Available:*
Library | Audience | Home Location | Material Type | Shelf Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Central | Kid/Juvenile | Open Stacks Fiction | Open Stacks Kids Book | GREEN | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Officially grown up and ready for her first blind date, Al and her best friend, Thelma, go to great lengths to make themselves beautiful for the big night out with Thelmas cousin Harry and his friend.
Author Notes
Constance C. Greene was a children's book author. She was born in New York City on October 27, 1924. She was from a family of writers. In the 1940s, she attended Skidmore College. During World War II, she was a reporter for the Associated Press. She was the author of 25 books for young readers. Her first and best-known book was A Girl Called Al (1969). It was an American Library Association Notable Book. Beat the Turtle Drum (1976) was made into an ABC Afterschool Special. Some of her other books included Isabelle the Itch, Leo the Lioness, Star Shine, Ask Anybody, Al(exandra) the Great, and I Know You, Al. She also published an adult novel entitled Other Plans. Constance C. Greene died at the Connecticut Hospice on April 7, 2021. She was 96.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-- Al is back again, and while this book will not attract new readers, it will be enjoyed by old acquaintances. Al and a friend, both 14, face the dilemma of the blind date--specifically whether to go with their classmate's cousin and his friend to a tea dance. It sounds intriguing, but Al is full of her usual doubts, and the adults in their lives offer as many horror tales as reassurances on the subject. Even Al can't fill an entire book with her dithering on this subject, so Greene has thrown in an odd episode involving an unhappy teacher, a new health club in the neighborhood, and a Mafia fire bomb. This whole part of the story feels tacked on; the girls' actions are uncharacteristically forced, and nothing is fully explained or resolved. The same can be said about the denouement. The book ends just as the girls go out to meet their dates after being assured that ``they're both cute as bugs.'' While this seems to assure yet another in the series, it will frustrate many readers to spend all this time on the decision without finding out how it worked out. While the central core of this book is not as compelling or believable as the earlier ones, the dialogue continues to be witty, the friendship solid, and the characters real. Al's friends will be glad to see her again. --Eleanor K. MacDonald, Beverly Hills Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In PW 's words, ``Meeting Al will be a delightful reading experience. Her friendship with another girl in a city apartment building opens a new world for both of them and will provide warm and lively laughter.'' Ages 10-14. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Fiction: I Al and her best friend engage once again in lively escapades sprinkled with the usual sharp-tongued dialogue and running skirmishes with parents. This book features their agonizing and amusing worries about a first blind date. Horn Rating: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration. Reviewed by: ert (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 6-8. This is a disappointing addition to the popular series featuring Al(exandra) and her friend, the unnamed narrator. Previous books about Al have tackled some difficult issues--death, the homeless, divorce--warmed with humor and insight. Here, Al's concerns such as dating are realistic but so broadly handled as to make them caricatures. Al and the narrator, both 14, are set up for blind dates--to go tea dancing no less. While the girls are making up their minds (to go or not to go, that is the question), they are almost blown to smithereens at a mobster's gym and help a teacher who is lonely in New York. Though there is one party encounter with boys, the book ends just as the long-awaited blind date is about to begin. Fans of the series won't want to miss this one, since, as in most of Greene's books, there is enough witty dialogue to elicit some chuckles. It seems a shame, though, that Al isn't getting better, she's just getting older. --Ilene Cooper
