Horrible Harry and the Kickball Wedding
Written by Suzy Kline
Illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
Reviewed by Amber P. (age 9)
The book that I am recommending is Horrible Harry and the Kickball Wedding by Suzy Kline.
The main character, Horrible Harry decides that he wants to marry his classmate Song Lee on Valentine's Day. Song Lee goes along with this plan, but her parents think the wedding is just a bunch of second graders pretending at recess. Horrible Harry and Song Lee try to hide the wedding plans from their classmates. What will happen during the kickball game on Valentine's Day? Will this second grade wedding happen?
My favorite part in this book was when Sidney said, "If you like ants so much why don't you marry one." I liked this part because Sidney is the most sensitive character in the book and this response was not like him. He stood up for himself. I found Song Lee to be very focused. She sticks with one sport or activity that she is working on with her classmates. She always works or plays until the task is finished. Song Lee is creative and helpful even though she is only in the second grade. She is also smarter than everyone in her class. I think that Horrible Harry changed because of Song Lee. Song Lee came into room 2B on the first day of school and Horrible Harry fell in love. Over the next couple of months Horrible Harry started to become friends with Song Lee. Will their friendship begin to spread or disappear because of their classmates? As I read this book, I was happy because everyone was friends and the story told things that the class did together. As the book continued, my feelings changed. The class started to fight with each other and I was left to wonder if their friendships could be saved. Read the book to find out the answers.
I would recommend this book to girls in second and third grade. I think that it will be too romantic for boys. It has to do with a wedding and most boys will not like that. I think that the book was so great because I found myself connecting to the character Song Lee. Song Lee is athletic and focuses on one thing at a time. I could picture myself as this character. I think other girls would be able to connect to Song Lee also. I would also think that girls would want to read this book because it teaches others to become friends with people that they never pictured themselves with. Overall, it was a great book.