Clara has had trouble finding a true friend and when she finally does her friendship is severely tested when her friend Nettie undergoes a stroke. Any child who has suffered through a friend's devastating illness will recognize Clara's frustration, her valiant attempt to keep on hoping against the odds, and her final acceptance of the need to go on from where she finds herself after Nettie's recovery rather than holding on to how things were in the past. A heartfelt story, beautifully crafted.

Nancy Hope Wilson's Mountain Pose tells of Ellie, who receives an unexpected inheritance of family records when her estranged grandmother dies. Ellie finds the family farm and diaries a powerful connection to a veiled past: despite her father's warning she reads them and begins to understand the tensions which have divided their lives. Realistic and riveting.

This is a touching story of a boy who learns to deal with the the pain of seeing a friend grow old, a fear of residents in an old folks home and his own struggle with reading. An excellent book in its own right, it is also a treasure for teacher's to read aloud to students of most ages. The writing can be used not only as an example of a well-crafted story but as examples of figurative language. It is short enough to read in class and interesting enough to hold the attention of students.

I enjoyed the book, The Reason for Janey". This book deals with two girls who become friends and one of them is mentally retarded. Philly, one of the main characters goes through many changes and emotions in the book. Janey, who is retarded, learns to live with and cope with the fact that she has a disability. Philly in the beginning resents Janey however she soon overcomes these feelings and learns a secret from her mother's past that explains why Janey is now living with them. This book would be good to use if you come into contact with a mentally retarded person who becomes permanant in your life. I think it portrays how disabled people have feelings too. The author did a fantastic job writing this book.

Nancy Hope Wilson creates a great story in the pages of her book, The Reason for Janey. The story takes you through a short time in the life of Philura Higley Mason. During this time, Philly is dealing with her feelings towards her father, who is divorced from her mother. During each visit with her father, all Philly and her brother do, is eat take out and watch TV. She begins to feel that her father is not acting like a father at all, and she is angry with him for this. At the same time, Philly is learning to love Janey, an adult with a mental impairment, which her mother took in after the divorce. As Philly watches Janey learn and develop new skills, she starts to wonder about George G. Nicoletto, Janey's father. Wanting Janey to contact George C, Philly starts to research him, and the more she learns, the more she realizes that Janey's father was not a good man. However, at this point Janey wants to meet her father. Through all of this, Philly is determined to beat Danny Stapleton at the school science fair, and is looking for a topic. This book does a good example of showing the personal growth of a young girl. She begins to question areas of her life and is looking for answers, such as why her mother married her father. She goes about finding these answers, and not always in a way that is the most comfortable to her. The author does a great job of making the characters come to life, with problems that are closely related to real life. The reader can easily imagine himself/herself in the setting of the book. This is a greatly written story, that will capture the reader's attention, and make it hard to put down.

Philly, a young girl, tries to figure out why Janey, a woman with Down's Syndrome who has just moved in with them, fits into her family better than Philly's dad ever did. A wonderful book--I read it as a high school student and loved it. Kids everywhere will sympathize with Philly's Science Fair experiences. But it's not just a fun novel, it's also a sensitive portrayal of a woman with a disability. There's a moving bit describing a visit to the institution where Janey used to live.

I liked this book. You'd like this book if you are a kid and either plays clarinet or live on a farm. It's about a kid that lives on a farm.

The relationships of some of the characters in this story were hard to follow. The actual cause of death of her brother and how that related to her relationship with her friend, Zheng, should have been discussed earlier in the novel. Overall, I felt that this book was well written, but some crucial aspects were hazy.

This is a wonderful children's book for those who love Hudson automobiles. A simple but touching story, it parellels some of my own experiences with my grandfather's 1950 Hudson Commodore 6. It was fun to see such a story in print. I have read it to my kids (age 6,4 and 1). The two older ones thought it fun to have a story about the Hudsons their Daddy talks so much about. The youngest just wanted to drool on it. If you can find it, it is a neat book.