This book is a Guided Reading Level: 0. It is a DRA equivalent 34.
I would consider this to be on-level for readers at the beginning to middle of Grade 3.
Clementine is a third grader who always seems to be getting into mischief. Clearly this is a common occurrence in children’s books. For the most part, Clementine’s problems arise because she really, honestly just sees things differently than adults do. The window into how her mind works is astounding at times! At the beginning, Clementine is just trying to help out her best friend Margaret who has gotten glue in her hair. One thing leads to another and between the principal, Margaret’s mom and her own parents, Clementine has got a lot of explaining to do.
The mischief in this book is mostly funny, not the kind that usually irritates me. I really, really liked that at first it seemed that it was born of camaraderie, the type of scrapes friends get into when they exercise their brilliant plans on each other. I found it incredibly disappointing that it sort of morphed into Clementine secretly being mad at her friend. It went from a third grade Thelma and Louise (us girls doing wild things that only we understand) situation to an incredibly dull “girls are mean to each other, even their best friends” situation in a matter of pages. While it does turn out well in the end, I really preferred the book when it was Clementine and Margaret against all those adults who just don’t get it, rather than against each other. Boo.
Verdict: It was a lot more complex than I’d expected. I’d been a bit guilty of judging a book by its friendly accessible cover. Read on for the pros and cons.
What’s good for younger readers? Well, to begin with, it still has pictures. Black and white sketches, not lovely color ones, but they are there, and they are frequent, with one every few pages or so. Clementine may be in third grade, but a lot of her thinking and impulsivity is more in line with younger children, who I think will really appreciate the scrapes she gets herself into.
What’s not: Clementine does a lot of stream-of-consciousness thinking. This could be very confusing to some readers. She also invents new words and misuses familiar ones (for example when she means hysterical she writes historical). Overall the inner workings of her mind are complicated.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Clementine notices the lunch lady and the janitor kissing in his car. Margaret’s mother goes to the movies with her “special friend”. Clementine tells us this means her boyfriend. Clementine does not want a husband when she grows up.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Clementine misses her cat who died.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Clementine says she wants to smoke cigars when she grows up.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
