My Own Two Feet

Starred review from September 4, 1995
This second installment of the Newbery Medalist's autobiography (after A Girl from Yamhill) begins during the '30s, with the young Cleary leaving her home state of Oregon to attend junior college in California. The volume ends in 1949, with Morrow's acceptance of Cleary's first novel, the now-classic Henry Huggins (initially written as a short story entitled ``Spareribs and Henry''). The author's unsentimental recollections of herself as a student in the Depression, a librarian and a newlywed are told humorously and candidly. Friends and adversaries-her ever-critical mother, formidable professors, congenial classmates, gentlemen acquaintances (including future husband Clarence)-are as colorfully sketched as the characters appearing in Cleary's beloved novels. Able to laugh at her own mistakes and to recognize universal truths in everyday life, Cleary will endear herself even more to her fans with this account of her struggle for independence. Ages 12-up.

September 1, 1995
Gr 7 Up-This sequel to A Girl from Yamhill (Morrow, 1988) begins with Cleary starting college. The only child of Depression-era parents, she leaves her Oregon home to live with relatives and go to school tuition-free in California. Her vivid recollections of the various stops on the bus; her room in her aunt's home; and her many friends, including a few romances, are continued evidence of this author's ability to convince readers. It's all in the details. Cleary handles her own life well, giving it the shape that real life most often does not have, offering readers a sense of what it was like growing up in the 1930s, going to college when it was not common for women to do so, marrying and working during World War II. She also has those incidents that are common in coming-of-age books, fiction or otherwise: young love, wardrobes, defying parents, a first apartment, a first job (as a children's librarian). The book ends with her first book, inspired by her inner drive to write books for children who are not committed readers. So the book ends with a beginning. YAs who grew up on Cleary's books will find this one readable and inviting as they mature into young adulthood.-Ruth K. MacDonald, Bay Path College, Longmeadow, MA

Starred review from August 1, 1995
Gr. 7 and up. Cleary begins the second part of her autobiography where "A Girl from Yamhill" (1988) ends, as she is about to depart for college. Much of Cleary's success as a writer comes from her ability to write so honestly. She almost never makes a misstep, and that's as true here as it is in her fiction. The language is plain, but the images evoked are vivid, and Cleary ably creates a portrait of an era as well as of herself. As she did in the previous volume, she writes quite candidly of her relationships. She does not sugarcoat her relationship with her mother, and the keen eye for human nature that has served her so well over the years is put to good use here as she describes family members, co-workers, and cohorts. Of course, there is a question of audience. In addition to Cleary's college years, this memoir covers the courting and wedding of Beverly and Clarence Cleary and her work as a librarian during World War II. The book's most appreciative audience will be several generations of adults who have grown up with Cleary's books, but there's certainly a place for this on youth shelves as well. Older kids will find it a welcome change in the biography section. For one thing, it's so much better written than many titles found there; for another, the subject is much better loved. ((Reviewed August 1995))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1995, American Library Association.)