Clementine, Friend of the Week by Sara Pennypacker 161 pages

Fans of Ramona, Amber and Junie B., hope that you have met the new girl on the block, Clementine. Actually, she is not all that new -- she has starred in three previous titles, but I want to make sure that you make her acquaintance. Clementine's neighbor, Margaret is a year older than Clementine and never lets her forget her vast knowledge and experience. In this episode, Clementine becomes obsessed with a third grade rite of passage, "Friend of the Week". The whole classroom takes turn creating a booklet about each other and Clementine wants hers to be the best. So she starts a campaign to create favorable impressions. Some of her ideas, drawing tattoos with permanent markers don't turn out quite as she expected. And then a crisis occurs. Her pet, Moisturizer (a cat) disappears and she is distraught. Charming chapter book with frequent black and white illustrations make this a winner for third / fourth grade girls or even a family read aloud for younger children.