Veronica is a girl using her fashion sense as an employee in the local vintage thrift store. She's a girl with amazing confidence in choosing her clothing, but having been hurt in the past as an overweight child and now teen, she's doesn't have the same confidence in finding or choosing friends. Tempted to be drawn in by the "it" girls, Veronica may lose the first true friendship and romance she's ever had.
Author Erica S. Perl creates vivid characters who will pull you directly into their lives turning inside the Clothing Bonanza store The thrift shop is a character in itself. You will definitely wish you could shop there!
I raced through Vintage Veronica worrying about the protagonist's choices every step. Her strengths are admirable, her hesitations understandable, and her failures palpable. Veronica and her friends feel like your own friends by the last page. Find it, rgz. And don your own fifties skirt for the day!
Vintage Veronica
by Erica S. Perl
Knopf, 2010
Dotty
By Erica S. Perl
Illustrated by Julia Denos
Abrams Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8962-7
$16.95
Ages 4-8
On shelves now.
Seems to me that picture books get split into very particular genres pretty quickly. I actually keep lists of them on my computer at work, depending on how many requests I receive. There are the Bully picture books. The Dinosaur picture books. The People in Our Community picture books. And then there are two genres that sometimes get split up and sometimes merge together. These would be the Invisible Friend picture books and the Starting School picture books. Now you’ll see a fair amount of bringing your blankie to school picture books out there (Owen being the best example). And you’ll see more than a few anxiety-ridden titles. Imaginary friends at school books are rarer, though you do see them occasionally (the Kevin Henkes title Jessica comes immediately to mind). Now with Dotty we’ve a title that takes two different ideas, combines them, and comes up with a way of showing that putting away childish things is a selective process.
On the first day of school Ida takes care to bring with her a new lunchbox, a pair of striped leggings, and her imaginary friend Dotty. Dotty resembles nothing so much as a benign combination of cow and toadstool. At school, Ida discovers that many of her classmates have similar companions. There are Max’s twin sea serpents, Benny’s razor-toothed R.O.U.S., and Katya’s doodle-brought-to-life Keekoo. As the school year progresses, however, Ida discovers that more and more of her schoolmates have stopped bringing their friends to class. By the time spring comes around Ida is on the receiving end of the now worldly Katya’s teasing and she reacts angrily. The two girls write “apology” notes, and then Ida has a discussion with her teacher Ms. Raymond. After promising that she’ll explain to Dotty that pushing people is inappropriate, Ida spots a red leash belonging to her teacher, not dissimilar at all from Dotty’s leash. It may well be that special friends are the kinds you keep with you always.
Essentially, in this book you’re looking at the changes a kid goes through in the course of a single year of school. With that in mind, Perl’s choices are pretty interesting. For example, Ida’s friend Katya begins the book with a tiny imaginary friend that swings on her braids. Later she gets a haircut and keeps the creature in her pocket secretly. That haircut sort of marks a rite of passage for Katya. The growing out of imaginary friends is shown in different ways. I would have liked some clarification on what grade Ida was in, of course. This seems to be her first day of school ever, which would mean that this is Kindergarten. Still, these kids look older than Kindergarteners, and the pseudo-apologetic notes written near the end are more 1st or 2nd grade material.
2 Comments on Review of the Day: Dotty by Erica S. Perl, last added: 10/9/2010
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2 Comments on Review of the Day: Dotty by Erica S. Perl, last added: 10/9/2010
This looks great, I wish I could see the glitter you mention–I’ll definitely be tracking this one down. Also thanks for the Yellowbelly mention!
I”ve also noticed that glitter is often only on the first printings of books and doesn’t always continue when it gets reprinted. (unless it’s a supper seller like Fancy Nancy.)