The Day Joanie Frankenhauser Became a Boy
Grade 4-6–When her new teacher mistakes her name as John, Joan, 10, runs with it joyfully, through the football field, bike-riding, writing Superkid adventure stories, and engaging in other boy behavior. Life as a boy, however, doesn't turn out to be as free and fun as she'd assumed it would be. Boys, too, have social pressures. The central tenet of the plot is a bit much to swallow for this day and age; boy and girl behavior is simply not this stratified anymore (what teacher will recommend psychological counseling for a girl just because her stories feature ninja fights?), and one can only hope that small towns as safe-feeling as Yardville, PA, still exist. Suspending doubt, however, isn't too difficult, as the book is very readable, well-paced, and rather engaging given the predictability of the characters and their inevitable outcomes.–Rhona Campbell, Washington DC Public LibraryCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.