Andy Shane begins to dread going to school because of the behavior of one block head--Dolores Starbuckle. Dolores torments Andy--she tells on him, she bosses him around, she corrects him, and is especially mean to him while he withers submissively and begs not to go to school. As in Henke's Chrysanthemum, this verbal harassment goes unchecked by the classroom teacher--who does not like it but fails to intervene. It is up to Granny Webb to help Andy regain his confidence.
While i enjoyed the much of the story and found the situation poor Andy found himself in very realistic, I was dissatisfied with the ending. Unlike Chrysanthemum, where the main character regains her confidence AND the bully gets a well deserved come uppence, Andy and Dolores become friends with no explanation and no mea culpas from the bully. Not a good lesson for either child. Still, a good chance to start some very important conversations with our children.
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