Strider: Part 5

By BEVERLY CLEARY, Illustrator PAUL O'ZELINKSKY

June 7

Today I have something important to write about! The summer fog was so low the whole world seemed to drip. Mom went to class, and our shack was so lonely, I climbed the hill to see Barry. I like to go to his big old house, built on a slope so that it has a view of the bay when the fog lifts. Everything in the house is shabby and comfortable. There is a smell of good things cooking. Barry's stepmother, Mrs. Brinkerhoff, is plump, but she doesn't worry about it the way Mom's friends worry about gaining one teeny ounce.

Barry's house is full of cats, hamsters in cages, and little sisters. I once saw a tortoise under the couch, but I have never seen it again. Sometimes a grandmother is there. She knits sweaters out of beautiful soft yarns in wild designs she makes up as she goes along. Barry says she sells them to an expensive boutique for a lot of money. Watching her needles move so quickly in and out of beautiful yarns fascinates me.

Publisher: Harper Collins, $12.95
Age group: 10-13 years