Heidi Heckelbeck Has a Secret
Written by Wanda Coven
Illustrated by Priscilla Burris
Reviewed by Julianna S. (age 9)
One day, Heidi woke up and checked her calendar. It was the first day of third grade. Heidi was homeschooled before, and now she was going to go to an actual school! Heidi was feeling really scared and nervous. She got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. The day did not start off well because her brother Henry asked why she was wearing a Halloween costume to school. This made Heidi really mad at him! Not a good start! When Heidi got to school, she saw a lot of kids. She got super nervous. She didn’t know anyone in her class. One girl she met was named Melanie who was the biggest bully in the school. She picked on Heidi a lot and even ruined her painting in art class on purpose. Heidi wished she could be in her younger brother Henry’s class instead. She didn’t want to be near Melanie. Heidi dreams of putting a spell on mean Melanie. Just when things seem to go from bad to worse, she has to be in a school play, “The Wizard of Oz.” Ugh! Heidi is not looking forward to being an apple tree, but then she has a secret plan to get even with Melanie! What’s the secret? You will have to read the book to find out!
I think this book is good because even though Heidi is scared of going to school and has to deal with Melanie, she has a nice teacher, Mrs. Wellington, a nice principal, Mr. Pennypacker, and she makes a friend named Lucy. Parts of this book are funny, especially when Heidi thinks of ways to deal with Melanie. I like the illustrations a lot. I like to draw, so I notice those kinds of things in a book.
I recommend this book to second and third graders because the readers will be around Heidi Heckelbeck’s age. I also recommend this book to anyone who has ever gone to a new school.