Sassy #1: Little Sister Is Not My Name
Grade 2–4—Nine-year-old Sassy usually is the one who gets stuck with the last piece of chicken or the last choice of jelly beans in the bowl because she is the youngest and smallest member of the Sanford clan. Her stature has earned her the nickname Little Sister, much to her chagrin. Sassy feels there's a special sparkly part hiding deep within her; it just needs some help to shine through. At times the story seems a little too pat and clichéd. It's what's inside that counts, Grammy tells the child. The chapter book is short on plot and conflict, but is full of strong, believable characters. Draper is at her best when describing people. "Daddy says I have a Krispy Kreme face, warm and sweet, but who wants to look like a doughnut?" Readers will get a kick out of some of the vignettes as when Sassy's classmate gets his head stuck between the rungs of a chair or when her brother's bladder is about to burst on the elevator. A likable enough story, but not an essential purchase.—Beth Cuddy, Seward Elementary School, Auburn, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.