Beverly Cleary

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-The first few chapters in Cleary contain biographical information that gives readers a sense of the person. Succeeding chapters discuss the author's writing process and summarize several of her books. Avi begins in much the same way. However, the chapters that discuss his writing contain more analysis than the summaries found in Peltak's book. For example, when discussing his historical novels, authenticity and research are emphasized. However, even though his Breakfast Serials publications are discussed, there is no mention of the names of any of the newspapers in which they appear. In both books, most of the poorly reproduced photos are generic, with a forced relationship to the subject; e.g., shots of UCLA at Berkeley in Cleary and the entrance to New York Public Library in Avi. On the surface, the back matter looks extensive. However, the list of works by Cleary does not include her two autobiographies and the further-reading section lists only articles. Also, readers are told that nearly every book has received an award but not which ones, except her Newbery and National Medal of Arts. The opposite is the case in Avi, in which starred reviews in professional journals are listed as awards. Readers will be better off with Beverly Cleary's two autobiographies and Michael Sommers's Avi (Rosen, 2004), and/or Cathryn M. Mercier and Susan P. Bloom's Presenting Avi (Gale, 1997), which includes some biographical information with greater detail about his work.-Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.