the year of billy miller by kevin henkes

Finished illustrations not seen.Ī fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on-but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. Small, precise black-and-white drawings punctuate and decorate the pages.Ī long-running series reaches its closing chapters. Billy’s slightly dreamy interior life isn’t filled with either angst or boisterous silliness-rather, the moments that appear in these stories are clarifying bits of the universal larger puzzle of growing up, changing and understanding the world.

Henkes offers what he so often does in these longer works for children: a sense that experiences don’t have to be extraordinary to be important and dramatic. Her pillowcase full of the plush yellow whales she calls the Drop Sisters (Raindrop, Gumdrop, etc.) is a memorable prop. The wonderfully self-possessed Sal, his 3-year-old sister, is to Billy much as Ramona is to Beezus, but without the same level of tension. Four sections-Teacher, Father, Sister and Mother-offer different and essential focal points for Billy’s life, allowing both him and readers to explore several varieties of creative endeavor, small adventures, and, especially, both challenges and successful problem-solving. Billy Miller’s second-grade year is quietly spectacular in a wonderfully ordinary way.īilly’s year begins with his worry over the lump on his head, a souvenir of a dramatic summer fall onto concrete: Will he be up to the challenges his new teacher promises in her letter to students? Quickly overshadowing that worry, however, is a diplomatic crisis over whether he has somehow offended Ms.

The year of billy miller by kevin henkes