Oh Honestly, Angela!

Angela #1

by Nancy K. Robinson

Eleven-year-old Tina works hard to convince her family that they should make sacrifices to help the poor and needy children of the world

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Young Adult

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

During her career Nancy K. Robinson wrote more than 20 books for children between the ages of 7 and 12. She also wrote stories for children published by Scholastic Inc. She was a 1964 graduate of Vassar College.

Reviews

[Laura]

There are loads of sites these days for people searching for their lost story fragment. There are threads on goodreads, groups on librarything, and lots of booksellers hosting forums on their own site. Sometimes they are easy to find, sometimes they are impossible. This one was mine.

All that I could remember was that the book was about two sisters, very Beezus and Ramona -like in personalities. The part that I could remember strongly was something that I wasn't sure was the focus of the book, but that the young girl had a stuffed elephant that was her beloved comfort animal, and she gave him away to charity by mistake, but her mom sat with her and helped her come to peace with giving the elephant away, rather than the ending, I-as-a-child wanted, which was to say that it was too big of a sacrifice and to give something else.

Strangely, I didn't want to find it so that I could re-read it, which is why most people are so desperate. I just wanted to remember this slice of childhood, wanted to know the author who had affected me so strongly that I would, at 25, be googling "stuffed elephant" repeatedly. Thanks to Google Book search, that one phrase was enough to get what I wanted. I knew that phrase was important, didn't search for plush elephant or stuffed animal. It turns out that "Stuffed Elephant" is the name of the elephant. I feel kind of smug for having remembered this.

ANYWAY, I guess my childhood nostalgia has to do with my Mom reading this with me when I was young. She died recently, and when you lose someone, you cling to and hunt down the most insignificant nonsense just to have one more thing to hold to your heart. I remember discussing the ending with my Mom, I remember sitting on my bed reading it. It is one more memory that I wasn't able to visualize as strongly until I discovered the book, and so one more memory that I can cling to. Thank you.

[Thomas Floyd]

I never read this book. At a school book fair in 4th grade, I saw it on the list of books that I could order and checked the little box next to it because it sounded like a fun story. The librarian and my teacher gave me a new order sheet and said I had to pick something else because this book was "meant for girls". I have no clue what it's about, but I've always sorely resented that teacher and that librarian restricting access to it because I was a boy.

[Erin]

This is an incredibly stupid book about a kindergarten girl who thinks she is bringing her favorite stuffed animal for show and tell, but mistakenly brings it on a charity drive day and doesn't know how to tell her teacher she made a mistake. No charity would want her used toy. Really dumb book.

[Angie Williams]

I recently decided to reread *Oh Honestly, Angela!* because it was one of my favourite Scholastic books back in the day. And, obviously, having the same name as the main character made it feel like it was practically written for me.

But the name wasn’t the only reason I loved it. There was just something about this story that stuck with me all these years later. Rereading it brought back that wonderful feeling of being a kid and getting completely lost in a book. It’s funny, relatable, charming, and full of that nostalgic magic that so many of us remember from our Scholastic days.

It’s always a little risky to revisit a childhood favourite because sometimes the book doesn’t hold up quite the way you remember it. Thankfully, Oh Honestly, Angela! was just as enjoyable the second time around.

Maybe I loved it because my name was Angela. Maybe I loved it because of the story. Either way, little-kid me clearly had excellent taste in books.

A definite five-star reread for the nostalgia alone!

[Evie]

This era of children's lit has a certain quality to it that I remember fondly. It's one part nostalgia, of course, but also practical-but-engaging storytelling. This one, though, doesn't quite handle poverty and charity in the best manner.

There were parts of this that struck me as impractical, like an eleven-year-old and a five-year-old grocery shopping on their own, and no adult wondering why they're there unattended. Then, when their mother gets upset about their botched groceries, she starts yelling. Well, what'd you expect after leaving your children home alone and asking them to go shopping on their own? That's not central to the story, though-- just a funny aside.
This did address privilege and poverty, but never really gets into the humanity of these children in need. Characters constantly say "I want my very own orphan!" like they're adopting a cat or a dog, and no one ever really corrects them. It's that precarious balance between charming children's innocence and having an extremely privileged mentality, leaning towards the latter. At the end, no one ever sees who gets Stuffed Elephant, and just what their impact really is. We're missing an entire side to this. But this was written in the 80's, so, there's probably not much of a chance that this will get republished.

[Heidi-Marie]

I think this book was given to me. But it is possible it's one I got at the school fair. I was interested in the book because the cover had a little girl holding an adorable stuffed animanl, and she had an older sister. I thought that I could relate to that. So I was surprised to find that the book was from the older sister's viewpoint. I think this may have been my first (of innumerable) inkling of how annoying a younger sibling--very much like myself--could be to her older siblings. Kept this book for quite a few years more for its sentimental value as to how I had acquired it. But as you can see, I can't even remember that now. I gave it away some time ago. I still remember a couple parts of the story, but nothing to impress my mind as a must-have. Otherwise, I would have kept it, right? :-)

[A]

The summer house my family used to rent had this on the shelf and I read it every summer I went. I’m not sure if I never got to the end or skipped around or there were pages missing or what, because I’m not totally convinced I ever read the whole thing start to finish, but I’ve definitely read it more times than any other book besides Harry Potter. The part where they’re in the supermarket and Angela pretends she can read and the part where Tina is in the rotating restaurant and orders eels are as much seared into my memories of childhood summer as going wading in the lake or falling asleep beneath the yellow bedspread.

[Elizabeth Gibbs]

Fun and adventurous story about two sisters: a kindergartener (Angela) and sixth grader (Tina). With the help of their older brother Tina wants to find a way to sponsor a child. This book comes from the perspective of both Tina and Angela, leaving the reader with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

[Indie Bender]

This book is so cute! I loved the moral and humor of this book. I rated it a three because, it is very well written but it is just not for me. I’m sure a LOT of people will enjoy this read!!!

[Shelley]

I have never forgotten Angela accidentally donating her beloved stuffed friend, Stuffed Elephant! Or her sister Tina obsessing on how to adopt an underprivileged child for $17 a month. There were a lot of funny bits, too--Angela doing the shopping before knowing how to read, and buying pet food instead of human food, Tina ordering eels at the restaurant with her rich friend's family because it was cheapest on the menu and earning the undying admiration of their French waiter, their mother dealing with jury duty. A delightful reread.

[CeCe Maye]

a ten out of ten book with complex characters and storylines with a heartwarming ending that withstands the tests of times (the one thing i remember about this book is when Tina goes out to dinner with her rich friend who thinks Tina’s older brother is hot and she wants to get the cheapest thing on the menu because she’s ‘poor’ so she gets escargot)

[Emerson]

Tina has a really big heart and I love that she’d do so much to help people, and how she is so selfless. Very good and funny!

[Theresa Estavillo]

This year I wanted to reread books that were meaningful in my childhood. This book was still sweet and funny as I remember.

[Casey]

I remember random things from this book (I haven't read it in at least 15 yrs. I'm old) like the sister Tina wanted boots for Christmas that were kinda expensive so it was her only present. The father was a Cello player, and of course Angela wanted to after seeing how poor children were spending christmas give her gifts to them. From what I can recall it wasn't preachy just a young girl really trying to be kind. Though I probably thought at the time I'd never do that... lol

[Mandy]

I remember borrowing this book from the library at least a couple times when I was a child. I thought that the story would be familiar to me when I reread it, but that was not the case. Maybe I just checked it out because it had an elephant on the cover but never read it.

[Hilary]

One of the first chapter books I ever read... and read over and over! I still remember this story. I really enjoyed the writing style and subject matter, which was positive and motivating.

[Tywashawna]

i really do like this book this book is very good .

[Jazli Lopez]

I like this book, and some day I would like to help a child in need.

[Mellanie C]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14510715