Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

I am working at the reference desk at the library several hours a day now, and this book is one that I noticed is very popular with the 2nd grader crowd.  I decided I better read it.  It is very like Junie B Jones, except Clementine doesn't say "stupid" so much.  In the beginning of the story Clementine finds her best friend crying in the bathroom.  Her friend has gotten glue in her long hair, and in an attempt to get it out, cut off a piece of hair in the front.  Clementine, always helpful, agrees to use the scissors to "even it up."  Of course the girl's parents are furious, and in simpathy, Clementine cuts her own hair to match.  Parents shake their heads as the girls go on to try to color their new dos with permanent marker.  The children do everything they do with the purest intentions, but with disastrous and very funny results. I can see why the book is so popular.  The humor is just at the right level for the target audience, but adults reading the books with or to the children can enjoy them, too.  Who cannot remember a time when they or their children have not attempted to cut their own hair? (136 p)