I never seem to get this done mornings! I had good intentions today and even got up at 6:00 a.m. (on a Saturday!) to get started. After taking my morning pills and waiting for them to kick in, I listened to Fifth Dimension’s (a 70s group) Up Up and Away, particularly focusing on side 2, which I don’t remember ever playing. There are some “interesting” songs, mostly about breakups and moving on, and thus, it was soon time to start working in the yard.

After a sandwich around 11:00, My Better Half drove me to Esther’s Field, “out on the highway” to buy handmade soaps, preserves, and I lucked into a 50% off basket where I found some nice Nothingsday gifts.

Here it is almost four, and I am just getting to my blog. Ever have this happen to you?

Today’s recommendation is by one of my favorite children’s authors, Beverly Cleary, but for once, the protagonist is a boy.

Leigh Botts’s teacher has read Boyd Henshaw’s book to her students in second grade. Leigh loved the book. Now in sixth grade, he is assigned a letter-writing project, and he addresses his complaints about being the “new kid,” whose father, a cross-country trucker is never at home, to the author.

Surprisingly enough, Henshaw answers Leigh’s letter, and his correspondence with Leigh over time gives Leigh some unexpected answers and changes Leigh’s life forever.

This is a fine read for both boys and girls, but it is especially meaningful for boys who feel neglected by their work-absent fathers and who are a bit on the “sensitive side.” The story itself is humorous and warm at times, as well as well-crafted with complex characters, whom kids come to really care about.

Were I rating this book, I would give it a full five stars out of five.