Beverly Cleary Author Study: Jean and Johnny

 No illustrations because this is another young adult book.

I don't know why the book cover has hamburgers on it because I don't remember them going out for burgers in the book, but clearly, as a burger fan, I'm here for it. They do talk on the phone so I get the phones, but hey.

This is another Beverly Cleary young adult book, but it's a bit more real than the previous two. Jean is hoping to meet her celebrity crush when an older boy from school approaches her and seems to take an interest in her. Jean is infatuated with Johnny and starts shifting her life and routine ever-so-slightly to "keep" him.

This reminded me a little too much of my first middle school crush, though Jean is 15 in the book. It's just that real, though it still seems pretty innocent compared to present-day relationships. I appreciate Cleary exploring something not as sunny as the YA books she's written before, where hurt feelings were just misunderstandings and the boy and girl were equally invested in each other.

Beverly Cleary Author Study: The Luckiest Girl

No illustrations because this is another young adult book.

Shelley feels stuck in her Oregon life, so when she has the opportunity to live her junior year with family friends in California, she jumps at the chance. Everything is so new and different that she feels confident being her real self in a way she didn’t in Oregon. On her first day of school, she meets Hartley, but she has her sights set on Phil, the tall, handsome basketball player who sits next to her in biology.

Again, this book is low stakes when compared to contemporary young adult fiction. “Quaint” is an appropriate term, but it’s a feel-good story and I think it’s worth the read for the fun of it, if not to also get a peek into how teenagers used to socialize and date.