TRULY WINNIE

Winning second episode about nine-year-old Winnie Fletcher; this time she’s at sleep-away camp. Winnie is excited about going away. Her best friends, Zoe and Vanessa, are first-time campers too. All the familiar camp details are here: the swim test, floating lunches, rock-climbing, silly songs, hikes, waterfalls, arts and crafts, and friendly campers and counselors. When Winnie’s assigned to a different tent from her friends, she learns the joy of making new ones and the challenges of meeting people who are unaware of her history. When she tries to avoid the inevitable pity that strangers feel when they learn that her mother has died, Winnie tells a fib that grows into a full-fledged lie. But with the help of her understanding friends, sensible counselor, and understanding father, she is able to straighten things out. Written with a light touch and illustrated with winsome line drawings, this is a series for young readers to write home about. (Fiction. 7-10)