Project Best Friend

March 15, 2017
Grades 2-5 Penelope doesn't ask for much; she just wants to be perfect. She keeps her room just so, is always on time, and helps out when needed. Sometimes, though, she feels as if there's another Penelope living inside of her, one who is bossy and easily frustrated. Now she has a new project: acquiring a best friend. A new girl is starting at Chelsea Primary, and Penelope decides that she will be a perfect best friend. Things don't start out that way, and Penelope sees her project dissolving into nothing. Then she gets advice from Grandpa about not trying so hard, and as difficult as it is for her, she takes his advice and finds that everything does get a little easier. Penelope's first-person narrative at times seems a little stilted, but following her thought processes offers insight into a certain kind of child. (We likely all knowor area Penelope.) The delightful, small black-and-white illustrations with their elegant captions sprinkled throughout round out the book, well, perfectly!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)