Girl in Progress
Reviews | Agnes Honors
Can you become a new version of
you?
Agnes Parker is trying to become. . . well, not someone else exactly, but just a better version of the girl she's always been. One who's not such an easy target for bully-girls like Peggy Neidermeyer, and who can be as confident and clever as her best friend Prejean. Getting glasses doesn't exactly help Agnes's mission, but a view of the amazing new boy in class just might.
Is he actually looking back at her? Will she actually be able to talk to him? Or will she be, as always, the same old Agnes? Maybe . . . not!
Surprises,
fun, and a new friend all await within the pages of this wise and funny
chronicle of one go-for-it girl's life in progress.
"In this
accomplished first novel, O'Dell probes the sixth-grade mindset
pithily and perceptively."
Publisher's Weekly, starred review
"...[I]t's what you might call a cusp-of-coming-of-age novel--and
a thoughtful, gently humorous, resonant one at that."
The Horn Book Magazine
"This satisfying and good-humored story will leave readers hoping
for Agnes Parker's return."
School Library Journal
"O'Dell creates some of
the liveliest characters in recent young adult fiction. Agnes is a great
everygirl, with a touch of resourcefulness and heart thrown in, and her
sidekick Prejean is sassy and outgoing. Neidermeyer is one of the best
girl bullies to appear in years. The events in the story are told with the
right mix of zaniness and sincerity, and they avoid sentimentality and
overstatement. O'Dell is clearly in tune with young teenage girls and
understands their embarrassments and their triumphs. She credits Beverly
Cleary as an inspiration, and it is evident that Agnes is the literary
offspring of Ramona. Readers can only hope to continue to watch her
progress."
VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)
Publisher's Weekly Flying Start
International Reading Association/CBC Children's Choice
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Master List
Children's Literature Choice List 2004
Banks Street College Best Books List
Books By Kathleen O'Dell:
Agnes
Parker...
Girl in Progress
Do you need information for a book report? My email address is: kathleenodell5@hotmail.com
But be warned! I'm often out of town and need plenty of time to respond. Please give me a couple of weeks to answer! I'd hate to disappoint you...