Special Delivery

Main Street #8

by Ann M. Martin

There's a new member of the family in this touching new Main Street story...

Flora and Ruby's Aunt Allie has always wanted to have a baby . . . and now, suddenly, it's happening! Allie's adopting -- and the baby is on its way. Suddenly, a quiet neighborhood Thanksgiving has turned into a huge event -- and Flora and Ruby are about to get their first cousin!

Genres: Middle Grade, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Adoption, Juvenile, Friendship

196 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[Ashley Coby]

There are so many of these.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked reading the character's take of the day after Thanksgiving in NYC as I've had the privilege of experiencing that myself. I cannot imagine adopting an infant as a single woman.

[Sophia s · Rating 5 out of 5]

in my mind im flora but really i'm ruby

[Saumya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good! 😊

[Pratiti Majumder · Rating 5 out of 5]

soothing and beautiful as always

[Violet Bleger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes me so excited to continue the Main Street series!

[Hailey Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread ❤️
—
“This world was hers.”

[Ca1t!Y# · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good. I am reading the Mainstreet series right now and I think I only have 2 more books to go. They are easy reads for me, but I still enjoy them.

[nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

ruby best girl i love her so much

[Fiona Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m disappointed to learn that Aunt Allie has been wanting to adopt children for years and never considered adopting Flora and Ruby and instead let them go to their elderly grandmother.

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME????? I love Main Street books! Except this one bugged me. I can't even really explain it. I just didn't like Ann M. Martin msking a statement about girl power and single motherhood. And it seemed kind of weirdish and out of the book's character to have Aunt Allie all sad about Paul leaving her and leaving a note pinned to her pillowcase. I was like "Ummm.....this is a children's book. Okay, maybe a children's soap opera, but still a children's book. And no one really likes Aunt Allie. Sorry." And there was just this one cheesy sentence in Willow's point of view that bugged the crap out of me. Here it is: "Hunting was wrong, senseless, useless, and cruel, and now her father was going to make her spend this Thanksgiving, which was already horrible, in a place called Deer Lodge." Honestly, Ann M. Martin, there is something called subtlety. You should try it sometime, instead of thrusting your opinions on the shallow minds of ten year old girls. Besides that, the book was okay. There were still stupid Olivia and Jacob moments *rolls eyes* but thankfully they were few and far between. But there was also her sterotypical cousin who said stuff like "Girl, no way!" and "Nuh-uh, girlfriend!" I am now starting to doubt if Ann M. Martin actually knows any teenagers besides the Baby-Sitters' Club. I think that is the extent of my ranting. So anyway, in this one, Ruby gets to on her high horse about singing and neglects practices so she can go earn money cleaning out basements. Okay. That's fine. But then at the concert, she doesn't start her solo on the right beat and it's like she's commited one of the seven deadly sins. For Heaven's sake, this ten year old gets put on PROBATION FROM A COMMUNITY CHILDREN'S CHORUS! That was weird. And then we have more of saintly Flora. Quiet, polite, honest, intelligent, studious, responsible, ladylike Flora. I hate her so much. Well. That is all I can think of to say.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

I love the MAIN STREET series. I love the simplicity and innocence of the stories, but they are not by any stretch of the imagination cheesy or weak.

This installment was about Aunt Allie's adopting a new baby. Both Flora and Ruby are greatly surprised by this, and also delighted.

While Flora narrates some of what happens, this story was told mainly by Ruby.

Ruby has a few problems, such as not practicing for the Thanksgiving concert and messing up. She needs to accept responsibility for herself. That was a great side story, along with how all these different characters celebrate Thanksgiving. I especially loved the trip to New York City.

I highly recommend these books because of their simplicity and innocence, but also because they are entertaining, too. SPECIAL DELIVERY was another great installment. My fifth grade girls have been picking up these books and have been wanting more.

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't read many children's books, but was intrigued by the description: want to see how this author portrays a single woman's adoption process for the "J" audience. 4/14: pleasantly surprised: book represents many types of families. Ruby is "flawed" in a perfectly normal 10 year old way! Good to know about a series that I could recommend wholeheartedly as a "gentle read" for children that represents a realistic world.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my all time favorite Main Street book, although the "special delivery" came at the end so we did not get to have a story with the "special delivery". the entire story was more about getting the "special delivery"

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite in the series, but still enjoyable.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is good so far

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how she make the character traveled to new york

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book and series. Definitely worth a read.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a very interesting book.

[Diane Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love main street . And maybe it's just me but Flora kinda reminds me of Abby from her family tree series. Just me ?

[Judy E. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eighth book in the Main Street series. Aunt Allie adopts a baby girl and Flora and Ruby enjoy their new cousin.

[Sienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good, happy and sweet edition to the series.

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im excited that Aunt Allie is adopting a baby!

[Kaylin · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a fun book. it was not an amazing book but, i still liked it.