Reading age: 5 - 8 years
Length: 131 Pages
Grade level: 3 - 7

Independent Reading Level: Grade 2-5
Sequoyah Award (Oklahoma)
William Allen White Award (Kansas)

I got the sense as I was reading that there was a certain... restlessness about the writing. As if the author had a clear idea what he *didn't* want to write, but not a very clear idea of what he did... like there's some internal conflict or ambivalence being worked out on the page. Not necessarily a bad thing! I kind of liked the looseness, the bagginess of the narrative -- its refusal to settle into predictable story beats.
https://donut-donut.dreamwidth.org/866014.html ( )

A cute, funny story... I loved Stuart's personality, and how dramatic he was! The ending was way too abrupt, however, and I felt like the story was left unfinished. I read this aloud to my nieces (ages 7, 9, 11) and they were all very disappointed/angered by the ending, as well. In fact, one of them gave the book only one star because of it. :) ( )

Independent Reading Level: Grade 4-5
Awards: Sequoyah Award (Oklahoma) and the William Allen White Award (Kansas), ( )