Synopses & Reviews
When ten-year-old Celie’s father gives her a journal and a punching bag for her birthday, he tells her they’ll help her work through her feelings, and wow—does she have feelings to work through. Her best friend Lula isn’t speaking to her, her sister Jo locks her out of their room to hang out with her new, cooler friend, and her Granny is suddenly behaving in the most perplexing manner. Good thing Celie's armed with a grape-flavored pen and a solid sense of humor. This pitch-perfect chapter book, told through Celie’s journal entries, notes, emails, and even homework assignments will engage readers who love Clementine and Ivy and Bean, among other plucky girl heroines.
Review
* andquot; . . . Wrightand#39;s spot-on black-and-white illustrations perfectly complement Sternbergand#39;s text. . . This satisfying slice-of-life story about the permutations of friendship and family resonates.andquot; --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Review
andquot;As she did in Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and its sequels, Sternberg exposes the travails of adolescence with authenticity and humor in this first volume of the Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine series. . . andquot; --Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Meet Celie Valentine, a tween dealing with a lot of changes in her life Ten-year-old Celie has quite a few things on her mind--fights with her sister Jo, secrets at school, an increasingly forgetful grandmother, and worst of all, a best friend who won't speak to her. How can a girl who hates change survive, when everything in her life is changing? By writing in her top-secret diary, of course. Being ten is hard. Just ask Celie, who is at this moment:
- Feuding with her best friend Lula (does she count as a best friend if she won't even talk to Celie?)
- Keeping secrets (from everyone)
- Spying on her parents (and maybe reading emails that don't belong to her)
- Trying to figure out why her Granny is behaving so strangely (like freezing her trash)
- Maybe--just maybe--stopping mean girls from ruling the day (well, at least one super-mean girl)
Celie's often comical and always heartfelt diary entries include notes, e-mails, homework assignments, and pages from her top-secret spy notebook. Here is the perfect tween series for young readers ages 8 - 12
Synopsis
Ten-year-old Celie has quite a few things on her mindfights with her sister Jo, secrets at school, an increasingly forgetful grandmother, and worst of all, a best friend who wont speak to her. How can a girl who hates change survive, when everything in her life is changing? By writing, of course. Celies often comical and always heartfelt diary entries include notes, e-mails, homework assignments, and pages from her top-secret spy notebook.
About the Author
Julie Sternberg is the author of the best-selling Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and its sequel, Like Bug Juice on a Burger. Formerly a public interest lawyer, she is a graduate of the New School's MFA program in Creative Writing, with a concentration in writing for children. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. juliesternberg.com.
Johanna Wright lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, fuzzy cats, and two young children. She's illustrated Clover Twig and the Magical Cottage, Clover Twig and the Perilous Path, and several picture books, including The Secret Circus and Bunnies on Ice. johannawright.com.