Lizzie Lies a Lot (1976) by Elizabeth Levy

 

Nine year old Lizzie is what her grandmother calls a born liar. She lies to get out of trouble, to make herself seem more important, to entertain people, and just for the hell of it.

 

 

 

As the story begins, Lizzie is taking verbal slings and arrows from her grandmother, Nana, an unpleasant old woman who lives with Lizzie and her parents. Nana never has a kind word to say to Lizzie and is constantly harping on her appearance ("she's not the prettiest girl in the world") and the things she does to get into trouble. To compensate for this, Lizzie tells a lie to her mother that she has been chosen as the star role in a dance assembly at school.

 

 

Lizzie and her friend Sara find a stray cat while playing at an abandoned construction site. Lizzie and Sara take the cat to Lizzie's house to plead her case about possibly staying. Nana has a fit and banishes the cat outside. To convince Sara that her mother will take the cat in, Lizzie tells her an elaborate story about how when her mother was a child, she had a kitten whom a crazy relative murdered in front of her. By the way, Lizzie's mother volunteers several afternoons a week at a hospital, and it seems maybe the author is saying that this is one of Lizzie's problems that have lead her to become a pathological liar. 

 

 

Lizzie's mother arrives home (from work - poor Lizzie), declares that she hates cats and has no idea what Sara is talking about when she mentions the traumatic childhood incident. Lizzie successfully interjects herself into the conversation and sways the subject away from her lie. Lizzie's father gets home and gently agrees with his wife and mother-in-law. No cat for Lizzie. The next day, she makes up a lie about her parents loving the cat but wicked Nana ruining the scenario by refusing to offer the creature a home. Lizzie has told so many lies that she must avoid Sara to keep her from finding her out.

 

 

However, one day Sara's mother has something to do (those darn modern mothers!) and drops Sara at Lizzie's house for the day. The girls play an imaginative game of cowgirls, but find they need some rope to tie up a pretend captive. Lizzie gets some clothesline, lying to Nana that her mother specifically said she could play with it. Sara ties Lizzie up too tightly and can't get the rope undone. Lizzie tells her she must go to another room to get the sharp scissors, and just for kicks, makes up a lie that Nana was the kitten killer from years past. Sara returns with the scissors and before she can get Lizzie untangled, Nana walks in. Nana overreacts as usual, acting as though something kinky had been going on.

 

 

Fed up with the lies, Sara shuns Lizzie the next day at school. Lizzie is so upset that she comes home and confesses that the dance assembly she'd been practicing for for weeks was all a big lie. Her clueless (working) parents are stunned. Nana is quietly accepting of the situation. She acts contrite for calling Lizzie a born liar. Lizzie is so out of sorts that her "Adam's apple bumps up and down her throat". This is a story about a girl, right? Lizzie's parents promise to help her try to stop lying. The book ends with Sara and Lizzie going back to the construction site to look for the cat. They never find her, but they become friends again.









What's For Lunch, Charley? (1961) by Margaret Hodges

 

Charley is an earnest little boy living with his parents in New York City.

 

the pencil line illustrations in this book make it hard to get a good picture

 

Every day Charley passes the elegant King Charles Hotel and the fancy shops that surround it. When Charley complains about the lunch his busy working mother packs for his school day, his father jokes that Charley should have lunch at the hotel.



 

 

When Charley gets to school he sees that a new student, Rosabelle Ruggles, has joined the class. Dazzled by Rosabelle's curly hair and pink nail polish, he forgets about the girl he used to like, friendly but plain Jane Lane, and immediately develops a crush on Rosabelle. There is no cafeteria in Charley's school, so the students either go home for lunch or eat at their desks. Rosabelle has an unusually delicious lunch - fried chicken, tomato soup, fruit salad and chocolate cake. Charley watches with wonder as she unwraps each item.

 



 

On his way home from school Charley stops to talk to the King Charles's affable doorman, Mr. Murphy. Inspired by Mr. Murphy's kindness, Charley decides to stop in at the King Charles candy shop to buy a valentine...for someone. The candy shop clerk allows Charley to buy one piece of candy for a quarter.

 



 

Because the candy shop lady was so nice, Charley has the confidence to go inside the men's shop next door and ask about the hatchet he saw in the window. The hatchet turns out to be the young employee's old Boy Scout hatchet. Charley and the young man bond over the fact that Charley is a Cub Scout. Feeling really bold now, Charley decides to visit the lady's shop next door...

 

"Excuse me," he said, very politely and very clearly. "I would like to look at your beaver."

 

Wait...WHAT? We were reading this sweet little story and now we're talking about looking at beavers? Sorry, couldn't resist. He's talking about a stuffed beaver in the window of the shop. The beaver is so old and worn out that it can't be used for show anymore and the shopkeepers agree to give him to Charley as soon as they change the window display for spring.

 

 

The next day starts off badly for Charley. He plays in the sink and makes himself late for school.

 

 

To add to his troubles, Charley has forgotten his lunch box. He sits in agony as his classmates take out their food and begin to eat. He notices that Rosabelle has the same large lunch she had the day before. Charley watches wistfully as Rosabelle eats, but Rosabelle doesn't look at him or offer him anything. Jane volunteers part of her lunch, but Charley refuses, having decided to eat at the King Charles Hotel.

 

 

Charley meets Mr. Murphy outside the hotel and tells him he will pay for his lunch with a silver dollar his father gave him. Mr. Murphy tells Mrs. Ruggles, the dining room hostess, to let him take care of the bill. Once again, the King Charles Hotel staff exhibits extraordinary hospitality as Mrs. Ruggles kindly takes Charley's order of chicken, tomato soup, fruit salad and chocolate cake. Charley isn't able to finish his lunch and is stunned when the waitress brings him the bill and he finds out the meal cost more than three dollars. Luckily, his father walks in just then on a business lunch and agrees to pay the bill. Before he leaves, Charley finds out that Mrs. Ruggles is Rosabelle's mother.

 

 

Charley catches up with his friend Wally, who saw him eating lunch at the hotel. They talk about Rosabelle and conclude that maybe she'll start talking to them when she's not so new. In the meantime, Charley is going to give his valentine to the more accessible Jane Lane because of all the nice things people did for him in this book, her offering to share her lunch was the nicest.













Class Pictures (1980) by Marilyn Sachs

 

In this short novel, Pat looks back on her friendship with a girl named Lolly by going through their class pictures.

 

these are just some unrelated pics I got from Google to spice up the post

When they meet in kindergarten, Lolly arrives new to school and the class popular girl Pat bites her cheek. When Pat later takes up for Lolly after she wets her pants, their friendship begins.

 

 

In first grade Pat saves Lolly's birthday party when the other kids refuse to come by telling them that anyone not at Lolly's party won't be invited to hers. At the time, Lolly was overweight and a big crier, so she wasn't the most popular student in the class. Pat lives with her single waitress mother, two little brothers and cranky grandmother, who weren't planning on throwing Pat a party in the first place. They do scrape together a party, and although it isn't as grand as Lolly's had been, the kids have a good time.

 

 

In second grade, Pat's and Lolly's class differences come to surface. Lolly's fussy, overprotective mother tries to encourage Lolly to play with girls from their own neighborhood, although these kids dislike Lolly. What's more, Lolly's mother inadvertently opens a can of worms when she tells Pat, during a conversation about genetics, that her father had to have brown hair and eyes like she does. It turns out that the blonde-haired man Pat thought was her father (who died in a car accident) was really her stepfather - her mother confesses she had been married before.

 

 

The third grade chapter is mostly filler, with Pat and Lolly looking at Grandma's old pictures and making paper dolls.

 

 

Fourth grade finds Pat in the gifted class, separated from Lolly. Being placed in the special class brings a newfound respect from Lolly's mother, but Pat is miserable and complains so much she's assigned to a regular class the next year.

 

 

In the fifth grade, Pat and Lolly endure chicken pox together and exchange valentines. Pat is still one of the most popular kids in the class, receiving 26 valentines to Lolly's five.

 

 

In sixth grade, the class has a picnic to commemorate the end of elementary school, Grandma starts dating a widower friend, and Pat says goodbye to a favorite teacher (who affectionately calls her "ugly duckling"). Pat's mother seems tired all the time now, but she makes it to Pat's graduation at the last minute.

 

 

In seventh grade, Grandma gets married (although she still calls her husband "Mr. Nagel") and Pat feels left out and finds it difficult to adjust to her absence. Her favorite teacher from elementary school, Mr. Evans, lets her conduct science experiments in his basement which definitely sounds a little iffy to twenty first century ears. Pat feels there is something different about Lolly this year and it isn't until she looks at their class picture that she realizes it is that she has become beautiful.

 

 





The world shifts in eighth grade, with Lolly becoming the popular one. She is the hit of every party and even convinces the shop teacher to allow Pat to take his class using her feminine charms. Pat can't help but feel a little jealous, especially when the boy she likes shows an interest in Lolly.

 

the president's class picture. can you find him?

When Pat is in ninth grade, her mother goes nuts and says some hateful things to her. Pat finds out that her mother lied about being married to her birth father and that she actually has no idea who he is. Lolly's family invites Pat on their ski trip, also renting ski equipment for her since her mother couldn't afford it. Pat and Lolly get into a deep discussion and both admit they have been jealous of each other at times.

 

 

In tenth grade, Pat continues to suffer the pains of being the less attractive friend. On a double date Lolly sets up for the two of them, both boys hang all over Lolly and ignore Pat.

 

 

Junior year, Pat wins an award for one of her experiments and Lolly leads an environmental club. Pat has guilt-ridden daydreams about Mr. Evan's wife dropping dead so she can have him to herself, all the while beginning her first romance with a boy her own age.

 

 

Senior year, Pat gets in trouble at an Anti-Nuke protest Lolly has orchestrated but is not allowed to attend. Pat and her boyfriend break up before prom, which upsets her mother. Pat finally confesses her love to Mr. Evans (whom she still calls Mr. Evans).

 

Mr. Evans later sends Pat a postcard signed "love, Jason" which probably isn't a good idea, and Pat tells Lolly about her feelings for him. Pat is going away to college and Lolly is moving out on her own with a roommate. Pat frets that the new girl will replace her as Lolly's best friend. The girls decide that things may change, but sometimes change has to happen for things to get better.







Kitty in the Middle (1979) by Judy Delton

 

Best known for the Pee Wee Scouts book series, Judy Delton first wrote Kitty in the Middle. I'm not sure whether the stories are based on Ms. Delton's childhood, but the novel feels autobiographical in tone. Set in the early 40's, the book covers the fourth grade year of Kitty's time in Catholic school with her two best friends, one shy and cautious, the other loud and mischievous. Except for the WWII mentions, the book could probably have taken place during any recent time period. Each chapter acts as a vignette, detailing a different adventure.

 

In chapter 1, the girls are assigned the meanest nun in the school as a teacher.

 

In chapter 2, Kitty gives away her favorite rosary for a paper doll.

 



 

In chapter 3, Sister Ursuline asks the class to name their bad habits. Unable to come up with one, Kitty lies and says she bites her nails. Feeling guilty about the fib, she really begins biting her nails. Her parents buy her a ring as a reward for breaking this habit.

 



 

In chapter 4, Kitty and friends crash a stranger's wedding   

 

 

Chapter 5 tells about Kitty's first crush, on a new boy in class. The school puts a ban on Valentine's Day, but Kitty manages to receive a Valentine from her crush anyway. At the end of the day, though, she's heartbroken to learn that he gave every girl in class the same Valentine.

 

In chapter 6 Kitty has problems in music class.

 

Chapter 7 is pretty standard for a book like this. The girls dare each other to visit a supposedly haunted house, but find out it is inhabited by an eccentric old lady.

 

In chapter 8, the old lady gives Margaret Mary a dress to wear to the school's May Day ceremony and the girls wax nostalgic about their friendship as the school year comes to a close.

 





The Mystery of Sara Beth (1981) by Polly Putnam

 

A new girl, Sara Beth, arrives at school. She is unresponsive when the other children try to befriend her.

 

 

Becky decides there must be something more to the situation than Sara Beth simply being shy. She begins to look for clues.

 

 

Becky checks out Sara Beth's shabby clothes, her schoolwork, her tendency to take home items she's not supposed to. But the biggest clue comes when Becky observes that Sara Beth loves taking care of the class guinea pigs one day and is deathly scared of them the next.

 

 

There could be only one explanation: Sara Beth is actually twins named Sara and Beth who take turns coming to school. Why, you ask? The parents could only afford one winter coat and thought this was the best solution.

 

 

The girls tell the teacher, and learn that there is a whole stash of winter clothing stored away for just such a purpose. The end.









Deenie (1973) by Judy Blume

 

Deenie is a beautiful, if somewhat vain twelve year old whose mother desperately wants to become a model. The agents Deenie is sent to note she is a pretty girl, but there is something strange in the way she walks. She also isn't picked for the school cheerleading squad which really meant a lot more to her than modeling.

 

Deenie has a rather snotty attitude in the beginning of the book. She avoids looking at anyone who isn't beautiful, snubs a classmate who has an annoying girl crush on her, steers clear of a neighbor who was in a wreck which left her handicapped and doesn't want to hold hands with her gym partner who has eczema.  

 

Her mother is downright horrible. Besides pressuring Deenie into a modeling career, she has decided, from birth, that Deenie is the beautiful one and Deenie's older sister Helen is the smart one and treats them both accordingly. A huge disservice to both girls. Deenie isn't expected to make good grades like Helen and thinks being a model or a homemaker are her only career options.

 

Everything changes when the gym teacher notices Deenie has a problem with her posture. She calls her in for a scoliosis test (they didn't do this routinely for all the girls back in the 70's?). Deenie is sent to specialists who confirm the diagnosis. The mom, as you've probably guessed, acts like a total drama queen about the situation, and Deenie is upset to overhear her parents arguing about her condition.

 

There is a really weird segue where, distressed at hearing her parents fighting, Deenie runs up to her room and starts masturbating. Because this is a Judy Blume book, if you are reading this as a twelve year old there is going to be something you've never heard of before, such as periods or wet dreams. In Deenie, it's masturbation.

 

Deenie decides that having an operation to treat her scoliosis is the lesser of two evils, but her doctor recommends that she wear a Milwaukee brace for four years, until she's stopped growing. Ms. Blume must have done her research, because we get to see exactly what it's like to be fitted for a scoliosis brace.

 

a brace similar to one Deenie would have worn

While waiting for her brace to be made, Deenie works up the courage to send an anonymous question to the gym teacher about whether or not it's okay for her to masturbate. We get a very positive and open response with the teacher telling the girls that it's normal and not to worry about the strange superstitions they've heard about the subject (making you go blind, break out in pimples, going deformed). Deenie is relieved to know masturbation is not the cause of her scoliosis. 

 

The moment of truth arrives and Deenie receives her back brace. When she gets home, in a fit of hysteria, Deenie hacks off all her hair like her namesake in Splendor in the Grass. Reactions at school range from those who look at her pityingly and ask if she's been in an accident to those who can't even look at her at all. Deenie's crush, Buddy, is amazingly supportive for an adolescent boy and the brace doesn't stop Susan from copying her.

 

The book's conclusion finds Deenie a more mature, compassionate person. She makes friends with the girl with eczema and stops judging people based on their appearances. Deenie begs her father to let her go without her brace for her friend's party, but in the end she realizes that he was right and she should wear it all the time. There is a minor subplot involving Deenie's sister falling in love with their father's employee and their mother standing in the way of that. The mother doesn't really change much.



You Shouldn't Have To Say Good-bye (1982) by Patricia Hermes

 

Sarah feels lucky to have such a fun, happy mother. Her best friend Robin's mother is suffering from clinical depression and rarely leaves the house. This causes Robin to act out by engaging in risky behavior like walking on a ridge on Sarah's roof and planning to perform a dangerous stunt at the school gymnastics show.

 

Sarah's luck soon runs out when her mother becomes ill with advanced melanoma. Both Sarah and her parents go through periods of anger and denial. There comes a time when Sarah's mother is sure she can beat the cancer and the family has a Christmas party for all their friends.

 

The good times can't last, however, and Sarah's mother is rushed back to the hospital. Sarah tunes out what is happening by ignoring the ringing phone and going to Robin's house while her mother is being admitted. While at her friend's house, Sarah learns that Robin's mother not only suffers from depression, but from agoraphobia and other fears as well. (She seems to have some anxiety that Sarah is there...This author was pretty cutting edge. Another one of her early books mentioned the "fainting game" that kids play to get high.)

 

Because of the uncertainty she feels about her own parents not attending the gymnastics show, Sarah plans her own risky stunt (jumping from the top of the ropes to the trampoline), but the girls cancel their plans when both sets of parents show up in the audience at the last minute.

 

The book reaches its tearful conclusion as Sarah's mother gets weaker and eventually dies on Christmas Eve. The dying scenes are quite emotional, with Sarah yelling in anger at what is happening and her parents equally upset. After her mother is gone, Sarah's father reveals that she had been writing in a diary for Sarah to read. An epilogue taking place a few months later finds Sarah reading the book and taking care of a new kitten.

 

Sarah's mother might have been a little more memorable had she not been quite so perfect, but the book was still pretty sad for a kids' book.