I was the luckiest girl in my family as I was the oldest. Typically we got three new outfits as the school year began and they rotated with our older clothes, which in turn became hand-me-downs. My parents were strict and we had little extra money to indulge me and my sisters in the latest trends of kids’ fashion. She stood out like a sore thumb, much to her dismay and humiliation. Shelley, the girl, wanted a yellow slicker like all of the other girls in her class, but her parents refused and Shelley was stuck with the pink coat. The cover depicted a girl in a pink raincoat with a black velvet collar. I think I must have read it in 1962 around the age of 12. It was published in 1958 - just imagine! It was a coming of age story for pre-teens, a romance which set in place my longstanding partiality for this genre. She is most well-known for her funny, laugh-aloud, homespun tales featuring Henry Huggins, Beezus, Ramona (the Pest) and the Mouse and the Motorcycle, all beloved characters who have stood the test of time and are still well-read today.Īside from a biography about Queen Elizabeth and her playhouse, which I mentioned several years ago on this blog, the earliest “novel” I recall reading was the Luckiest Girl by Beverly Cleary. Today is the 100 th birthday of outstanding children’s author Beverly Cleary.
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