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YOUNGER FICTION
DiCamillo, Kate

Stella Endicott and the Anything-Is-Possible Poem

96 pp. | Candlewick | June, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5362-0180-2 $14.99
(2) 1-3 Tales from Deckawoo Drive series. Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. This fifth entry in the series (Leroy Ninker Saddles Up, rev. 9/14, and sequels) stars young Stella Endicott. Stella is enchanted with her new second-grade teacher, Miss Liliana (whom she likens to a good fairy); annoyed by smug know-it-all classmate Horace Broom; and excited about the homework assignment: to write a poem containing a metaphor. Then she and Horace argue loudly in class (a Miss Liliana no-no) and are sent to the principal's office, resulting in an unlooked-for adventure, new understandings, and the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Several fellow residents of Deckawoo Drive (including pig Mercy Watson) make guest appearances, but ­DiCamillo keeps the focus tightly on Stella; and the familiar and successful DiCamillo recipe of humor mixed with wisdom is much in evidence here. As Stella and Horace are making their trepidatious way to see the principal, the school maintenance engineer shows them his neatly organized supply closet to illustrate a point about life: "'Are you speaking metaphorically, Mr. Murphy?' said Stella. 'I'm speaking janitorially,' said Mr. Murphy." And: "There's always surprises...There's patterns, and there's surprises, and that's good. It makes things interesting." As ever, Van Dusen's frequent illustrations add so much, capturing with apt exaggeration all the drama, humor, and emotions of Stella's adventure- and metaphor-filled day.
Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

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