Completely Clementine

February 1, 2015

Gr 2-4-Third grade is ending and Clementine feels anxious as the school year comes to a close. She does not like saying goodbye, and she's especially not ready to bid farewell to Mr. D'Matz. She's also worried about her mother's nutty "nesting" behavior as the new baby's birth approaches, and she's so mad at her dad she isn't speaking to him. Everything wraps up neatly by the end, though, and Clementine is finally ready to face the summer and embrace the unknowns of fourth grade. Clementine is just as fresh and funny in this seventh and final title in the series as she was in the first book. It's sure to be popular for readers already familiar with Clementine and will doubtlessly engender a new set of fans to read each of the books about this entertaining character. VERDICT This last title in the popular and laugh-out-loud chapter book series is a must-have for library collections.-Gaye Hinchliff, King County Library System, WA

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2015
Antic third-grader Clementine faces her biggest challenge yet: looming change. It's the last week of school before summer, and everyone is excited except for Clementine, who definitely does not feel ready for fourth grade. Whenever her beloved Mr. D'Matz tries to talk about it, Clementine avoids the subject. Fortunately, she's got a few things to keep her occupied. Classmates Maria and Rasheed are planning their wedding, and Clementine is deeply involved, acting as proxy wedding planner since her bossy upstairs neighbor, Margaret, is an expert. Her mother is expecting a new baby, "nesting" in ever more comical fashion, and Clementine is working hard on a good name for the tyke. Perhaps hardest of all, vegetarian Clementine is subjecting her father to the silent treatment, since he will not give up meat. While it's gratifying to see how much Clementine has grown-much as Clementine might herself suspect she hasn't-this outing doesn't pack the punch of previous books. The wedding subplot in particular feels superfluous, and both Clementine's apprehension about change and her insistence on the moral high ground feel deserving of center stage. Still, her ebullience will likely carry readers past this to the valuable understanding that change will come and sometimes the best you can hope for is a compromise. Though looser in weave than previous appearances, still this provides the emotional honesty readers have come to expect. (Fiction. 6-10)

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February 1, 2015
Grades 1-3 Rambunctious Clementine is back, and with third grade almost over, she has calmed down and grown up. At least that's what her favorite teacher, Mr. D'Matz, thinks. Actually, Clementine is not ready to leave her teacher. She is also not ready to end a standoff with her father: she wants him to go vegetarian (regularly handing him drawings of sad animals), and he refuses. And if all that isn't enough, the new baby is expected soon. Pennypacker puts a pleasing bow on the popular series, giving Clementine a complicated family situation to deal with and allowing her to explore the feelings that come with being angry at someone you love. Ingenious, too, is the way she finds for Clementine to finally resolve the situation, reminding readers that love can be as important as taking a stand. Frazee's illustrations always charm, and that's true here. Although readers may be disappointed that Clementine and Mr. D'Matz don't get a face-to-face good-bye, the poignant ending still works its magic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2015
In this series-ender, third grade is almost over, but Clementine is far from ready to say goodbye to her familiar classmates and supportive teacher. Mr. D'Matz keeps trying to tell her about all the ways she's grown and changed since entering his class (Clementine, rev. 1/07, and sequels), but all Clementine hears when he talks about baby chicks ready to spread their wings is "his favorite story about how great it is when perfectly happy, unsuspecting birds get kicked off their branches." Meanwhile, she's not speaking to her father over an argument about vegetarianism, her new baby sibling is due any day, and her friend Margaret's mother is about to get married. All this change and clamor is handled with the series's signature light touch, mixing compassion, humor (often a function of Clementine's tart perspective on various situations), and respect for Clementine's very real, very relatable anxieties. The plot unfolds gently onward, seamlessly interweaving threads that are just right for their audience. Frazee's breezy pen-and-ink half-page, full-page, and spot illustrations capture Clementine's frenetic energy and goofy panache to expand upon already rich portrayals of her frazzled-but-loving parents, patient teacher, and similarly beset classmates. A warm, bittersweet sendoff for a beloved literary friend. claire e. gross

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)