Product Description

A 1998 National Book Award Finalist

Eleven-year-old Amanda Woods is discovering that the person other people think she is and the person she really is are not the same. So she changes her name from bland Amanda Woods to Amanda K. Woods--someone who is proud and strong and sure of herself. And that small change sets off a chain reaction, leaving Amanda--and the whole Woods family--entirely different. Ann Cameron's first novel for middle readers is every bit as insightful as her best-selling chapter books--and her fans will take Amanda to their hearts.

"Cameron displays a virtuoso gift for precision, telling observations, and creative but unforced imagery... her negotiation of the delicate nuances of the myriad relationships between people will open the eyes of many readers attempting to do the same." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"Amanda K. Woods is a girl to like--she just doesn't know it yet. She's quirky, serious, impulsive, imaginative, perceptive, smart, and now, sharp...Amanda is the story, and she's as funny as she is wise." --Kirkus Reviews, pointer review

* A 1998 National Book Award Finalist
* A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book

* A Puffin Novel
* 208 pages
* Ages 10-14

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1138324 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-13
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .61" h x 5.14" w x 7.74" l, .36 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 208 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This National Book Award finalist, set in 1950s Wisconsin, centers on an 11-year-old girl's coming of age. PW called her transformation "less dramatic than a butterfly's metamorphosis, but just about as impressive." Ages 10-14. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6AWhen her best friend, Lyle Leveridge, moves away, Amanda is convinced that she will never be happy again. Growing up during the 1950s in rural Wisconsin, she feels isolated and lonely. Her older sister Margaret is far too pretty and smart to be an ally, her mother holds herself aloof from the community, and her father is distant. Gradually, Amanda's luck changes-she makes a new friend, gains a French pen pal, does better at school, and forges a closer bond with her father. Despite some lovely moments, the slow-moving plot and lack of drama in Amanda's situation will discourage most readers. The writing sometimes sparkles but mostly drags. Many of the events strain credibility (the pen pal comes to visit despite Amanda's explicit plea not to; her father suddenly finds courage to disagree with his snobbish and controlling wife). Also, the cultural references (Pat Boone, Patti Page, Come Back, Little Sheba) will be meaningless to most young people. Cameron has written many excellent books for children, but this one has neither the voice nor the verve needed to succeed.ACyrisse Jaffee, formerly at Newton Public Schools, MA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Amanda K. Woods, 12, is a girl to likeshe just doesn't know it yet. She's quirky, serious, impulsive, imaginative, perceptive, smart, and now, sharp, thanks to the addition of the K that stands like a sword flashing confidently in the middle of her name. In an opening scene, Amanda says good-bye to Lyle Leveridge, former neighbor and friend who leaves behind, at her suggestion, the legacy of his right hand, which she ``exchanges'' with her own in a tingling, did-it-really-happen episode. That hand seems to give her special powers when it comes to baking muffins to her mother's specifications, writing letters to a French pen pal, seeking the advice of a yogi, and more, in Rome, Wisconsin, circa 1950. Casting aside her mother's meticulous criterion, older sister Margaret's Dale Carnegieinspired thoughts, and the dubious punditry of women's magazines, Amanda learns to see through her own eyes, speak ``her own real thoughts.'' Cameron (More Stories Huey Tells, 1997, etc.) avoids grand revelations in favor of singular insights that affirm girlhood without self-consciousness. As Amanda moves from alone to alive, she becomes strong, but not impossibly so, realizing that her special powers are those inside her, not borrowed from the Lone Ranger or a boy's hand. Amanda is the story, and she's as funny as she is wise. (Fiction. 10-12) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.