The sibling duo of Abigail and Jake aka the GreatOne and the Pain along with their cat Fluzzy narrate the compilation of stories by Judy Blume. In class Jake makes a mistake reading and is so embarrassed he vows never to read out loud again. Abigail argues with a classmate over a story her friend steals from her. Abigail and Jake butt heads and come together in a way all siblings can relate.
The stories are fraught with the high emotions of the very young. Blume accurately portrays the actions, thoughts and feelings of the youngsters. She uses a vocabulary suitable for beginning readers.
The negative I found was the over usage of he said/she said. It made the prose monotonous and predictable. I listened to the book and cannot comment on the art work. My review and ranking are based solely on the text.
Would have given a ranking of 3.5 stars.
What?s the difference between a friend and a fiend?
Jake is so embarrassed by a reading circle blunder, he vows never to speak in class again. Abigail believes she can no longer trust one of her best friends. Their teenage cousins have turned into fiends. And on the perfect snow day, who jumps on Jake and washes his face in snow? And who rescues him?