Amber Brown goes fourth

Review by Booklist Review

Gr. 2^-4. Amber Brown is back, her voice as funny and vulnerable as ever. She's entering fourth grade in a panic. Her parents are newly divorced; her best friend has moved away. How will she cope? She doesn't win the playground burping contest, but she does make a new friend and begins, very reluctantly, to think about accepting her mother's serious boyfriend. Better than You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown [BKL Mr 15 95], this simple chapter book has the immediacy of the first title, Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon (1994). Fans will recognize the mundane and the cosmic when Amber Brown goes "forth." --Hazel Rochman

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-4‘In the third entry of this popular series, Amber Brown begins fourth grade without her best friend, Justin, who has moved. Still unhappy over her parents' divorce, she doesn't want to meet the man her mother is seeing. To top it off, instead of going to Justin's house after school, she has to go to Elementary Extension. Determined not to let her problems get her down, she makes a new friend (after a few false starts), participates in a burping contest, and eventually realizes that her mother, too, needs to move on with her life. Reluctant and beginning readers will be drawn in by Danziger's present-tense, staccato style and by the short chapters. Kids coping with problems similar to Amber's will find encouragement, sympathy, and an upbeat way of taking responsibility for solving them. Entertaining and satisfying, this is a first purchase, whether or not the rest of the series is owned.‘Connie Parker, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Cleveland, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

Amber Brown dreads entering fourth grade without her best friend, Justin. In this third book about the spunky, strong-willed Amber, she finds a new friend -- one she can earn detention with as they laugh uncontrollably together. This appealing chapter book will please those who have met Amber in her earlier adventures and will satisfy anyone looking for an enjoyable, accessible, and well-written story. From HORN BOOK 1995, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Now that her best friend has moved away, Amber (Amber Brown Is not a Crayon, 1994, etc.) is facing fourth grade and the difficulty of finding a new best friend in a class where everyone has already paired off. Meanwhile Amber's mom, recently divorced, is finding her own new best friend, Max, and Amber doesn't like it one bit. At once lighthearted and poignant, this is a clever continuation of Amber's funny first-person narration of the everyday ups and downs of her life. Everything in the story is slightly idealized: Her teachers are gifted, her mom is kind, Max is understanding, and Amber is witty beyond her years. Seasoned with puns and repartee, and leavened with a bit of insight, this easy chapter book is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Chapter One "You're the kid who has to put her right shoe on before her left." The salesman comes up to me with the foot-measuring thing. "Yup." I nod. "You remember!" "How can I forget?" The salesman puts my right foot into the measurer. "The one time I didn't do it your way, you refused to get any shoes . . . . and you accused me of ruining your day . . . . and you threatened to report me to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Who Need to Put Their Right Shoe On Before Their Left." I hold out my right foot and wonder why he's acting like that's so strange. I'm sure that I'm not the only person in the whole entire world who likes to have some things done a certain way. With the way my life goes, it's nice to be sure of some things . . . and I'm sure that I like to put my right shoe on before my left. It makes me feel weird if my left shoe goes on first. In fact, it messes up my entire day. A little kid comes over and grabs my foot, the left one. "Foot," she says. Her mother picks her up. "Sorry she's bothering you. She's learning the names for body parts." I'm glad that the foot is the part of the body she decided to name. All around us there are kids . . . . trying on shoes . . . . blowing up balloons . . . . . yelling, "I want those"; "I hate those." One kid is throwing a temper tantrum because his mother won't buy him sandals for school. The salesman continues, "And you've got that very colorful name." I sigh. My mother looks at her watch. He thinks for a minute. "Ebony Black. . . . . No, that's not it. Pearl White. No." "AMBER BROWN," I remind him, "and I don't like to be teased about it." "Isn't there another family that you always come in with to buy shoes for the new school year?" he asks. "With two little boys, one about your age?" "They've moved away," my mother says softly. All of a sudden, I get this empty feeling inside of me. This will be the first time in my life that I'll be starting school without my best friend, Justin Daniels. I try not to think about it. I've been trying not to think about it all summer, especially since I got back from England with my aunt Pam. My mother puts her hand on mine. "She'd like to see the sneakers with the rhinestones on them." The man puts down the measurer and looks up information on a card file. "She's grown. Up another shoe size. . . . . Oh, well . . . . it could have been worse. She could have grown another foot. Then you'd have to buy three shoes." He laughs at his own joke. "Just a little shoe-business humor." As he goes to the back of the store, he sings, "There's no business like shoe business." I look at my mother. She looks at me and shrugs. "The shoes are good quality and cheaper here than the other store. I know he drives you nuts . . . but think what you would be like if you had to be with children and their feet all day." "It would be a real feat." I giggle. "You would have to put your heart into it, body and soles." We both start to laugh. By the time the guy comes back, my mother and I are both singing, "There's no business like shoe business." He joins in. I try on my new shoes. They're perfect. Excerpted from Amber Brown Goes Fourth by Paula Danziger All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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