What do You think about Someday Angeline (1998)?
Un livre sensible sur la différence : une fillette qui connait tout sur tout (littéralement, pas par suffisance !), un garçon solitaire qui aime faire des jeux de mots, un homme (le père de la fillette) blessé par la disparition de son épouse, qui a du mal à communiquer avec sa fille trop brillante pour lui (croit-il).Malgré un contexte tire-larme (une orpheline de mère, un évènement dramatique vers la fin), ce n'est pas un livre sinistre, au contraire : l'auteur place des jeux de mots et des plaisanteries (niveau cours d'école), fait preuve d'optimisme et délivre un message positif, sans pesanteur ou moralisme. Les élèves sont cruels (comme beaucoup d'enfants de cet âge) mais pas tous.Le récit court est mené en finesse, avec une évolution progressive des personnages et des situations.Pour une fois, c'est ma fille qui m'a recommandé un livre, et elle a bien fait ! :-)
—Philippe Lhoste
I want to say that this book is like Roald Dahl's Matilda, but I feel like that would be misleading because Someday Angeline is quite different from Matilda (lacks the bite & fantasy of Dahl's book). Perhaps I should say that this is a book best appreciated by the type of reader that felt some sort of connection to Matilda, the protagonist. Angeline, the title character in Sachar's book, is a girl genius, but she is not at all annoying or precocious as fictional kid geniuses tend to be. Though she can tell that people think she's weird, she doesn't fully understand why people consider her such a freak. She's just a smart, earnest 8 year-old trying her best to make some friends and be happy. NOTES for CHASE ACADEMY The vocabulary and sentence complexity is on par with the EL 410 reading, but I think Angeline's introspection, relationship between characters, and themes are more appropriate for discussion at the El510 level. This book is more character-driven than plot. The humor in the book might be considered corny by some, but I hope that EL510 students will find the jokes fun and endearing.
—Anna
I loved this as a kid. I read it so many times I'm surprised it didn't disintegrate. I could almost recite it. I don't know what I'd rate it as an adult, but my child self would give this 5+ stars! I found it to be a great, funny book. Angeline makes a best friend, gets along with adults more than other kids (I related) and is goofy. I loved that she liked peanut butter and lemon jello sandwiches. I loved that her dad was a super sweet trash man. I thought it would be fun to ride in one of those trucks too. Most of all, I loved that Angeline liked to read.
—Brandi
