P. S. Longer Letter Later

Shy, quiet Elizabeth likes whole-wheat doughnuts, but her best friend, TaraStarr, likes custard ones with vanilla icing and multicolored sprinkles. When TaraStarr pictures the two of them together as old ladies, Elizabeth is knitting, and she is sewing sequins and beads on everything! Despite their differences, the two seventh-grade girls are inseparable--until TaraStarr moves away, spurring the warm, winning correspondence that scampers across the pages of Paula Danziger and Ann M. Martin's P.S. Longer Letter Later: A Novel in Letters. Elizabeth and TaraStarr's junior high school world is one of corny jokes, words like "gazillion," and awkward moments (a New Year's Eve kiss happens at 12:08, and "it was sort of gross because the Chee-to in his mouth ended up in my mouth"), but it's also a world where both girls are dealing with their evolving--and sometimes derailing--families. Danziger (writing Tara*Starr's letters) and Martin (writing Elizabeth's letters) are friends in real life, and both have done a masterful job of creating the distinct, realistic, endearing voices of their characters; developing a profound, emotional, and ever-changing relationship between two young girls; and crafting a page- turning story to boot. Young readers--half-laughing, half with lump in throat--will "totally relate" to this feisty pair! (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson