What's the Matter, Kelly Beans? - Hardcover

Kelly, an eight-year-old aspiring writer, is the oldest of three children and has just moved to a new house where she shares a room with her messy sister Erin. The only kids on her block are two boys who are friendly but don't share her interests. She thinks everyone in her family is wonderful at something except for her, until she finds a private place to write her book (about a girl who becomes wonderful), Victoria. There's very little to hold interest in this story; Kelly's problems are minor, of importance only to her, and she is so self- pitying she becomes unlikable. Enderle and Tessler (A Pile of Pigs, 1993, etc.) don't give Kelly enough personality to make her real; throughout the book, the action reads more like filler than plotting. Sims's trademark black-and-white drawings amiably assist in establishing the setting. (Fiction. 6-8) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 2^-4. Eight-year-old Kelly is sad and exasperated: her family has just moved, and she must share a room with her messy, little sister, Erin. She misses her old friends, and her only neighbors are boys who don't share her interests. Also, she is writing "a daring adventure," with a wonderful heroine, but needs a quiet place to work; she is always being grounded for circumstances beyond her control; and it seems everyone else in the family is wonderful except her. Beginning readers (especially those who are big sisters) will empathize with Kelly and share her pleasure when she saves the day at Erin's birthday party and finds a perfect ending for her story. Blanche Sims' lively drawings capture Kelly's frustration nicely and add to fun of this engaging chapter book. Chris Sherman