit that before reading the 6th book, I was ready for the Harry Potter series to be done. While I’ve faithfully read the entire series, books 2-5 just didn’t draw me in the way the first book did. I feel much differently now that I’ve read the 6th book. This book was exciting, it answered many questions, tied many more plot details together, was fast-paced, and ended far too quickly. I can hardly wait for the 7th book to come out, although I feel that to truly enjoy it, I should re-read books 1-6 first.

Another good book by Clements, focusing on the teacher/student relationship. Not as good as Frindle, but still very entertaining. Mark and his teacher, Mr. Maxwell, get off to the wrong start in school, and it only gets worse once they arrive at the annual 5th grade “Week in the Woods” trip.

The characteristic of Clements’ writing that I most enjoy is the way he explains what both the students and the teacher are thinking. As a reader, I really understand both points of view, and so understand why all the characters are acting the way they do.

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