ON MY WAY

DePaola is irresistible. In this simply told memoir, aimed directly at the hearts of his young readers, he follows 26 Fairmount Avenue (1999) and Here We All Are (p. 630) with more stories of his childhood. In this volume, his baby sister Maureen contracts pneumonia and has to be hospitalized, he gets a new outfit for the family’s trip to the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, and he’s in a tap dance recital. He longs to get Miss Kiniry to be his first-grade teacher, even though she, like the principal, insists on spelling his first name “Tommy.” Other remembrances include a family outing to the beach, a “Tiny Tot” wedding, and getting his first library card. DePaola spins out these recollections with pitch-perfect intensity, warmth, energy, and a precise sense of how it felt to be a kid. Almost a primer on how to write with emotional directness for young people, this will also teach its readers a little on how to tell their own stories. Best of all it gives value to the comings and goings that make up a life, even one as unique as dePaola’s. Abundantly illustrated with wonderful vignettes and spot drawings of the cast of characters that includes all his friends and relations, it begs to be continued. More please. (Biography. 7-10)