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Hello... Wrong Number. by Marilyn Sachs. 1981. Scholastic. 97 pages. ISBN: 9780590327283 

Hello... Wrong Number is a short and sweet paperback YA novel originally published in 1981. A teenage girl named Angie intends to call the object of her affection, a boy named Jim McCone, but when she dials the wrong number, she gets a different Jim. In a series of phone calls, Angie and the wrong Jim become quite close, sharing confidences and saying things to each other they’d never say to anyone else. But they have never met face to face. Will Angie, who can be quite shallow about boys, still like Jim if he doesn’t look as she imagines?

I chose to read this book because it reminded me of a book I loved as a kid, Phone Calls by R.L. Stine. Like Phone Calls, Hello... Wrong Number is a story told almost exclusively in dialogue between the main characters. Though the story is very lighthearted and easily zipped through in one sitting, the dialogue is well-written, bringing the characters right off the page. Both characters’ voices are very strong, and I could almost hear the way they might speak to one another.

Most kids have cell phones now, and caller ID makes it pretty easy to avoid wrong numbers, so it’s hard to say if today’s teens would relate to the story or not. I certainly don’t think most high schoolers in 2012 would name KC and the Sunshine Band as their favorite band, or compare a boy they like to Elton John, as Angie does. Still, Marilyn Sachs is a great author for fans of Paula Danziger, who also always wrote short, fun, romance novels for younger teens. Hello... Wrong Number would work well in a lesson about writing dialogue, and I think it would be fun to hear kids talk about how phone calls have changed since their parents were kids. It's also just a great escapist read for anyone missing the 80s!

I purchased Hello... Wrong Number from my local used book store.
 
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The Stories Julian Tells. by Ann Cameron, illustrated by Ann Strugnell. 1981. Random House. 80 pages. ISBN: 9780394828923

Julian is a young African-American boy with a talent for spinning yarns. Whether he’s making excuses for eating his mother’s pudding or convincing his little brother, Huey, that cats come from catalogs, he always has a great story to tell, and a dad who appreciates and cultivates his big imagination.

I was surprised right away by how beautiful the writing is in this book. It’s simple enough to be read by a newly independent reader, but it doesn’t sacrifice art for the sake of simplicity. Author Ann Cameron weaves lovely figures of speech in and out of her sentences, and her words project strong, complete images into the reader’s mind. Here’s just one example:

My father is a big man with wild black hair. When he laughs, the sun laughs in the windowpanes. When he thinks, you can almost see his thoughts sitting on all the tables and chairs. When he is angry, me and my little brother, Huey, shiver to the bottom of our shoes.

There are a lot of ways to tell a reader that a character’s father has a strong influence on him, and a strong presence, but this is by far the most appealing way I can imagine. It’s also a very accessible description, even though it’s not completely straightforward. Kids can recognize all of those words, and if they pause to consider them, they can decode the meaning of Cameron’s metaphors.

Another great strength of this book is its dreamlike style of illustration. Julian’s imagination, and his dad’s, seem to consume each of the drawings, bringing elements of the adventures they invent right into their everyday lives. The visual cues provided by the illustrations also help kids to understand the more poetic tone of this book as compared with other early chapter books, which will give them a little more context for understanding Cameron’s style.

This book is so skinny it often gets lost on my library shelves. Now that I’ve read it, I can’t wait to recommend it to my early chapter book readers - especially the boys who need something beyond Magic Tree House and Star Wars.

I borrowed The Stories Julian Tells from my local public library. 
For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.

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Amelia Bedelia and the Baby. by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat. 1981. Greenwillow Books. 64 pages. ISBN: 9780688003166

Muddled, child-like Amelia Bedelia doesn't know a thing about babies (not even the fact that they're children!), so it's no surprise she doesn't make a very good babysitter. Still, despite her odd ways - allowing the baby to mash her own banana, powdering herself instead of the baby, and feeding the baby solid food before she's ready - she proves to be the exact kind of babysitter parents love to hire.

I was looking for a book to read to a first grade class on Read Across America Day when I came across Amelia Bedelia and the Baby. I remembered it instantly from my own childhood, when I read and re-read this series many times over. But as I told one of my coworkers when I finished reading this book, Amelia Bedelia's really not as funny as I thought she was as a kid. In fact, reading this book as an adult made me want to throttle Amelia Bedelia, and possibly Mrs. Rogers, too, for acting like her screw-ups are no big deal. I also felt a little bit guilty, as though the story was poking fun at a woman with a clear disability. Certainly, after many experiences with Amelia Bedelia, Mrs. Rogers would be on to the fact that this woman needs explicit instructions that can only be taken literally. But time and again, she fails to realize that Amelia Bedelia is wired differently and leaves her to fend for herself - and in this case, to care for an innocent child. I can usually turn off my adult brain when I read children's books, but this one made it nearly impossible.

I also decided not to read the book to first grade, not just because I didn't think it was funny and therefore didn't think I could sell it very well, but because of the somewhat dated language in it. Amelia Bedelia uses the word "plumb" a lot, which I have never actually heard a person use out loud (other than my sister, who as a child, pronounced it as plump, as in "I plump forgot.") I wasn't sure I'd be able to explain what that meant if the kids asked. And this did not figure into my decision, but I have also always wondered about that get-up she always wears. Where and when is she meant to be from?

Amelia Bedelia has had a makeover in recent years. Herman Parish now writes stories of an endearing literal-minded child where the character's behavior is much less disturbing, and even developmentally appropriate. I think these classics will always be popular because they do appeal to that six-year-old sense of humor, but it's tough being the adult who has to take them at least seriously enough to make the story sound exciting to the reader. I actually think the fact that this book no longer appeals to me says a lot for the author's ability to understand a child's mindset, but that doesn't mean I'll be seeking anymore of the original Amelia Bedelia stories any time soon.

I borrowed Amelia Bedelia and the Baby from my local public library. 
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The Cybil War is an Apple paperback published in 1981. The story is that of an elementary school love triangle wherein best friends Simon and Tony fight to win the affections of their classmate, Cybil Ackerman. Simon has been in love with Cybil since she was kind to him after his father moved out, but Tony, a notorious liar who isn't even allowed to attend his own sister's birthday party, is in it more for the competition. Cybil herself is more than worth the fight - she's smart and generous and compassionate, and possesses an inexplicable ability to rise above the antics of her classmates, even when they aim to hurt her feelings. Though the right choice for Cybil is pretty clear early on, it's still fun following the story to its satisfying conclusion.

I think this book captures the feelings of early crushes in a very innocent and pure way. There is no real romance in this book; rather, the love Simon feels for Cybil is a very noble form of admiration where he regards her with awe more than anything else. There are some references to dating, which, even 20 years ago, was not something that happened among elementary school kids I knew. There was some "going out" but that usually just meant holding hands and spending recess together, not going to the movies, as they do in this book. The storyline matches up better with sit-coms about school life than it does with real life. Maybe kids went on dates in 1981, but it seems like it happened much more in pop culture than in reality. The book also includes a pet show, which is definitely the kind of thing I think kids dream of having, even if they never actually do it. I can still imagine that piece of the story taking place in a contemporary book.

Because this book is by Betsy Byars, I expected it to be well-written, and I was not disappointed. I was also pleasantly surprised when I realized the book is still in print and available as an e-book! It's one of the few books about love that can appeal to boys or girls - and maybe even more to boys, given the male friendship at the center of the plot. The cover could use an update, but otherwise, I think the story is a perfect choice for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders who are taking their first tentative steps toward finding love.

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