Yours Turly, Shirley. Ann M. Martin. 1988. 128 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Bzzzz! Shirley Basini's alarm clock went off and Shirley rolled over, grabbed it, and threw it at the wall. Shirley's clock looked like a baseball and you were supposed to throw it at the wall. That was the only way to turn it off.
Premise/plot: Shirley Basini, our protagonist, has dyslexia and is in fourth grade. She knows her diagnosis. Her parents know. Her teacher(s) know. Everyone knows. But knowing isn't exactly the same as understanding. She's been warned that if she doesn't improve throughout the year, she'll be held back to repeat fourth grade. She knows this from day one. Yours Turly, Shirley, is in part, Shirley's experiences in fourth grade--her ongoing struggle to improve academically and learn to manage/cope with her dyslexia.
The novel is also Shirley's new little sister. The family has decided to adopt a child from Vietnam. At first, they think they'll be receiving/adopting a three year old baby boy. As the date to pick him up from the airport draws closer, however, they learn surprise surprise that it will be an eight year old girl. They decide to rename her Jackie.
Jackie is super-smart, super-intuitive, super savvy. She starts the school year in first grade, speed runs learning English (and other subjects presumably?). By the middle of the year, they [the powers that be at school] decide to move her to third grade to be with her peers [children her own age]. Jackie loves, loves, loves to read. And the library is her favorite place.
All isn't perfectly, perfect for Jackie, however. The students--even her own big sister--tease her for pronouncing her "r's" as "l's." Granted, her big sister doesn't do it nearly so often as everyone else. But the one time she does it is in front of a lot of people--at a spelling bee. Besides being teased for talking different/weird, she's teased for being "yellow" or "slope eyes." (These words come straight from the book. I'm just mentioning what the book says). Shirley who was halfway to hating her little sister for being smarter and better, now swoops in to save her. (But does Jackie need saving? Maybe. Maybe not. The two girls take a stand together--and speak up loudly about the teasing.)
Each chapter is a month of the school year.
Ann M. Martin wrote this during the same time she was writing The Babysitter's Club books. This one is not a series book but a standalone.
My thoughts: I am conflicted. I am. It is dated. I wasn't in fourth grade in 1988/89. But I was in elementary school. I don't think if I'd read it as a child I would have questioned the representation of those with learning differences (aka dyslexia) OR being Vietnamese-American. I don't know how realistically or authentically either comes across as...now...or perhaps even then. I don't know that there is ever only one "right" way to depict something. Jackie is a gifted, super-smart, people-pleaser. Shirley is a class clown who makes other students laugh and teachers groan. The book is told from Shirley's point of view exclusively.
I do not have dyslexia. I can't judge if the "skills" and "techniques" being shown in this one were generally helpful or not so much. I use quotes because really the only thing she learns from the resource teacher is that if you love the content of what's in books, you will do anything to keep reading. You will teach yourself the skills needed so that you can find out what happens next. The resource teacher begins by reading aloud book after book after book. She reads aloud a little here or there. Taking on the part of one character in the book and reading that one character's dialogue. Soon, he [the teacher] has her reading books all on her own. She now has a long list of authors whom she loves and adores. She's now eager to read books for fun, to read all the books in series, to keep finding new authors, new series, etc.
As a reader, I loved all the name-dropping. Even more so since I was in elementary school at this time. These books, these authors, these series...were the ones I myself was reading at the time. So it was a treat to see this aspect of the book.
© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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