Clara Lee is super excited for the Apple Blossom Festival. More than anything, she wants to be Little Miss Apple Pie and wear her beautiful red Korean dress and stand on a float and wave. But how can she compete with Dionne Gregory whose ancestors helped found the town and whose mother was Little Miss Apple Pie too? Clara Lee must find away to convince people that she is every bit as American as Dionne and just as deserving of the Little Miss Apple Pie Crown.
Infused with interesting cultural information about Clara’s Korean family, Jenny Han’s book is just terrific. It’s also jammed packed with figurative language which is great for young readers to see! Illustrations break up the text making it accessible for children who are transitioning towards more difficult chapter books.
This would be great choice for first or second graders who are reading well above grade level because the content is so accessible. It will be on level for most third grade students.
Great for: I would recommend this for lovers of Grace Lin’s The Year of the Dog 
Sex, Nudity, Dating – A boy wants to be Clara’s valentine for always but she just considers him a buddy.
Profanity – “darned”, “baha bighead” “pain in the you know what”, “bah humbug”
Death, Violence and Gore – Clara has dreams where her grandfather dies. There’s a bible reference to how Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. Clara tried to pinch her sister. She kicks someone. A man will take out his glass eye and let you look at it. There is more pinching. In a dream a bug sprays someone and a man throws apples at someone.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
