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First Love
The Luckiest Girl
Shelley Latham can't wait to get to San Sebastian, where flowers bloom in November, oranges grow on the trees, and the sun shines almost every day. And once she's there, things get even better. In no time, she catches the attention of two boys: one, a good-looking basketball star, the other, an interesting, fun boy who likes journalism. Shelley feels like the luckiest girl in the world. Now she's about to discover the magic of falling in love -- and a whole lot more!
268 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
143 people are currently reading
1544 people want to read
About the author
Beverly Cleary
266 books3,361 followersBeverly Atlee Cleary was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 323 reviews
June 21, 2016
Why don't I remember Beverly Cleary being such an a-hole with her writing?
Wait. Let me rephrase that before I ruin the name of one of the most beloved childrens' writers of all time.
Cleary did something with The Luckiest Girl that very few writers of fiction for younger readers do today : She REFUSED to coddle the reader by giving them everything they wanted. We were given a sweet-bitter-sweet resolution. Notice the use of sweet twice? This is because the sweet outweighed the bitter by a large margin. This book was definitely meant to satisfy. But it didn't satisfy with the neat little bow that so many modern stories tend to serve up.
Don't worry. There's no messy. Luckiest Girl is a throwback, written during an era gone by, when people were cordial and pleasant, and boys kept their hands to themselves, or at least 'pretended' to for the sake of the parents of the girls they were trying to date. In reality, I'm sure the stories were different up at those fabled parking spots where boys took their dates. But of course, none of that would ever be recorded in a Beverly Cleary book. Here is the land of eternal youth and optimism.
I first read and loved this story as a child, which is why I'm shelving the book additionally under childrens as well as YA (the protag is a teen). This is a very innocent story of young love. Yes, the majority of readers would consider Luckiest Girl as outdated, but I don't care. There's nothing wrong with an occasional peek at the past.
Who knew an 'almost kiss' could be so darn exciting? After reading book after book of in-depth adult content (that would be sex, people), there was something extremely magical about picking up this book and getting to read about a girl who was excited just to be seen by the other girls wearing a cute boy's letterman jacket.
It's hard to top the feeling that comes with just about any book which reminds you of your childhood. I remember being young and wanting to go on an adventure like the character Shelly got to have. The California described in this book was partially reminiscent of the California that I knew and loved growing up, but when seen through the eyes of the past, it was also a landscape that I never got to see. I wanted to go to California past and live in Shelly's less-hectic world. She made it seem like she was having so much fun!
I would love to encourage people to go back and revisit books that were their personal childhood favorites. There's something wonderful about getting to recall these little moments of joy from the past. Sometimes you'll read a passage or scene that brings to mind things that you'd forgotten, and it's like getting to recover small magical moments that you hadn't realized you'd lost.
Wait. Let me rephrase that before I ruin the name of one of the most beloved childrens' writers of all time.
Cleary did something with The Luckiest Girl that very few writers of fiction for younger readers do today : She REFUSED to coddle the reader by giving them everything they wanted. We were given a sweet-bitter-sweet resolution. Notice the use of sweet twice? This is because the sweet outweighed the bitter by a large margin. This book was definitely meant to satisfy. But it didn't satisfy with the neat little bow that so many modern stories tend to serve up.
Don't worry. There's no messy. Luckiest Girl is a throwback, written during an era gone by, when people were cordial and pleasant, and boys kept their hands to themselves, or at least 'pretended' to for the sake of the parents of the girls they were trying to date. In reality, I'm sure the stories were different up at those fabled parking spots where boys took their dates. But of course, none of that would ever be recorded in a Beverly Cleary book. Here is the land of eternal youth and optimism.
I first read and loved this story as a child, which is why I'm shelving the book additionally under childrens as well as YA (the protag is a teen). This is a very innocent story of young love. Yes, the majority of readers would consider Luckiest Girl as outdated, but I don't care. There's nothing wrong with an occasional peek at the past.
Who knew an 'almost kiss' could be so darn exciting? After reading book after book of in-depth adult content (that would be sex, people), there was something extremely magical about picking up this book and getting to read about a girl who was excited just to be seen by the other girls wearing a cute boy's letterman jacket.
It's hard to top the feeling that comes with just about any book which reminds you of your childhood. I remember being young and wanting to go on an adventure like the character Shelly got to have. The California described in this book was partially reminiscent of the California that I knew and loved growing up, but when seen through the eyes of the past, it was also a landscape that I never got to see. I wanted to go to California past and live in Shelly's less-hectic world. She made it seem like she was having so much fun!
I would love to encourage people to go back and revisit books that were their personal childhood favorites. There's something wonderful about getting to recall these little moments of joy from the past. Sometimes you'll read a passage or scene that brings to mind things that you'd forgotten, and it's like getting to recover small magical moments that you hadn't realized you'd lost.
January 28, 2012
As a young girl in the 1980s, I read this book and loved it. My mother was similar to Shelley's in many ways, and I absolutely identified with her, especially with things like the yellow slicker. I remember I desperately wanted to get a coat from a secondhand store like several of the girls in my class, and my mother was horrified. I know now that she was just sad because she had dreamed for me to never need anything secondhand and it was bewildering to her that I'd choose it---just as later it was bewildering that I'd wear "ugly" combat boots, dye my hair black, wear used men's jeans, etc. Maybe if I'd had an experience like Shelley's, I'd have learned to appreciate what I had more easily than I eventually did. I always really thought of her as incredibly lucky because she got to spend that year with the Michies, but now I suppose what made her luckiest was the opportunity of perspective, to see the value of her own home and family as well.
I was probably younger than the original age target when I read this book, and I think its quaintness means it successfully skews younger like that now, but it absolutely holds up as an enjoyable read. As an adult, I can understand the adults' points of view right off the bat, and Shelley's missteps are immediately obvious. But the book is no less entertaining or appealing. The writing is high quality, scenery vivid, characters lively. I have never forgotten to wistfully envy the scents of exotic California trees or the adventure of tasting of bitter uncured olives. In my mind it is always my mother proffering the pink raincoat with the velveteen collar. If I could go back, I'd snap it up! That kind of thing goes for big bucks at secondhand stores these days.
I was probably younger than the original age target when I read this book, and I think its quaintness means it successfully skews younger like that now, but it absolutely holds up as an enjoyable read. As an adult, I can understand the adults' points of view right off the bat, and Shelley's missteps are immediately obvious. But the book is no less entertaining or appealing. The writing is high quality, scenery vivid, characters lively. I have never forgotten to wistfully envy the scents of exotic California trees or the adventure of tasting of bitter uncured olives. In my mind it is always my mother proffering the pink raincoat with the velveteen collar. If I could go back, I'd snap it up! That kind of thing goes for big bucks at secondhand stores these days.
August 6, 2016
Our March discussion book is The Luckiest Girl! If you've never read Beverly Cleary's YA, this is an excellent place to start.
Discussion Date: Friday, March 28th
Hashtag: #tmgreadalong
Discussion takes place at The Midnight Garden on that date. Tweet along as you read on Twitter!
These retro reads are so wonderfully full of quiet drama–each story is about a girl in high school who is learning to be comfortable with herself, and in a way I feel as though these “contemporary” romances were the Sarah Dessen books of their day, in that nothing happens in them and yet everything happens at the same time.
I wrote a review of Fifteen if you're curious as to what you can expect, but I think The Luckiest Girl is the more emotional and mature book–and probably the one that contemporary readers will relate to most. (I'd recommend trying out the Amazon preview as well. If you like the sample, you'll love the book.)
Hope you'll join us if you can!
Discussion Date: Friday, March 28th
Hashtag: #tmgreadalong
Discussion takes place at The Midnight Garden on that date. Tweet along as you read on Twitter!
These retro reads are so wonderfully full of quiet drama–each story is about a girl in high school who is learning to be comfortable with herself, and in a way I feel as though these “contemporary” romances were the Sarah Dessen books of their day, in that nothing happens in them and yet everything happens at the same time.
I wrote a review of Fifteen if you're curious as to what you can expect, but I think The Luckiest Girl is the more emotional and mature book–and probably the one that contemporary readers will relate to most. (I'd recommend trying out the Amazon preview as well. If you like the sample, you'll love the book.)
Hope you'll join us if you can!
July 23, 2011
This was my top favorite novel when I was a teenager. I don't even remember how many times I read it; at least once a year and every year it meant something different to me as I went through boy friends and heart breaks. I can still recall my mental picture of the pink raincoat with the velvet collar. I don't think my library copy had the dust jacket with the original picture on it.
I identified so completely with Shelley being bored with her boyfriend, feeling misunderstood by her mother, making plans to reinvent herself when the new school year began.
Most of all, I envied her for the chance to spend an entire school year away from home in California! I probably first read The Luckiest Girl when I was twelve or thirteen. By the time "California Dreamin" came out in 1965, I had already been dreaming about living in California for years. It took several more decades but now I do!
Reading the book again now, I was amazed by how truly Beverly Cleary captured what it was like to be a teenager at that time. It was the end of an era. The straight (meaning no drugs), good (meaning no sex) teen girl was already a thing of the past by the time my youngest sister entered high school.
I think many teen girls are boy crazy, even today, but man, it was an obsession in the early sixties, because it was the only outlet for mischief most suburban, well brought up girls had. I never even drank alcohol until I went to college. Of course, by then it was the mid-sixties, everything changed and we all just went wild.
Would teens today like The Luckiest Girl? It might seem as old fashioned as Pride and Prejudice. But I am going to see if one of my granddaughters will read it. I will tell them, "This is what it was like to be a teenage girl when I was growing up." They will most likely roll their eyes.
July 18, 2020
One of the better vintage teen books that I've read, and no surprise, because it's by Beverly Cleary, who knows a thing or two about writing, and celebrated her 104th birthday earlier this year. I've no doubt, if she was British and a subject of the queen, we'd all be calling her Dame Beverly.
Sixteen year-old Shelley feels her life is in a rut, and jumps at the chance to leave rainy chilly Portland, OR behind to spend a year attending high school in California while living with family friends. I think there's a touch of autobiography in this plot, as Cleary's memoir of her childhood, A Girl from Yamhill, ends with her having a chance to make a similar move (I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel). Here, the California landscape is gorgeously described, and Cleary's portrayal of teen angst is spot-on. Shelley's story follows an utterly formulaic arc , but it's handled with nuance. I loved the portrayal of the eccentric, quarrelsome but happy family Shelley is lucky enough to stay with. My one real quibble is that I don't think anyone Shelley's age would be so wise and philosophical as she is at the end, but it's a small one. This was a real pleasure recommended to those with a taste for this sort of thing.
Sixteen year-old Shelley feels her life is in a rut, and jumps at the chance to leave rainy chilly Portland, OR behind to spend a year attending high school in California while living with family friends. I think there's a touch of autobiography in this plot, as Cleary's memoir of her childhood, A Girl from Yamhill, ends with her having a chance to make a similar move (I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel). Here, the California landscape is gorgeously described, and Cleary's portrayal of teen angst is spot-on. Shelley's story follows an utterly formulaic arc , but it's handled with nuance. I loved the portrayal of the eccentric, quarrelsome but happy family Shelley is lucky enough to stay with. My one real quibble is that I don't think anyone Shelley's age would be so wise and philosophical as she is at the end, but it's a small one. This was a real pleasure recommended to those with a taste for this sort of thing.
November 5, 2019
Wide-eyed, innocent Shelley: she is much beloved and carefully raised by parents who were young during the Great Depression. Oregon is Shelley's home state. Shelley is 16 years old and an only child. She receives an invitation, from her mother's college roommate, to spend two high school semesters in a small farm town in California!
Shelley is amazed and charmed by the warmth, the dryness, and the smell of fruit and flowers that grow year-round in California. She vows to never wear the galoshes that her mother so carefully packed for her, while thinking of the chilly, frequent rain in Oregon.
The catalyst that made Shelley make her trip from Oregon to California, is that Shelley desired to buy a yellow slicker, the way the "popular" girls at school were currently doing. And she planned to repair any tears in the slicker with tape, and she wanted to ask all the "right" people to write their signatures on to the slicker.
Shelley's mother, completely ignoring Shelley's wish, purchases a sweet little pink raincoat and matching hat. Oh, the agony!
In rebellion, Shelley grabs a bunch of roses, that her mother had specially chosen for a dining room centerpiece, and Shelley grinds up those roses in the kitchen garbage disposal.
The girl regrets this for the entire book. And she regrets her ingratitude for the raincoat.
This here is the sneaky theme in the book: Mothers and Daughters. Beverly Cleary wrote this book for young white women, of age during the late 1950s onwards, and she provides a group of very nice boys who take Shelley on dates. Young readers focus on the dates, on the surface, but the big issue is mother-daughter conflict-resolution, I'm fairly certain.
Poor Shelley is easily misled. She believes herself to be Not Very Bright. She is pleased to be seen with the "Right" sorts of people. She loves having a "popular" status.
I read this book more than a few times when I was young in the 1990s. I knew the book was outdated then, but it was a comfort read. I liked reading about the dates, and about Shelley being pleased about her popularity.
Reading this while an adult, I have become vaguely horrified at the dating norms of the polite classes back in the Boomer generation. It seems like Shelley was not allowed out of doors on Saturday nights, unless she had a date with a "nice" boy. Was she not allowed to socialize with friends? Did girls not hang out in groups together? Were girls only friends, just as long as they didn't steal boys away from each other?
And, as far as boys went, do you REALLY want to date a boy who, when asked about girls, reportedly responds: "Girls? Never heard of 'em." ??? Just because he's a "tall," blond basketball player, this guy is desirable. Meanwhile, feel free to totally ignore the kindhearted, funny guy who enjoys crossword puzzles and brings picnic lunches to you. Oh, Shelley! You have some lessons to learn.
But at any rate, I am so very glad that she has enjoyed her school year in California. She has learned that her mom loves her very much, and that all moms really try as hard as they can to raise their daughters well. So many arguments arise between moms and daughters, and as Shelley realizes, "no one really wins." It's difficult.
However, with this realization, what will come in Shelley's future? She will probably decide on a brief college education, swiftly followed by a husband and children. Her sole bright moment in life might perhaps be her year of being 16 in California. But I hope that her life receives more bright moments. She's a sweet girl. Kinda shallow. But sweet.
Shelley is amazed and charmed by the warmth, the dryness, and the smell of fruit and flowers that grow year-round in California. She vows to never wear the galoshes that her mother so carefully packed for her, while thinking of the chilly, frequent rain in Oregon.
The catalyst that made Shelley make her trip from Oregon to California, is that Shelley desired to buy a yellow slicker, the way the "popular" girls at school were currently doing. And she planned to repair any tears in the slicker with tape, and she wanted to ask all the "right" people to write their signatures on to the slicker.
Shelley's mother, completely ignoring Shelley's wish, purchases a sweet little pink raincoat and matching hat. Oh, the agony!
In rebellion, Shelley grabs a bunch of roses, that her mother had specially chosen for a dining room centerpiece, and Shelley grinds up those roses in the kitchen garbage disposal.
The girl regrets this for the entire book. And she regrets her ingratitude for the raincoat.
This here is the sneaky theme in the book: Mothers and Daughters. Beverly Cleary wrote this book for young white women, of age during the late 1950s onwards, and she provides a group of very nice boys who take Shelley on dates. Young readers focus on the dates, on the surface, but the big issue is mother-daughter conflict-resolution, I'm fairly certain.
Poor Shelley is easily misled. She believes herself to be Not Very Bright. She is pleased to be seen with the "Right" sorts of people. She loves having a "popular" status.
I read this book more than a few times when I was young in the 1990s. I knew the book was outdated then, but it was a comfort read. I liked reading about the dates, and about Shelley being pleased about her popularity.
Reading this while an adult, I have become vaguely horrified at the dating norms of the polite classes back in the Boomer generation. It seems like Shelley was not allowed out of doors on Saturday nights, unless she had a date with a "nice" boy. Was she not allowed to socialize with friends? Did girls not hang out in groups together? Were girls only friends, just as long as they didn't steal boys away from each other?
And, as far as boys went, do you REALLY want to date a boy who, when asked about girls, reportedly responds: "Girls? Never heard of 'em." ??? Just because he's a "tall," blond basketball player, this guy is desirable. Meanwhile, feel free to totally ignore the kindhearted, funny guy who enjoys crossword puzzles and brings picnic lunches to you. Oh, Shelley! You have some lessons to learn.
But at any rate, I am so very glad that she has enjoyed her school year in California. She has learned that her mom loves her very much, and that all moms really try as hard as they can to raise their daughters well. So many arguments arise between moms and daughters, and as Shelley realizes, "no one really wins." It's difficult.
However, with this realization, what will come in Shelley's future? She will probably decide on a brief college education, swiftly followed by a husband and children. Her sole bright moment in life might perhaps be her year of being 16 in California. But I hope that her life receives more bright moments. She's a sweet girl. Kinda shallow. But sweet.
September 23, 2020
First off, I love Beverly Cleary. That being said, I did not realize this was published in 1958. lol 😂
February 11, 2021
I've never been a huge fan of Beverly Cleary's writing style, but I've always had a deep appreciation for this author. Her books were a staple for my elementary school classes and she is from my city, so her name is a common one that I hear often in my life and I admire how she has written so many books that have captivated lots of people.
I picked this book up for a readathon and because I'd had it sitting on my shelf since I was a kid. I didn't have high expectations for this book, so I wasn't disappointed by what I read, but I did appreciate the vivid settings in this book. The small city in California that Shelley moves to was described so well that it made me feel like I was actually in that city, something that some authors are unable to accomplish with their descriptions.
I found that I was also laughing out loud while reading this book, which is a rare occurrence for me. There were some one liners that I found to be funny even if that wasn't their intent. Like saying that someone looked so healthy that she thought he ate 3 steaks a day, her crush had a sunburned nose that was constantly being described, and that she felt like a paleface among natives when she first attended the new school in California after having just moved there from Oregon.
My major issue with this book was the characters. Hartley was the only one that I found to be likable. Shelley and Katie especially got on my nerves. They were both bratty and they wanted to world to bow down to them to give them everything they desired.
2 stars is the highest rating I can give this book due to my dislike of the characters and the author's writing style, but a mature elementary schooler who can handle reading about romance might enjoy this book more than I did.
I picked this book up for a readathon and because I'd had it sitting on my shelf since I was a kid. I didn't have high expectations for this book, so I wasn't disappointed by what I read, but I did appreciate the vivid settings in this book. The small city in California that Shelley moves to was described so well that it made me feel like I was actually in that city, something that some authors are unable to accomplish with their descriptions.
I found that I was also laughing out loud while reading this book, which is a rare occurrence for me. There were some one liners that I found to be funny even if that wasn't their intent. Like saying that someone looked so healthy that she thought he ate 3 steaks a day, her crush had a sunburned nose that was constantly being described, and that she felt like a paleface among natives when she first attended the new school in California after having just moved there from Oregon.
My major issue with this book was the characters. Hartley was the only one that I found to be likable. Shelley and Katie especially got on my nerves. They were both bratty and they wanted to world to bow down to them to give them everything they desired.
2 stars is the highest rating I can give this book due to my dislike of the characters and the author's writing style, but a mature elementary schooler who can handle reading about romance might enjoy this book more than I did.
June 5, 2021
With regard to the second instalment of Beverly Cleary's First Love series, with The Luckiest Girl, I have certainly been considerably more involved with and interested in the story and the presented characters than with the first novel, than with Fifteen (which was just too almost exclusively boy/girl relationships oriented for my tastes, whereas in The Luckiest Girl, there seems to be a much better balance offered by the author of 1950s home and school life/culture and teenage love interests).
However, albeit that I have much enjoyed The Luckiest Girl, I have also found main character and heroine 16 year old Shelley Latham not only someone with whom I could readily identify on many and different levels but equally an individual who has often proven rather frustrating and irritating (and not really in my opinion ever truly appreciative enough of her golden opportunity of attending school for two semesters in California and residing with a family both very different and much less conventional and strict than Shelley's own parents but especially her mother tend to be). For although in The Luckiest Girl, I have very much liked reading about Shelley's life and being taken into her thoughts and feelings and can also from my own personal experiences as a teenager totally relate to the frustrations she feels about her mother (and especially with the latter's penchant to still approach her daughter as a little girl to be dictated to even at the age of sixteen, and in particular with regard to Shelley's clothing choices), personally, I also do and very strongly think that Shelley Latham is still pretty much immature with regard to boys (and not all that thoughtful, empathetic and even pleasant to them at times either).
Because truth be told and in my opinion, when at the beginning of The Luckiest Girl, Shelley is obviously bored with her steady boyfriend Jack, she really should have broken up with him once and for all before leaving for California (as indeed, even at the end of the novel, it sure does seem as though Jack still thinks he and Shelley are a couple even though Shelley is now clearly going out, going steady wit Hartley). And yes, that whole Phil versus Hartley scenario I feel is a bit problematic in and of itself, as I for one certainly do find it rather annoying that Shelley basically after her first (and successful) date with Hartley kind of dumps him for Phil and indeed only because Phil is supposedly cuter and better looking (not to mention that in The Luckiest Girl, I also am not too thrilled with the fact that in my eyes, Shelley kind of chased shy but cute Phil and that their dalliances also not only scuttled her biology marks but more importantly, also scuttled not just Phil's already subpar schoolwork but also his beloved basketball playing). But still and nevertheless four stars for The Luckiest Girl, as even with my personal annoyances with certain aspects of Shelley's behaviour and attitudes, I do appreciate (and enjoy) how Beverly Cleary both so realistically portrays the 1950s and yes that Shelley Latham has been depicted as both likeable and flawed, with many things to still to learn.
However, albeit that I have much enjoyed The Luckiest Girl, I have also found main character and heroine 16 year old Shelley Latham not only someone with whom I could readily identify on many and different levels but equally an individual who has often proven rather frustrating and irritating (and not really in my opinion ever truly appreciative enough of her golden opportunity of attending school for two semesters in California and residing with a family both very different and much less conventional and strict than Shelley's own parents but especially her mother tend to be). For although in The Luckiest Girl, I have very much liked reading about Shelley's life and being taken into her thoughts and feelings and can also from my own personal experiences as a teenager totally relate to the frustrations she feels about her mother (and especially with the latter's penchant to still approach her daughter as a little girl to be dictated to even at the age of sixteen, and in particular with regard to Shelley's clothing choices), personally, I also do and very strongly think that Shelley Latham is still pretty much immature with regard to boys (and not all that thoughtful, empathetic and even pleasant to them at times either).
Because truth be told and in my opinion, when at the beginning of The Luckiest Girl, Shelley is obviously bored with her steady boyfriend Jack, she really should have broken up with him once and for all before leaving for California (as indeed, even at the end of the novel, it sure does seem as though Jack still thinks he and Shelley are a couple even though Shelley is now clearly going out, going steady wit Hartley). And yes, that whole Phil versus Hartley scenario I feel is a bit problematic in and of itself, as I for one certainly do find it rather annoying that Shelley basically after her first (and successful) date with Hartley kind of dumps him for Phil and indeed only because Phil is supposedly cuter and better looking (not to mention that in The Luckiest Girl, I also am not too thrilled with the fact that in my eyes, Shelley kind of chased shy but cute Phil and that their dalliances also not only scuttled her biology marks but more importantly, also scuttled not just Phil's already subpar schoolwork but also his beloved basketball playing). But still and nevertheless four stars for The Luckiest Girl, as even with my personal annoyances with certain aspects of Shelley's behaviour and attitudes, I do appreciate (and enjoy) how Beverly Cleary both so realistically portrays the 1950s and yes that Shelley Latham has been depicted as both likeable and flawed, with many things to still to learn.
June 13, 2010
"Mother," I cried, "They just crowned me Queen of the May!"
January 23, 2023
I've read three of Beverly Cleary's four teen romances now, and so far this is my favorite.
Five stars for this one. It's really sweet and special.
Five stars for this one. It's really sweet and special.
March 17, 2014
This was a very touching, innocent look at first loves. I adored the quote "This was love, she knew not the love-for-keeps that would come later, but love that was real and true just the same." I loved how Beverly Cleary captures all those innocent, uneasy feelings of looking at a group of boys standing in the hall talking and knowing there is that "one boy" you want to walk over and start a conversation with, but at the same time all those nervous butterfly emotions are clouding your ability to. There is something about the timeless quality of a book like that even now I can still identify with those feelings. A true exploration of teenage girls and the way that sometimes by falling in love with the wrong boy, you just might find the right one.
September 17, 2019
A Cleary-esque sweet and lovely story!
December 21, 2014
This is another of those classics that I never had heard of before and that I missed originally on the Classics challenge at The Midnight Garden when I was the readalong book in March.
But wanting to complete the challenge and not fail it, I decided I needed to read a book that wasn't too long, and went for this one!
Shelley was a very sweet teenager but her mental processes being so taken up with boys did manage to annoy me on occasion. But the moment she started arguing with her mum about the slick vs the raincoat and reacted by destroying the roses... I decided that I liked her more! I was never too explosive as a teenager but I could really understand the frustration and the differences between mother and daughter. I still have them today with my own mother, but I am the kind that doesn't really argue but end up doing whatever I want... ;)
Shelley moves to California for a school year with her mum's college roommate, which seems like a fantastic adventure for a sixteen year old girl that had never travelled on her own or spent time away from home. I really loved that she appreciated everything and looked at her trip and all the differences as wondrous instead of comparing them and finding them lacking with what was "back home". Her enthusiasm popped from the page and was quite contagious too.
Seeing San Sebastian and the new school through her eyes was quite refreshing, and although her obsession with Phil was a bit eye-rolling-inducing, she felt very genuinely a teenager, because at some point and in varied degrees... we were all obsessed with boys (or girls).
I loved how Shelley grew and learnt some lessons during the course of the book, how she became to understand herself better seeing Katie and her reactions, and how that gave her perspective to her past and current actions, making her understand her mother better.
Shelley also realized why she felt like she got tired of Jack and why she didn't feel like things were working out with her dream boy in San Sebastian and realizes that crushes when you don't have many things in common can get pretty awkward, and sometimes the guy you think of as a friend and enjoy sharing things with is the one you can be with and love in the end.
What I found extremely sweet and that dated this story more than anything else was the way Shelley thought about the boys and the relationships, how it was all "going steady" and there were so few kisses and dates were more doing things together and the boys going into the house to meet the parents (or responsible adults) compared to what contemporary books of today show, with more absent parents, more uninformed parents and loads more kissing! ;)
A very sweet read that I ended up liking more than I expected at first. 3.5 to 4 stars for thi one.
But wanting to complete the challenge and not fail it, I decided I needed to read a book that wasn't too long, and went for this one!
Shelley was a very sweet teenager but her mental processes being so taken up with boys did manage to annoy me on occasion. But the moment she started arguing with her mum about the slick vs the raincoat and reacted by destroying the roses... I decided that I liked her more! I was never too explosive as a teenager but I could really understand the frustration and the differences between mother and daughter. I still have them today with my own mother, but I am the kind that doesn't really argue but end up doing whatever I want... ;)
Shelley moves to California for a school year with her mum's college roommate, which seems like a fantastic adventure for a sixteen year old girl that had never travelled on her own or spent time away from home. I really loved that she appreciated everything and looked at her trip and all the differences as wondrous instead of comparing them and finding them lacking with what was "back home". Her enthusiasm popped from the page and was quite contagious too.
Seeing San Sebastian and the new school through her eyes was quite refreshing, and although her obsession with Phil was a bit eye-rolling-inducing, she felt very genuinely a teenager, because at some point and in varied degrees... we were all obsessed with boys (or girls).
I loved how Shelley grew and learnt some lessons during the course of the book, how she became to understand herself better seeing Katie and her reactions, and how that gave her perspective to her past and current actions, making her understand her mother better.
Shelley also realized why she felt like she got tired of Jack and why she didn't feel like things were working out with her dream boy in San Sebastian and realizes that crushes when you don't have many things in common can get pretty awkward, and sometimes the guy you think of as a friend and enjoy sharing things with is the one you can be with and love in the end.
What I found extremely sweet and that dated this story more than anything else was the way Shelley thought about the boys and the relationships, how it was all "going steady" and there were so few kisses and dates were more doing things together and the boys going into the house to meet the parents (or responsible adults) compared to what contemporary books of today show, with more absent parents, more uninformed parents and loads more kissing! ;)
A very sweet read that I ended up liking more than I expected at first. 3.5 to 4 stars for thi one.
August 5, 2018
When I was 8, barely 3 years into living in America and just polishing up my reading skills in English, a librarian recommended a Ramona book to me. I just shrugged and took the book home, but since I grew up in the 70s and we didn’t have constant TV, cable, smart phones or what not, I ended up getting bored one afternoon with no friends to play with and thus I resorted to this Ramona book. Not long after this day, I found myself snubbing my friends in order to read more Ramona books, and then Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse, Ellen Tibbits and so many more of Beverly Cleary’s books.
I never got into her “teen” books though, so I was thrilled to see one of them, The Luckiest Girl, qualify for this back to classics book challenge as it was first published in 1950 (books for the back to classics book challenge must be published before 1968). I am glad to say Beverly Cleary writes about teens just as well as she writes about younger children.
This book is about Shelley Latham and her first real love. She is an only child and has been going “steady” with a boy named Jack whom she actually finds boring. Her mother and her friends at school, however, are impressed with Jack as he is handsome and from a good family and Shelley found herself in a situation where it was easier for her to just keep going out with Jack rather than break up with him and disappoint her mother and friends. But she doesn’t really like him and conversation is almost always difficult for them.
Shelley then gets an opportunity to spend the school year with her mother’s best friend out in CA, and she sets off on her first adventure away from the home she has always known. Shelley gets to start a “new life” so to speak, in a new school in a small town where she quickly becomes quite a stir and catches the eye of the most popular boy in school.
This book is so wholesome and fun—such a different life back then when girls and boys dated on Saturdays, and kept to hand holding and light kisses. I loved seeing Shelley growing up and learning about friendships, relationships and family. This book is definitely character driven and there is so much with each of Shelley’s relationships—the new boy interest, new friends, and a whole new way of looking at her relationship with her mother and her life in OR.
There were some situations that were overly simplistic and probably not realistic due to that, but all in all, I really enjoyed this book. I loved seeing Beverly Cleary’s style and creativity in teen version. Great book. High recommendation.
I never got into her “teen” books though, so I was thrilled to see one of them, The Luckiest Girl, qualify for this back to classics book challenge as it was first published in 1950 (books for the back to classics book challenge must be published before 1968). I am glad to say Beverly Cleary writes about teens just as well as she writes about younger children.
This book is about Shelley Latham and her first real love. She is an only child and has been going “steady” with a boy named Jack whom she actually finds boring. Her mother and her friends at school, however, are impressed with Jack as he is handsome and from a good family and Shelley found herself in a situation where it was easier for her to just keep going out with Jack rather than break up with him and disappoint her mother and friends. But she doesn’t really like him and conversation is almost always difficult for them.
Shelley then gets an opportunity to spend the school year with her mother’s best friend out in CA, and she sets off on her first adventure away from the home she has always known. Shelley gets to start a “new life” so to speak, in a new school in a small town where she quickly becomes quite a stir and catches the eye of the most popular boy in school.
This book is so wholesome and fun—such a different life back then when girls and boys dated on Saturdays, and kept to hand holding and light kisses. I loved seeing Shelley growing up and learning about friendships, relationships and family. This book is definitely character driven and there is so much with each of Shelley’s relationships—the new boy interest, new friends, and a whole new way of looking at her relationship with her mother and her life in OR.
There were some situations that were overly simplistic and probably not realistic due to that, but all in all, I really enjoyed this book. I loved seeing Beverly Cleary’s style and creativity in teen version. Great book. High recommendation.
November 23, 2014
The Luckiest Girl holds up astonishing well given it's about 60 years old. It's a fun story about a girl with a helicopter mom who spends the school year in California with her mom's college roommate's family. It's well written and while dated, not as dated as other work by this author. I'll hang onto my copy and re-read it when I need a flashback to my teen years.
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/105050...
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/105050...
August 4, 2021
Reading on openlibrary for an 'everything Cleary' discussion.
I just started, but I can already say that I do not like Shelley's mother at all. Spoiling the memory of the dance by saying 'I wish you could find a good-looking boy to do things with.' And of course the slicker, etc. But I'm pretty sure the theme is going to be about our girl finding her own identity. On the third hand, she does seem bound up by the idea of needing a boyfriend and friends... girls w/out are seen as pitiful. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.
I'm pretty sure that I haven't ever read this one before... I would have remembered roses in the disposal. At that moment our girl reminded me very much of Ramona Q.
I do like the description of the California family's home and customs interesting. Cleary writes engagingly of what it's like to travel, to learn to be less parochial.
---
Ok done. One of the best books of all by Cleary, I think. Because we got inside a girl's head as she experienced her bildungsroman, but it wasn't all agony & angst. And gosh but it would have helped me to read this when I was a teen and thinking about boys and about growing up myself. The exploration of the experience of seeing another way of life was just so interesting, and so supportive of the themes, that it made the whole book special.
The only flaw might be that we didn't really get into other's heads until near the end. Which makes it an authentic experience, because the immature Shelley was self-centered. So, I hope teens reread this, to get the full effect.
If your daughter is already confident of her own identity, it would do her no harm to read this anyway, to see the perspective of someone who does pin too much importance to dating.
I just started, but I can already say that I do not like Shelley's mother at all. Spoiling the memory of the dance by saying 'I wish you could find a good-looking boy to do things with.' And of course the slicker, etc. But I'm pretty sure the theme is going to be about our girl finding her own identity. On the third hand, she does seem bound up by the idea of needing a boyfriend and friends... girls w/out are seen as pitiful. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.
I'm pretty sure that I haven't ever read this one before... I would have remembered roses in the disposal. At that moment our girl reminded me very much of Ramona Q.
I do like the description of the California family's home and customs interesting. Cleary writes engagingly of what it's like to travel, to learn to be less parochial.
---
Ok done. One of the best books of all by Cleary, I think. Because we got inside a girl's head as she experienced her bildungsroman, but it wasn't all agony & angst. And gosh but it would have helped me to read this when I was a teen and thinking about boys and about growing up myself. The exploration of the experience of seeing another way of life was just so interesting, and so supportive of the themes, that it made the whole book special.
The only flaw might be that we didn't really get into other's heads until near the end. Which makes it an authentic experience, because the immature Shelley was self-centered. So, I hope teens reread this, to get the full effect.
If your daughter is already confident of her own identity, it would do her no harm to read this anyway, to see the perspective of someone who does pin too much importance to dating.
June 11, 2025
Not nearly as humorous or as endearing as the first entry in the series, Fifteen.
This was a rather just okay coming of age romance by Cleary - but with how many great books she's written, a mediocre one now and then is to be expected, I suppose.
2.5⭐
This was a rather just okay coming of age romance by Cleary - but with how many great books she's written, a mediocre one now and then is to be expected, I suppose.
2.5⭐
January 14, 2022
I love Beverly Cleary and I have read this book several times, but it is not one of my favorites. The setup that establishes at the beginning Shelley will be in California for nine months after which she will return home doesn't work well for a romance for me. I also don't particularly like Shelley. She isn't very bright and she makes choices that seem silly to me, certainly not the choices I would have made, but also not the best choices for herself a lot of the time.
April 3, 2016
The Luckiest Girl is a very light read about a girl called Shelley who spends one year (or two semesters, I think?) in orange county, staying with her cousins, at the age of sixteen. Basically, that is the premise and the plot of this book.
I read it as part of a YA reading challenge being hosted at The Midnight Garden. The idea is to read or reread some of the old YA classics, so they don't get forgotten. Beverly Cleary is clearly (ho ho) a big name in America, but I have never even heard of her, so I was coming from a different perspective to most of the readers.
I think that the appealing thing about this sort of very dated book is the nostalgia element and, since the situation and the high school culture are not familar to me, I couldn't really take part in this. As such, it was... well, sort of boring. I hesitate to write this because (if it truly is a classic) then people might be offended, but I would expect it to work the other way round as well, ie. some British classics would not appeal to our neighbours over the pond. The writing isn't noteworthy, very little of substance happens, and I couldn't relate to her experiences.
It will be interesting to read (and join in if I'm brave enough!) the discussion of this book, and see what others make of it.
I read it as part of a YA reading challenge being hosted at The Midnight Garden. The idea is to read or reread some of the old YA classics, so they don't get forgotten. Beverly Cleary is clearly (ho ho) a big name in America, but I have never even heard of her, so I was coming from a different perspective to most of the readers.
I think that the appealing thing about this sort of very dated book is the nostalgia element and, since the situation and the high school culture are not familar to me, I couldn't really take part in this. As such, it was... well, sort of boring. I hesitate to write this because (if it truly is a classic) then people might be offended, but I would expect it to work the other way round as well, ie. some British classics would not appeal to our neighbours over the pond. The writing isn't noteworthy, very little of substance happens, and I couldn't relate to her experiences.
It will be interesting to read (and join in if I'm brave enough!) the discussion of this book, and see what others make of it.
May 9, 2016
The other day I remembered a random detail from this book and decided to track it down. I remember which school library I checked it out of, so I must have read it when I was in fifth grade. Reading it again as an adult was an interesting and delightful experience. I remembered more of the details than I would have thought, but of course now I identify with the mothers in the story much more than with the teenage protagonist.
May 6, 2010
This is an awful book! I find it to be quite a wast of time. That is because nothing happens throughout the entire book. I was lead to believe that this book was written so as to relate to teenage girls and I as a teenage girl formed no bond with this book. Shelly the main character went out with three boys throughout the book, and kissed not even one of them! Don't read this book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2010
One word summarizes this book: Derp. That's about it. Absolutely horrible, I despised all the characters especially the main one (I can't even remember her name!). I wanted them all to die painful agonizing deaths. The storyline was dull and predictable. Take a word of advise and stay away from this crap!!
January 27, 2013
I read this over and over as a tween and so I reread it to see what it was I loved about it so much back then. Sweet, innocent first love and to steal the phrase from Edenbrooke, a proper romance. I loved it just as much now as I did 15 years ago!
April 17, 2021
I reread this book this week because Beverly Cleary wrote about my corner of the world in it. Much of the setting of this book, San Sebastian a small citrus town, is really Ontario California and its surroundings. There a pepper tree lined boulevards, a main street large enough of a pack of eight mules to turn around on, citrus groves that are quickly being developed into acres of modern ranch houses, schools built in the Mission Revival style, olive trees and many more things that shout to me now that I live here. Mrs. Cleary only lived here for two years so she could benefit from the state's generous offer that anyone living in California could attend a community college for free. I love hearing some about how she saw this area through this dear novel.
Like all her other teen romance novels (Fifteen is the best, fight me) there is so much here she wants to convey to her readers about how relationships, how life works. As much as I liked spotting familiar places in the descriptions I really loved the story this time.
Like all her other teen romance novels (Fifteen is the best, fight me) there is so much here she wants to convey to her readers about how relationships, how life works. As much as I liked spotting familiar places in the descriptions I really loved the story this time.
April 11, 2023
HRH Beverly Cleary N E V E R misses.
April 22, 2024
I love love this book. It came at the right time for me…teaching me how to cope with changes, be more mature and loving, and say goodbyes…but that doesn’t mean it’s forever!
December 19, 2016
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
Beverly Cleary has had a long and admirable career writing for children. She is the author of the famous Ramona Quimby series, as well as the recipient of the 1984 Newbery medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw, an epistolary novel about a boy's correspondence with his favorite author. But in addition to these well-known works, Beverly Cleary also wrote four young adult novels in the late 1950s and early 1960s that, though somewhat dated, are still in print. In order of publication, they are: Fifteen (1956), The Luckiest Girl (1958), Jean and Johnny (1959), and Sister of the Bride (1963). Today I'm discussing The Luckiest Girl.
Shelley Latham is sixteen years old, and bored with her life. She's been going steady with Jack too long - although he's nice, she finds him tedious. And her mother just doesn't understand a thing. Shelley wants a yellow rain slicker, for example, but her mother insists upon buying her a pink raincoat with fur trim. When Mavis Michie, Shelley's mother's college roommate, extends an invitation for Shelley to live with the Michies in San Sebastian, California, for her Junior year, Shelley decides that will be just the thing to cure her boredom.
And life with the Michies is definitely interesting. For one thing, they have two kids - fifteen-year-old Luke, who is into science fiction and spends all his free time trying to get an old motorcycle running, and thirteen-year-old Katie, who's going through a difficult stage where she argues with everyone and nothing is fair. They also have unconventional ways of doing things. They hang laundry by moonlight, their doorbell operates with an old-fashioned crank, and each of their bathroom towels bears the name of a different school team. As for Shelley's personal life, there are no more boring dates with Jack. Rather, she's caught the interest of Hartley, a school newspaper reporter, as well as Phil, the unattainable boy everyone wants, who shares her biology lab table. Which of these boys will turn out to be the one she's always wanted to meet? And how will she cope when it's time to say goodbye?
I absolutely loved this book. It's very gentle, with minimal physical contact between Shelley and either boy, and few real problems, but the emotions ring very true to a girl's first experience having a boyfriend. I was surprised, actually, by how much this book really does have in common with YA books currently being published. This was written before teen romance novels started to become really popular, but it adheres to many of the conventions I associate with that genre. And Shelley, especially, is a great YA heroine. Some of her interests and concerns - the yellow slicker, whether it's too forward to let a boy know she likes him, etc. - are decidedly dated now, but her voice has that same sympathetic quality that hooks me in to any good YA novel. I also appreciated that the writing in this book is simple, and straightforward, as Cleary's writing always tends to be, but also more sophisticated than her books for children. Compared with newer books, there isn't much drama, or much difficulty, but I actually found that refreshing - Shelley's trivial concerns reflect many of mine when I was that age, and her lack of earth-shattering disappointments and tragedies rang very true. Beverly Cleary has always had a talent for writing about day to day life in an interesting way, and this book lived up to my expectations a thousand times over.
I think The Luckiest Girl might not resonate very much with older teens anymore, but it's perfect for young teens who like a gentler read. The language is richer than many middle grade novels, but without the sexual content or foul language of a lot of YA books. I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to reading the other three titles in this First Love series.
Beverly Cleary has had a long and admirable career writing for children. She is the author of the famous Ramona Quimby series, as well as the recipient of the 1984 Newbery medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw, an epistolary novel about a boy's correspondence with his favorite author. But in addition to these well-known works, Beverly Cleary also wrote four young adult novels in the late 1950s and early 1960s that, though somewhat dated, are still in print. In order of publication, they are: Fifteen (1956), The Luckiest Girl (1958), Jean and Johnny (1959), and Sister of the Bride (1963). Today I'm discussing The Luckiest Girl.
Shelley Latham is sixteen years old, and bored with her life. She's been going steady with Jack too long - although he's nice, she finds him tedious. And her mother just doesn't understand a thing. Shelley wants a yellow rain slicker, for example, but her mother insists upon buying her a pink raincoat with fur trim. When Mavis Michie, Shelley's mother's college roommate, extends an invitation for Shelley to live with the Michies in San Sebastian, California, for her Junior year, Shelley decides that will be just the thing to cure her boredom.
And life with the Michies is definitely interesting. For one thing, they have two kids - fifteen-year-old Luke, who is into science fiction and spends all his free time trying to get an old motorcycle running, and thirteen-year-old Katie, who's going through a difficult stage where she argues with everyone and nothing is fair. They also have unconventional ways of doing things. They hang laundry by moonlight, their doorbell operates with an old-fashioned crank, and each of their bathroom towels bears the name of a different school team. As for Shelley's personal life, there are no more boring dates with Jack. Rather, she's caught the interest of Hartley, a school newspaper reporter, as well as Phil, the unattainable boy everyone wants, who shares her biology lab table. Which of these boys will turn out to be the one she's always wanted to meet? And how will she cope when it's time to say goodbye?
I absolutely loved this book. It's very gentle, with minimal physical contact between Shelley and either boy, and few real problems, but the emotions ring very true to a girl's first experience having a boyfriend. I was surprised, actually, by how much this book really does have in common with YA books currently being published. This was written before teen romance novels started to become really popular, but it adheres to many of the conventions I associate with that genre. And Shelley, especially, is a great YA heroine. Some of her interests and concerns - the yellow slicker, whether it's too forward to let a boy know she likes him, etc. - are decidedly dated now, but her voice has that same sympathetic quality that hooks me in to any good YA novel. I also appreciated that the writing in this book is simple, and straightforward, as Cleary's writing always tends to be, but also more sophisticated than her books for children. Compared with newer books, there isn't much drama, or much difficulty, but I actually found that refreshing - Shelley's trivial concerns reflect many of mine when I was that age, and her lack of earth-shattering disappointments and tragedies rang very true. Beverly Cleary has always had a talent for writing about day to day life in an interesting way, and this book lived up to my expectations a thousand times over.
I think The Luckiest Girl might not resonate very much with older teens anymore, but it's perfect for young teens who like a gentler read. The language is richer than many middle grade novels, but without the sexual content or foul language of a lot of YA books. I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to reading the other three titles in this First Love series.
November 12, 2022
Such a good story, so well-written and relatable. A bittersweet ending, but the last page made me smile.
June 9, 2021
Beverly Cleary, you surprise me. I had read another one of her teen romances last summer, and I liked this one even more. It would definitely be considered a “gentle read” by today’s YA standards, but so many of the themes in this story still resonate with some of today’s girls. I loved that mother-daughter relationships were explored and that the ending was bittersweet and completely realistic.
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