Jerry Spinelli Knows Kids

 I don't know how Jerry Spinelli does such a terrific job of getting inside kids' heads. Even in a short story such as The Library Card, the author has the reader experience a head-spinning amount of teen emotions. Crash and Loser both have endings that leave the reader rewarded and happy he or she got to spend time with these great characters. Before I read these books, I gave Hokey Pokey a try when it first came out, and couldn't get into it. But now I am very willing to give it another try! I also need to put Stargirl on my very long "want to read" list.