The Trouble with May Amelia

Jennifer Holm must have an enchanted computer. She uses it to create fabulous books, one after the other: Penny from Heaven, Turtle in Paradise, Our Only May Amelia, the Babymouse books, and my new favorite, the splendid The Trouble with May Amelia. May Amelia is twelve years old in 1900, living with her large Finnish family near the Columbia River in western Washington state. Life is hard but May Amelia’s troubles make for very funny reading, whether she falls once again into the river or is overturned in an outhouse by an angry bull or is driving off her beloved teacher’s would-be suitors. Father is convinced Girls Are Useless and brother Wilbert says she’s “like the grain of sand in an oyster. Someday I will be a Pearl, but I will nag and irritate the poor oyster and everyone else up until then.” Readers will have no doubt that May Amelia’s pearl days are coming soon. I urge you to find and read The Trouble with May Amelia. And I want to know where I can get me one of those enchanted computers.