Meet the author Sara Pennypacker

Begin with Sara Pennypacker's web page

I shared a book activity with some children in a local school recently and after the session I gave each of the eight participants a book and I also gifted a small bundle of books to their school library - mostly books I purchased at a recent charity book fair (in mint condition) plus a couple of advance reader copies of books I have talked about here on this blog. One of the books was Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker. When I mentioned the name of the author - Sara Pennypacker - I was dismayed that the Teacher-Librarian looked at me with a very blank face. Coming home I pondered - how could this Teacher-Librarian have missed this author - she has SO many great books and such a fabulous name too. I have some hope that Teacher-Librarian and lots of others will find this post and then go on to discover all the books by Sara Pennypacker. She has written 17 books far. 

Sara Pennypacker was a painter before becoming a writer and has two absolutely fabulous children who are now grown. She has written more than twenty children's books including Pax (illustrated by Jon Klassen), Here In The Real World, the Clementine and Waylan series (both illustrated by Marla Frazee); Stuart's Cape and Stuart Goes to School (both illustrated by Martin Matje), Meet the Dullards, and others. Sara splits her time between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Florida, USA.

I first met Sara Pennypacker through her Clementine series:

Clementine (2006)
The Talented Clementine (2007)
Clementine's Letter (2008)
Clementine Friend of the Week (2010)
Clementine and the Family Meeting (2011)
Clementine All About You Journal (2012)
Clementine and the Spring Trip (2013)
Completely Clementine (2015)

Then I read and shared Sparrow Girl with my Grade 6 students and we all learnt so much about Mao and his plan to eliminate all the sparrows which then led to a dreadful famine and the death of many thousands of people. My Grade 6 students at the time were reading picture books with an Asian focus but this one took us into a true story which was well beyond anything we could have imagined.

Sparrow Girl

I asked the parents to send in old men's ties and then a kind parent sewed them together into a cape - the perfect accompaniment to Stuart's Cape and the sequel Stuart Goes to School. Later these two stories were combined into one book - The Amazing World of Stuart. Around this time I also discovered the Waylon series. 

Then I read Pax and the sequel; The Summer of the Gypsy Moths and Leeva at Last.

Pax

Pax The Journey Home

Summer of the Gypsy Moths

Leeva at Last

I have read Here in the Real world but for some reason I didn't do a blog post.

Author page blurb: Ware can’t wait to spend summer “off in his own world”—dreaming of knights in the Middle Ages and generally being left alone. But then his parents sign him up for dreaded Rec camp, where he must endure Meaningful Social Interaction and whatever activities so-called “normal” kids do. On his first day Ware meets Jolene, a tough, secretive girl planting a garden in the rubble of an abandoned church next to the camp. Soon he starts skipping Rec, creating a castle-like space of his own in the church lot. Jolene scoffs, calling him a dreamer—he doesn’t live in the “real world” like she does. As different as Ware and Jolene are, though, they have one thing in common: for them, the lot is a refuge. But when their sanctuary is threatened, Ware looks to the knights’ Code of Chivalry: Thou shalt do battle against unfairness wherever faced with it. Thou shalt be always the champion of the Right and Good—and vows to save the lot.

Sara Pennypacker has a new book coming in 2026. 

Here is the bookseller blurb for The Lion's Run illustrated by Jon Klassen: The New York Times bestselling author of Pax delivers an incredible WWII animal rescue adventure, about an orphan who discovers unexpected courage when he becomes involved with the Resistance. Petit eclair. That's what the other boys at the orphanage call Lucas DuBois. Lucas is tired of his cowardly reputation, just as he's tired of the war and the Nazi occupation of his French village. He longs to show how brave he can be. He gets the chance when he saves a litter of kittens from cruel boys and brings them to an abandoned stable to care for them. There he comes upon a stranger who is none too happy to see him: Alice, the daughter of a British horse trainer, who is hiding her filly from German soldiers. Soon Lucas begins to realise they are not the only ones in the village with secrets. The housekeeper at the German maternity home and a priest at the orphanage pass coded messages; a young mother at the home makes dangerous plans to keep her baby from forced adoption; and a neighbour in town may be harbouring a Jewish family. Emboldened by the unlikely heroes all around him, Lucas is forced to decide how much he is willing to risk to make the most courageous rescue of all.

Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker

Due to complex circumstances Stella and Angel find themselves living with Louise. Louise is Stella's great aunt and Stella has been sent there while her mother sorts out her dysfunctional life. Angel is a foster kid and this is her sixth placement. Louise is tough with the girls but she is also quietly very caring. The problem is Stella and Angel are like oil and water - they just cannot seem to get on at all - but that is going to need to change because as the story opens Stella arrives home from school to find Louise has died during the day.

The setting for this story is Cape Cod. Louise lives in a house beside a set of four holiday cottages. It is her job to manage the bookings and clean the cottages all through the summer. Stella dreams that one day soon her mother will arrive. Her mother will be magically transformed into a perfect mom and the three of them can all live happily together. But now Louise has died. Mom is far away. The first summer visitors are about to arrive. Angel has a plan to run away. She has an aunt who is working hard to secure a job and a home for Angel but all of this is taking a long time. 

George Nickerson owns the holiday cottages. In the 1940s his parents set them up. They are completely identical, small and very basic but also perfect for families looking for a summer beach holiday. Stella and Angel have not phoned 911and they do not tell George about Louise. Instead they pretend she is just unwell and over the coming weeks, after burying her body, the two girls take on all the summer holiday cottage chores. 

Stella loves these tasks because she craves order and cleanliness. Angel has absolutely no idea about even the most basic things, even though she is older, because for almost her whole life she has lived in care. Stella, on the other hand, has had to manage money, cooking and washing over all the years she and her mother have moved from place to place. Luckily, Stella also has a special guide book or set of advice columns collected by her beloved grandmother. These clippings from magazines and newspapers are called 'Hints from Heloise'. 

Reading this book you know there will have to be a crisis. Two young girls cannot bury someone in a garden. Surely someone will notice Louise is missing? And George has a dog who seems very interested in the freshly dug pumpkin patch. The food has run out and the shops are many miles away. 

Over the coming days our local Lifeline branch here in Sydney Australia are holding their charity Book Fair. I adore attending these because there are always so many book treasures and the kids books are usually SO cheap! Today I picked up a terrific selection from baby board books, nursery rhymes, picture books, junior novels and a few middle grade titles. Most are destined as presents for various children but a few I purchased just for me. What a discovery - Summer of the Gypsy Moth ($3).

If you are curious about the title - the gypsy moth is an invasive species and one of the battles Stella has to fight is to save Louise's precious blueberries from this leaf eating pest. 

I love the way Stella (and Sara Pennypacker) think about the things that are often missing from books:

"One thing about any books I'd write - you would be reading about the cleaning-up parts of scenes. It drives me crazy how characters are always making messes and then the author doesn't tell about cleaning them up. Everybody eats dinner in books, but nobody does the dishes. People wrestle around in the mud and have accidents with blood, and nobody does the laundry. I just hate that."

I am a huge fan of Sara Pennypacker so when I saw this book - in hardcover, with a dust jacket - I popped it straight into my shopping cart. When I arrived home I had some reading time. I am in the middle of the third book in the Five Realms series by Kieran Larwood but I decided to dip into Summer of the Gypsy Moths first. You may have guessed that I ended up reading the whole book in one sitting.

If you are looking for a terrific book for a reader aged 10+ (and a book for yourself too) try to find Summer of the Gypsy Moths - this is a heart-felt story with tiny touches of humour and fabulous tension that I highly highly recommend. 

As a librarian I’m always on the lookout for good middle grade books I can booktalk to kids. Often you don’t need an exciting cover or title to sell a book to kids. Heck, sometimes you don’t even need to show the book at all. Yet in the case of Sara Pennypacker’s debut middle grade novel Summer of the Gypsy Moths I fully intend to show the cover off. There you see two happy girls on a seashore on a beautiful summer’s day. What could be more idyllic? I’ll show the kids the cover then start right off with, “Doesn’t it look sweet? Yeah. So this is a book about two girls who bury a corpse in their backyard by themselves and don’t tell anyone about it.” BLAMMO! Instant interest. Never mind that the book really is a heartfelt and meaningful story or that the writing is some of the finest you will encounter this year. School Library Journal Betsy Bird

The unfolding story is both deliciously intense and entertaining. Kirkus Star review

This book was first published in 2012 but I looked at an online book seller here in Australia and it seems to still be available but the paperback is AUS$26 so hopefully you might find a copy in a library. Listen to an audio sample which begins in Chapter One. Here is an alternate cover (which I do not like). 

Companion reads:

Recommended by Betsy Bird (SLJ review) 

Love, Aubrey

Waiting for Normal

One for the Murphys

Small Mercies

Missing May

Check out some other books by Sara Pennypacker I have talked about here in the blog. She is such a talented writer:

Pax and Pax Journey Home

Waylon

Sparrow Girl

Leeva at Last

Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker illustrated by Matthew Cordell

What are people for?

Okay, before I tell you about Leeva at Last, I want you to locate your own book wish list or library shopping list and add this book NOW! Readers aged 9+ will LOVE meeting Leeva and her friends and teachers are also sure to thoroughly enjoy reading this book as a class serial story - not with work sheets - just for the joy of a terrific story with that all important very happy ending. There are 54 short chapters in this book which has 300 pages set in a good size font with a sprinkling of illustrations by Matthew Cordell. Fans of Matilda will love meeting brave Leeva as will readers who enjoyed Flora and Ulysses -The illuminated adventures by Kate DiCamillo.

Leeva Thornblossom has the most despicable parents you will ever meet in a story unless you have met Matilda's parents from the famous book by Roald Dahl and also the parents from The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry but to me these parents seem even worse than all of those. Mayor Thornblossom and her husband Dolton only care about fame (that's the Mayor) and money (that's her dad). Now that Leeva is old enough she has become their slave. She cooks, cleans, mows the lawn and completes money problems for her father who is the town treasurer. These parents are so completely dreadful I can hardly begin to describe them. Here is an example showing how Leeva got her name:

Nurse Blackberry needs Mayor Thornblossom to fill in the birth certificate forms for her new baby. The Mayor has been so demanding.

"She was fed up, ready to snap. And now here she was, holding the birth certificate, asking what the new baby' name was and hearing in reply, 'Don't you know who I am? You do it, nurse!'. Well, Nurse Blackberry snapped. 'Look! The last name is filled in already: Thornblossom! All that's left is ... "first name. Middle name ... leave a space."

"Each time her parents related the story, they cackled in glee. But Leeva knew it wasn't funny. In fact, it was a pitiful thing to have been named so carelessly."

And here is how Leeva makes her own shoes from the packets which contain her father's daily food called Cheezaroni:

"Cheezaroni bore a glancing resemblance to macaroni and cheese, except that the macaroni and the cheese were indistinguishable from each other and they were both indistinguishable from the box, so even when you followed the instructions perfectly, what you ended up with was a flavourless cardboardy mash that smelt powerfully of feet."

"They were her sandals - a fairly new pair. She was proud of these shoes, which she fashioned by molding tinfoil Cheezaroini trays around her feet, then strapping them on with masking tape. In winter, she molded a second Cheezaroni tray over the top of each foot to keep the heat in. The shoes were never comfortable, and the tape left itchy bands around her ankles, but the silvery flash they made when they caught the light was lovely."

More about those parents:

"Now, Reader, Leeva had known her mother and father were liars, of course. According to the stories they told each other at night, lying was pretty much all they did in their jobs ... But it had never occurred to her that they would lie to her, their own daughter."

Her father is greedy and obsessed with making and saving money and her mother is vain, greedy and obsessed with becoming famous.

Luckily, yes there is always a luckily, next door to her house Leeva discovers a library. Harry, nephew of the librarian Mrs Pauline Flowers (yes she is just like Miss Honey) gives Leeva a precious library card and the courage to step away from her parents and all their tortuous rules. Mrs Flowers also gives Leeva perfect books, delicious cookies every day, yummy lunches and later a flask of extra cold milk. Leeva also discovers toast for the first time thanks to the kind librarian.

Things that brighten Leeva's day:

• The daily newspaper - the Nutsmore Weekly and their word of the day. 
• The television soap opera - The Winds of our Tides - this is where Leeva has learnt about 'real life'.
• The program Vim and Vigor at any Age - a television exercise program
• Cookies made by Mrs Flower - chocolate chunk with toasted hazelnuts; Champurradas from Guatemala; and many more from every country in the world
• Wonderful library books such as Charlotte's Web; New Kid; Where the mountain meets the Moon; Bud, not Buddy; Other words for Home; One Crazy Summer; and Because of Winn Dixie.  By the end of her first week she has read 70 books!
• Her new "pet" Bob the badger
• Special friends - Osmund, Fern, Harry and his aunt.

There is a lot of slap-stick humour in this book BUT there are also some precious and tender moments. Leeva has never had a hug. She has never eaten hot toast with butter. She has no idea about gingersnaps. And she can only braid her her into two plaits. No mother or father have ever touched her or her hair, but she longs for a braid like her new friend Fern - a single perfect braid, with every hair in place. 

When her parents finally ban her from leaving the house ever again, Osmund arrives to find out what has happened. One lovely day some weeks ago he gave Leeva a comb - one of the first presents she had ever received.

"He pointed at the comb in Leeva's hand. 'Give it to me.' Leeva hesitated. It would hurt her to return the first thing she'd every owned all to herself. But as last she held it out. Osmund took the comb. He stood up. 'Turn around.' Although Leeva suspected Osmund would run away now, she turned around. She held her breath, waiting to hear his boots clomp out of the park. ... And then she felt him tug the rubber bands from her braids. She felt him unweave her braids and comb out her hair. She felt him divide it into three sections and lay the sections, right-over-centre, left-over-center, .... into a single braid down the middle of her back."

Read these reviews:

Splendid fun. Kirkus

Nobody’s parents are perfect, but Leeva’s are the worst. Even worse than those you might have met in Roald Dahl’s story of that long-suffering girl, Matilda.  Books for Keeps

I marvel at the variety of books written by Sara Pennypacker from the serious survival book Pax, the fun of Clementine and the powerful environmental message of Sparrow Girl.

Pax and Pax: Journey Home

Clementine

Waylon

Sparrow Girl

Pax Journey Home by Sara Penny Packer

Please begin by reading my post about the first book Pax.  Here is a quote from my post:

One of the most wonderful things about reading is when you know you are in the safe hands of a master storyteller especially when realise this right from the start of the story.  You know the characters might experience hardship, difficulties, pain and trauma but you also know the author will bring everyone safely home - not in a sentimental or trite way - but in a way that leaves you gasping at the sheer brilliance of their writing.

In the second instalment a year has passed. Pax is making a journey and so is Peter and it seems certain they will meet again. Peter has been deeply affected by the loss of his parents and the loss of his beautiful fox friend, Pax. His grief is utterly terrible and he is unable to share these feelings with anyone. He has decided it is best to never again become close to another - be they human or animal - because he needs to protect his heart from experiencing deep hurt.

He makes a plan to join the Water Warriors.  In this dystopian world the precious water ways have become contaminated. Peter tells Vola and his grandfather he will join this group but really this is just his excuse. He wants to return to the family home and his plan is to live there alone. He is now thirteen and he has well developed survival skills. 

Meanwhile Pax and Bristle have three cubs. His baby daughter is an inquisitive little creature. Pax knows he neesd to take is family to a safer place so he sets off with his daughter (she has followed him) to find a new place. I won't give too much away but remember the water is contaminated. There is a heart wrenching scene in this story when the little cub drinks from the river. I just held my breath for several chapters waiting to see the outcome. 

Watch this video where Colby Sharp talks about Pax Journey Home. 

This is a deftly nuanced look at the fragility and strength of the human heart. An impressive sequel. Kirkus star review

This tender story of love and reconciliation, and of families made and chosen, promises comfort after unfathomable hurt. Shelf Awareness

Everyone  of us knows the risk of loving and trusting.  Sometimes life hands you a lesson that you have to unlearn. A Book and a Hug

Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance copy of Pax Journey Home. This book will be released on the 7th September this year. You should add a copy of this and the first instalment to your shopping list. You might like to buy the set (hardcover). Here is Sara's website.

Here is what Sara Pennypack said in an interview with Publisher's Weekly:

Pennypacker said that she received “a ton of letters” from readers wanting to know what happened after Peter and Pax are reunited in the novel’s closing pages. Calling the conclusion of Pax “a great ending,” Pennypacker said that she initially resisted writing a sequel because she wanted readers to feel “that the right thing happened” to Peter and Pax. “If your emotional investment was to get Peter and Pax back together again, you can imagine that. If it was to know that they both went on and became who they were supposed to be, I left room for that.”

Waylon - One Awesome thing by Sara Pennypacker illustrated by Marla Frazee

"No wonder he blurted things out.  This world was so amazing, how could anyone hold it all in?"

I enjoy saying the name Pennypacker  it seems perfect for an author of quirky little chapter books.  Have you met Clementine? Waylon is in her class and this book is his story.

In this time when we are focusing on STEM  - Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths - Waylon is a book and a character you need to meet.  He adores science and uses his knowledge to solve problems.  Right now his problem is with school friendships but this might not have such an easy science solution.

The class cool kid Arlo has set up a gang which he calls The Shark Punchers.  Waylon does not see any point to this.  He has friends in both groups.  Perhaps he can be an isthmus - a bridge between both groups.  Actually he needs to be an isthmus between his parents and his sister too and also find a way to reach the new boy Baxter Boylen - a boy who everyone, teachers and kids, is afraid of.

His sister is called Charlotte Bronte Zakowski (dad is a writer hence the famous name) but she has decided to change her style, personality and name to Neon. She "had undergone a complete metamorphosis. Instead of spinning a chrysalis around her, she had walked into her bedroom and painted it black."  Neon no longer talks to her family and Waylon misses the games they used to play.

The new kid, Baxter is both scary and fascinating.  He arrives with a 'beard' and a scar.  He seems to know a lot about the police. The rumor is he has been in jail but it is Waylon who discovers the truth.

While all of this is going on Waylon is also grappling with his own new feelings :

"Recently, a strange thing had been happening, and it was happening now. The strange thing was : he imagined how he appeared to others. As though he was outside his body."

"Seeing himself from the outside made Waylon feel dangerously sheer, as if he were a hologram instead of a solid boy."

There are some really funny moments in this story.  Waylon asks his dad for advice with the gangs at school.  "In galactic time, his father wasn't that much older than he was - only about thirty years. But in terms of helping with fourth grade problems, he might as well be from the Jurassic Period."

The truly heart warming part of this story comes when Waylon meets a dog, called Dumpster Eddy, who being held at the police station. Baxter and Waylon need to work out a way to save this dog because he is on death row and, in doing so, members of both class gangs really need to pull together.

"Eddy locked his gaze on Waylon's. And suddenly there were no bars between them. There was no boy skin; there was no dog fur. Waylon and Dumpster Eddy grokked each other's souls ... "  Grokking is a "science fiction term that meant to connect with something so totally that you practically merged with it." At the end of One Awesome thing the stage is set for the sequel.  Luckily my copy had a chapter sample so I know Waylon and Baxter will continue to look for ways to save the life of Dumpster Eddy.

I would follow Wayon with The Dunderheads and the Stuart books also by Sara Pennypacker.  You might also pick up One dog and his Boy by Eva Ibbotson.  Sara Pennypacker is also the author of a wonderful book for older readers called Pax.


In Pennypacker’s skillful hands, Waylon is an appealing every kid whose passion for science just might spark readers’ curiosity as he contemplates ideas from angstroms to alien hand syndrome.  School Library Journal

An upbeat celebration of lively imagination, friendship, family, community, and the exuberance of childhood. Kirkus

Sparrow girl by Sara Pennypacker illustrated by Yoko Tanaka

...a powerful message that one small person 

can make a big difference.

In our library sessions last term my senior classes explored a number of picture books with an Asian setting.  With each book we looked in detail at the author's inspiration, other works by the author and illustrator, background information about the story (many of which were based around real events and people) and took time to talk about cover images and book design.

One of the books that elicited the most discussion was Sparrow Girl.  Just like my students, I had no idea Mao declared war on sparrows along with rats, flies and mosquitoes.  This time was called the four pests campaign.  It is easy to understand the science of why this had such terrible effect. Killing 30 billion sparrows led to a catastrophic famine leaving 30-40 million people dead.  Here are a set of lesson notes for this book.  For more information about this book read this review.

Before reading this book we talked briefly about Mao and his ideas and then watched this short. but disturbing film from Germany where you can see people beating drums and killing the sparrows.

"They're like teardrops. The sky is crying birds." - Ming-Li

The hero of this fictional account by Sara Penny Packer is little Ming-Li.  She cannot understand why the sparrows are considered bad.  With her brother's help she rescues just seven precious birds.  The crops fail.  Ming-Li tells her father her secret.  She has saved a handful of sparrows.

"Your daughter brings us a miracle!' ... From this day, sparrows will be safe in our village. And we will tell everyone we meet from other villages about the wisdom of the Sparrow Girl."

Sara Pennypacker is the author of the terrific junior series Clementine and also the books about Stuart along with the wonderful senior novel Pax.  Yoko Tanaka has done many books but one we are reading at the moment is The Magician's Elephant as we prepare for the visit by Kate DiCamillo to our city next month.

Over the next few days I will talk about some of the other books we explored this term.

Pax by Sara Pennypacker illustrated by Jon Klassen

In an in awe of an author like Sara Pennypacker.  One of the most wonderful things about reading is when you know you are in the safe hands of a master storyteller especially when realise this right from the start of the story.  You know the characters might experience hardship, difficulties, pain and trauma but you also know the author will bring everyone safely home - not in a sentimental or trite way - but in a way that leaves you gasping at the sheer brilliance of their writing.

From the very first page I knew Pax would be a powerful and memorable book.  Now I have finished reading Pax I know this story will linger with me a long time.

"The fox felt the car slow before the boy did, as he felt everything first.  Through the pads of his paws, along his spine, in the sensitive whiskers at his wrists."

Each chapter of Pax alternates between Peter, a young boy grieving the loss of his mother and confused by the reactions and life decisions of his father and Pax, a young fox that Peter has raised from a small cub.  Sara Pennypacker is able to give this wild creature such an authentic voice.

"He lifted his muzzle and bayed a single aching note.  It had been so long since he'd seen his boy. Before this, they'd never been apart for more than half a day. Often Peter would leave in the morning, and Pax would pace his pen in increasing distress until the afternoon, when Peter would come home, smelling of other young humans and of the strange breath of the large yellow bus that delivered him."

In this selection you can see how Sara Pennypacker is able to give the reader a deep insight into the highly developed senses of the fox.  His use of smell and other animal intuitions contrast with those of Peter and yet wild creature and boy have an amazing, spiritual connection.

We sadly need to cover our copy of Pax with plastic to protect it from multiple readings but if you can buy your own copy of Pax make sure you look under the dust jacket.  Megan Dowd Lambert alerted me to this special feature that is added to some picture books and novels.

Here is the author web site and a set of discussion questions.  Here is an audio sample from the first chapter. This book would be a terrific addition to a unit on survival or it could be used with a small group as an extension text.  You can see some images from the book here.

If you enjoy Pax I would recommend the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness beginning with Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver, The Honest Truth, The eye of the Wolf by Daniel Pennac,  Julie of the wolves by Jean Craighead George, A dog's life by Ann Martin and Hatchet.

The quotes below link to reviews in the New York Times and Kirkus.

What makes the book truly remarkable are two things: the quality of Pennypacker’s prose, which is sharp and restless and vulpine, and the pull of the love between Peter and Pax.

Every moment in the graceful, fluid narrative is believable. Klassen’s cover art has a sense of contained, powerful stillness.

Completely Clementine by Sara Pennypacker pictures by Marla Frazee

In 2009 I talked about Clementine.  We have the whole series in our library now including the latest installment and seventh Completely Clementine.

Sara Pennypacker has created a such a memorable character with little Clementine.  This is one of those books where you really 'hear' the character's voice and this lingers with you long after reading.

The Clementine books are perfect for students in Grades 2-4.  As this book opens the end of Grade Three is looming and Clementine is upset.  She does not like to say goodbye, she does not want to leave her special teacher Mr D'Matz and she is especially upset with her dad because she thinks everyone should be a vegetarian.

The fight against her dad eating meat is such a funny and poignant thread through the whole story.  Clementine has decided she will not talk to her dad - she will give him the 'silent treatment' but she also needs to communicate her feelings so each day she presents her dad with a different drawing :
Crying Cow, Terrified Clam, Thanksgiving tragedy and Petrified Piglets.  Sadly, for Clementine, these heart-felt and graphic pictures do not seem to affect her father.  Her mum explains:

"I want to talk to you about this feud you're having with your father.'
'The sad-animal drawings?'
'No, not those. I like that you're doing those, in fact.  You're presenting your side of something you care about.  That's what  artists do: when they care about something, they make art about it.  And sometimes their art makes other people care too, although sometimes it doesn't.  The problem is the other thing: your not speaking to him."

I highly recommend the Clementine series.  You might like to read this review from Kirkus.  Here are some other junior series worth exploring.

Clementine, Friend of the Week by Sara Pennypacker

Clementine is irresistible. Her meetings with the school Principal, for example, are always so funny.
“’You think students should have professional development days, the way teachers do?’ She asked …. ‘Right, some extra days off to get better at stuff.’….’Well, Clementine … I could run that by the school board. But I think I already know what they’d say.’ … ‘I think they’d say students already have professional development days. Two of them a week. They’re called Saturday and Sunday.’”
Clementine is heading for an extra special week at school because it is her turn to be Friend of the Week which means she gets to tell her autobiography, be line leader, collect the milk money, feed the fish and her class mates will write compliments in a special booklet which she can take home at the end of the week. Margaret has two suggestions for Clementine give compliments and presents to her classmates to ensure good comments in her booklet. Then Margaret thinks Clementine has been reading her booklet, made the year before, and it seems the friendship is over.

Then there is the bicycle decorating contest which will be held the following Saturday. When I was in Grade 6 we also had a bike decorating contest so I could really relate to the excitement of this idea. Clementine is lucky that her dad, in his job as manager of their apartment building, has a collection of decorations for every week of the year, not just Halloween, Valentines Day and Christmas but important celebrations like Fruitcake-Toss Day, Hair Style Appreciation Day, Punch the Clock and National Honesty Day. All these decorations are stored in the basement and Clementine is allowed to use any or all of them to decorate her bike.

If you have not yet met Clementine look out for this series in your library. If you like Junie B Jones, Judy Moody, Clarice Bean, Amber Brown, Keena Ford and Daisy Dawson, you will love Clementine. I wonder if we will ever know her brother’s real name. A Clementine is a type of orange and so as a protest and in a hilarious twist Clementine calls her brother vegetable names Parsnip, Cabbage, Turnip, Radish etc. Read more about this and an extract from the novel in the author’s blog. Clementine Friend of the Week is the fourth book in this series and I think they just keep getting better and better.

Stuart’s cape by Sara Pennypacker

Stuart wants to have an adventure. He knows superheroes have great adventures but superheroes wear capes and Stuart has no cape until he finds a bunch of men’s ties in one of the unopened boxes in the hall way of his new home.

Stuart has lost all his good stuff – a mannequin arm, an oven door, a dead Christmas tree, a cracked toilet seat, a box of bent coat hangers, false teeth – all wonderful stuff that it had taken years to collect. These treasures were picked up by the trash collector and not the moving van but Stuart now has the perfect materials for a cape – ties, a stapler and one purple sock. One hundred ties makes a wonderful cape and the sock is a perfect secret pocket.

This is how Stuart’s adventures begin with lots of fun, puns (warm as toast) and one surprising good friend – the trash collector! All these events lead up to the second book Stuart Goes to School. Stuart has so many fears about school and it seems all of them might come true – trouble making friends, embarrassing situations in the classroom, being locked in the toilet or being the shortest kid in the class.

My favourite scene comes during show and tell which is called “Our big interesting world”. Stuart stands tall ready to show is marvelous cape. “Stuart whipped open his cape very dramatically. He had practiced this in front of the mirror a lot. He waited for the kids to say ‘Awesome!’ or ‘Wow!’ or 'Cool Stuart!’. He waited for a long time. The room was so silent Stuart wondered if his ears had stopped working. He felt an odd breeze. He looked down and froze in horror.”
I am once again sad to discover Stuart’s cape is out of print and our library copy is very worn. I guess I need to investigate the world of used copies because you certainly need to read these two books in the right order. Both would be enjoyed by younger readers in Grades 1-3. By the way we have our own Cape in the library made by a kind mum out of old ties. It is fabulous!

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

If you love Junie B Jones and Clarice Bean and Judy Moody then you are going to really love the Clementine books. We have two in our library Clementine’s Letter and The Talented Clementine.

Clementine is a third grader who has a heart of gold, she is constantly in a muddle, loves drawing and finds most rules, especially at school, very puzzling. Clementine is a regular visitor to the Principal’s office. Mrs Rice is a wonderful school Principal, she listens to Clementine and offers very helpful suggestions and strategies to help Clementine cope with change.

In The Talented Clementine, she is in despair because the children are putting on a talent show and Clementine is convinced she has no special talents. She does try tap dancing by gluing bottle caps on her shoes but this of course does not work. On the night of the concert we all get a huge surprise - Clementine does have a talent!

Back to those tap shoes. Her dad is the building supervisor for the apartment building. “He just lets them keep the beer in the basement. And all those beers come in bottles. With bottle caps. I got a pair of pliers from the workbench. Let me tell you, it is N-O-T, not easy to get twenty four bottle caps off with a pair of pliers, but finally I did it…. All the while I kept smiling whenever I thought about how happy everyone would be next week at the meeting because their bottles had already been opened.”

In Clementine’s Letter the class teacher is in line to win a trip to Egypt. He will be gone for the rest of the year. Clementine is in despair. She loves her teacher, they have developed strategies that really help Clementine to stay on task and now she has to cope with a substitute. She is convinced Mr D’Matz will not leave “Nope, sorry Mrs Rice, I can’t go away for the rest of the year because I promised to be here.” Then Clementine realises he might win the competition. She has some power though when all the class are invited to write letters of support. Clementine really lays it on the line about why her teacher should not go to Egypt and leave her.

One theme through the two books is names. A clementine is a citrus fruit. Clementine thinks her baby brother should be named after a vegetable if she has to be named after a fruit. We never get to know his real name because Clementine calls him carrot, spinach and radish and many other hilarious names.

Look for Clementine in our library these books are winners! and go to Sara Pennypacker's web site it is marvelous - she is the author of Stuart's Cape and Stuart goes to school. We even have a collection of ties in our library as a celebration of this inventive little story.