Recent Reads: Oh My Darlin’

I’ve been meaning to write about Clementine for ages.  I absolutely love her.  What a wonderful new character for young readers.  I can now add Clementine to my list of great female characters – Anne Shirley, Ramona Quimby, Elizabeth Bennet – and now Clementine.  All of these characters share certain qualities – intelligence, wit, imagination, loyalty.  But what gives them all depth and makes them memorable are their flaws – a bit of a temper, a lack of restraint when it comes to speaking their minds, stubbornness.  Clementine and her adventures made me laugh out loud and warmed my heart.

There are now three books in this fantastic series by Sara Pennypacker.

In the first title in the series, simply titled Clementine, our heroine demonstrates her admirable friendship skills by assisting her friend Margaret with a hair emergency.  Unfortunately, her efforts don’t exactly have the intended effect and Clementine spends the rest of the book dealing with the consequences from this episode and other mishaps as well.

Next in the series is The Talented Clementine.  When Clementine’s class begins planning a talent show, Clementine searches desperately to find her own talent.  Inevitably, her search leads to lots of laughs.

The most recent Clementine is Clementine’s Letter.  Just when Clementine is getting in the groove with her teacher, who actually understands her and her little quirks, she discovers that he has been entered in a contest.  If her teacher wins the contest, he’ll be sent to Egypt on an archaeological dig, meaning Clementine will have to start all over with another teacher, a prospect she isn’t too excited about.

I loved all three of these books.  There is no diminishing quality with each new volume as sometimes happens with series.  If anything, each book is better than the last as Clementine’s character is further developed.

I actually listened to all three titles on audio.  The very talented Jessica Almasy lends her voice to all three, and she does a fantastic job.  She has the perfect voice for a young character, but she’s also able to express all of Clementine’s emotions, from confusion to embarrassment to exasperation.  Incidentally, Almasy also narrates the wonderful Rules by Cynthia Lord.

If you don’t know Clementine yet, it’s high time that you meet her!