Second Grade Rules, Amber Brown

Everything about Amber Brown's second-grade experience is positive until she discovers how hard it is to be neat. She's been getting better at math, tolerates her friend Justin's chicken jokes, and is the "pocket queen" when she wears two pairs of overalls. But she's despondent when treats and ribbons are given for clean desks. What will it take for Amber to master the skill of neat desk-keeping? Dana Lubotsky has the earnest and childlike voice of a dedicated student. She projects Amber's anxiety at her own lack of organization, dragging out words and phrases to mirror Amber's slow feet and lack of action. Conversely, Lubotsky exudes joy, as only a second-grader can, with Amber's success. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

July 19, 2004
Second Grade Rules, Amber Brown by Paula Danziger, illus. by Tony Ross, shows evidence of the "characteristic love of puns and her kid-targeted sense of humor" that PW praised in earlier installments about the spunky gal. Here, Amber struggles to keep her desk neat in hopes of being rewarded by a visit from Deskarina, the "desk fairy." .