Letters to Leo

The joys and trials of fourth grade -- and of life with her father now that her mother is gone -- play out in charming letters from Annie to her dog, Leo.

Annie Rossi never, ever thought her father would let her have a dog. But now that he's finally given in, she's found the perfect ear for the stories of her day. She just writes them in a notebook hidden under the bed and reads them to Leo in her soft night voice, like the one her mother used when reading to Annie at bedtime before she died. And Annie sure has a million stories to tell There's mean Edward, who brags about his "noble goldfish" and gets her in trouble for accidentally lobbing a volleyball into his nose. There's her best friend, Jean-Marie, who ups and moves to New Jersey (and wants to borrow Leo for company ). There's the poem Annie writes about her mom, which Miss Meadows asks her to read for the class. And there's her professor dad, who is finally coming out of his shell, even though he is an elderly forty-year-old with a serious personality. Genuine and funny, Amy Hest's first-person narration revisits a winning young character as she takes on a new year -- and a new dog -- with humor, honesty, and resiliency.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 03/27/2012
ISBN: 9780763636951
Pages: 160
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.20h x 4.90w x 0.80d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2012
Shelf Awareness 03/02/2012
School Library Journal 03/01/2012 pg. 126
Booklist 03/01/2012 pg. 88
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2012 pg. 85
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2012 pg. 69 - Superior,Well Above Average

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 150791 / Letters to Leo
Reading Level: 3.2 / Interest Level: Lower Grade / Point Value: 2