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Clarissa Delaney #1
Words That Start with B
Brilliant. Best-ever. That was how grade seven was supposed to be, but so far things aren't turning out as well as Clarissa Delaney had planned. It's hard enough being the unexceptional daughter of a bona-fide beauty queen, but lately her best friend Benji can't seem to stand up for himself, Michael Greenblat keeps giving her strange gifts and Mattie Cohen, world-class goody-two-shoes, seems to think they are friends. Things can't possibly get any worse ... or can they?
In this year of surprises, you'll laugh as Clarissa takes on boys, bullies, and the one B word she can't bring herself to say.
In this year of surprises, you'll laugh as Clarissa takes on boys, bullies, and the one B word she can't bring herself to say.
207 pages, Paperback
First published September 14, 2010
About the author
Vikki VanSickle
15 books228 followersEverything I need to know in life I learned from children's literature. My work ranges from contemporary middle grade fiction to magical, storytime-ready picture books.
I am currently living in Toronto where I work in children's publishing in addition to writing. All kids' books, all the time!
I am currently living in Toronto where I work in children's publishing in addition to writing. All kids' books, all the time!
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 18, 2010
It seems that a lot of books my daughter and I have read in the past year deal with Grade 7. Ah yes… the beginning of high school (here in Quebec) or middle grade, it seems everywhere else. It’s the year most kids are twelve going on thirteen and experiencing the ups and downs of growing up. As Clarissa, the main character in Words That Start With B says, “…the first day of school used to mean the death of summer. This year the first day of school means the first day of the rest of my life.”
VanSickle deals well with the issues brought up in her first novel. Clarissa Delaney has high expectations for Grade 7. She’s going to be in Miss Ross’s class, the best teacher in Ferndale Public School, and it’s going to be the best-ever year. But things don’t turn out as Clarissa planned. Miss Ross is on a sabbatical and her new teacher turns out to be Tony the Tiger; her best friend Benji gets bullied, a boy starts giving her gifts and big-mouth Mattie Cohen, the goody-two-shoes is constantly in her business.
But it doesn’t end there. Her mother falls seriously ill right when Clarissa needs her the most. Clarissa’s enthusiasm quickly turns to teen angst and after some hard lessons she learns to deal with the rapid changes that take place in such a short period of time. My daughter and I liked Clarissa, who is brave, courageous and smart. Her behavior at times toward others was rude and inconsiderate, but the consequences were clear. There is a great cast of characters in this book, from kind and sensitive Benji to persistent Mattie who did not give up on befriending Clarissa.
Every chapter was titled with a word that starts with the letter B, hence the title of the book. It made the book unique. Some of the thought-provoking and enlightening topics my daughter and I talked about while reading were: bullying, menstruation, cancer treatment and single parenting. The book's got a great ending, funny too. I would highly recommend this read for a mother/daughter book club and for a teen whose parent is sick.
VanSickle deals well with the issues brought up in her first novel. Clarissa Delaney has high expectations for Grade 7. She’s going to be in Miss Ross’s class, the best teacher in Ferndale Public School, and it’s going to be the best-ever year. But things don’t turn out as Clarissa planned. Miss Ross is on a sabbatical and her new teacher turns out to be Tony the Tiger; her best friend Benji gets bullied, a boy starts giving her gifts and big-mouth Mattie Cohen, the goody-two-shoes is constantly in her business.
But it doesn’t end there. Her mother falls seriously ill right when Clarissa needs her the most. Clarissa’s enthusiasm quickly turns to teen angst and after some hard lessons she learns to deal with the rapid changes that take place in such a short period of time. My daughter and I liked Clarissa, who is brave, courageous and smart. Her behavior at times toward others was rude and inconsiderate, but the consequences were clear. There is a great cast of characters in this book, from kind and sensitive Benji to persistent Mattie who did not give up on befriending Clarissa.
Every chapter was titled with a word that starts with the letter B, hence the title of the book. It made the book unique. Some of the thought-provoking and enlightening topics my daughter and I talked about while reading were: bullying, menstruation, cancer treatment and single parenting. The book's got a great ending, funny too. I would highly recommend this read for a mother/daughter book club and for a teen whose parent is sick.
March 29, 2013
I loved, loved, loved this book. Not only is the voice of Clarissa, seventh grader, spot on, but all the characters are so perfectly genuine and lovable, from best friend Benji, who is terribly bullied for being different, new friend Mattie, who is larger than life, to Annie, Clarissa’s single mom and former beauty queen. Clarissa navigates her troubles (some small ones, some really big ones) with the flawed grace of a girl who doesn’t always make the smartest choices, even though her heart is generally in the right place. The good news is, Clarissa learns from her mistakes and realizes that not everything is as it seems upon first impression. This is a story of a girl being brave and standing up for herself and those who matter to her. It had so much humor and heart and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD.
I support independent bookstores. You can use this link to find one near you or order at IndieBound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/978144...
I support independent bookstores. You can use this link to find one near you or order at IndieBound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/978144...
May 3, 2012
I bought this book and the sequel, "Love is a Four Letter Word" for my 10 year old daughter, but because I'm writing in that age category right now as well, I thought I'd best give it a read. She devoured them both in two days and enjoyed them equally. I love that the author has created an especially strong females voice in the narrator/protagonist, easy to visualize and empathize with - most of the time. She has to deal with both "coming of age" and some traumatic "life and death" issues whith are handled with grace and frankness.
May 1, 2011
The cover:
The words’ chalky effect is about the only eye-catching aspect of the cover. Having a solid colour for the background always seems like an easy way out to me (unless it’s an integral part of the bigger picture), and the bottom black edging looks like it’s there just to break up the monotony. The direction the girl’s looking, to the top-right, kind of suggests a hopeful expression, but I wouldn’t say the drawn style of the girl appeals very much to middle-graders.
The book:
The first chapter (a single paragraph) acted like a prologue and set me up with the assumption that this would be a “school” story. Wrong, and I loved Words That Start With B for it. Although the beginning pages are heavy with narration, the brisk yet effective characterization of Benji, Mom, Miss Ross and Denise, her mom’s best friend, makes up for the lack of dialogue. Denise’s character development through Clarissa’s eyes is particularly significant; at first, Clarissa regards her as a “honking goose” with “horse legs”; she understands Denise’s true colours better once Denise proves to care about her mother just as much.
Clarissa herself is as well-developed: “Mom is careful not to say anything too nasty about him [Clarissa’s estranged father] in front of me, but once I overheard her talking with Denise and she called him a piece of human lint. That’s definitely not Dairy Queen talk.” (22) Her rants are hilarious— this one’s about astrology: “‘Well, it’s a lot like stereotyping, and we learned last year in Mrs. Miller’s class that it is wrong to judge individual people based on group assumptions. That is how things like racism and sexism get started. Are you telling us to be prejudiced, Mr. Campbell?’” (40) Reactions to Michael’s (admittedly gauche) advances are equally funny.
The cancer plotline seems subdued compared to Clarissa’s other school-related woes; I would’ve expected a bigger reaction. With the lesser emphasis on Clarissa’s mother’s sickness, it was inevitable that she would recover. It’s Benji’s bullying problems and the Mr. Campbell-who-is-not-Miss-Ross which claim the front seat. The justice wreaked by Clarissa, Michael and Mattie on Terry DiCarlo, Benji’s tormentor, makes for a thoroughly enjoyable climax, complete with surprises and secret plans.
The words’ chalky effect is about the only eye-catching aspect of the cover. Having a solid colour for the background always seems like an easy way out to me (unless it’s an integral part of the bigger picture), and the bottom black edging looks like it’s there just to break up the monotony. The direction the girl’s looking, to the top-right, kind of suggests a hopeful expression, but I wouldn’t say the drawn style of the girl appeals very much to middle-graders.
The book:
The first chapter (a single paragraph) acted like a prologue and set me up with the assumption that this would be a “school” story. Wrong, and I loved Words That Start With B for it. Although the beginning pages are heavy with narration, the brisk yet effective characterization of Benji, Mom, Miss Ross and Denise, her mom’s best friend, makes up for the lack of dialogue. Denise’s character development through Clarissa’s eyes is particularly significant; at first, Clarissa regards her as a “honking goose” with “horse legs”; she understands Denise’s true colours better once Denise proves to care about her mother just as much.
Clarissa herself is as well-developed: “Mom is careful not to say anything too nasty about him [Clarissa’s estranged father] in front of me, but once I overheard her talking with Denise and she called him a piece of human lint. That’s definitely not Dairy Queen talk.” (22) Her rants are hilarious— this one’s about astrology: “‘Well, it’s a lot like stereotyping, and we learned last year in Mrs. Miller’s class that it is wrong to judge individual people based on group assumptions. That is how things like racism and sexism get started. Are you telling us to be prejudiced, Mr. Campbell?’” (40) Reactions to Michael’s (admittedly gauche) advances are equally funny.
The cancer plotline seems subdued compared to Clarissa’s other school-related woes; I would’ve expected a bigger reaction. With the lesser emphasis on Clarissa’s mother’s sickness, it was inevitable that she would recover. It’s Benji’s bullying problems and the Mr. Campbell-who-is-not-Miss-Ross which claim the front seat. The justice wreaked by Clarissa, Michael and Mattie on Terry DiCarlo, Benji’s tormentor, makes for a thoroughly enjoyable climax, complete with surprises and secret plans.
Read
October 11, 2011Clarissa Delaney and her best friend Benji are on tenterhooks as they prepare to start Grade 7. Will they finally get to be in the wonderful Miss Ross’s class? Clarissa feels she has been waiting for this day for almost her whole life. When she finds out that Miss Ross is on sabbatical and goofy Mr. Campbell will be teaching 7B in her place, she can scarcely contain her disappointment.
Grade 7 holds other absurdities as well — Michael Greenblatt’s mystifying behaviour, for instance, and annoying Mattie Cohen’s persistent attempts to act like they are friends. Then there is tough guy Terry DiCarlo who seems to have it in for Benji. As hard as Benji tries to avoid him, Terry goes out of his way to harass him, and his menacing behaviour becomes increasingly cruel. But when Clarissa’s mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, this bombshell overshadows all the other traumas in her life.
Feisty, forthright and so very true-to-life, Clarissa is a delightful and heartwarming protagonist who perfectly embodies the typical 13-year-old girl. Her bouts of sullenness punctuated by bursts of melodrama, her conviction that even her own mother doesn’t understand her and doesn’t care, and her touching inability to keep up with her own ever-changing emotions… all of these things brilliantly capture the awkwardness and uncertainty of this tumultuous time in a young girl’s life. The supporting characters are equally winsome — even the contemptible Mr. Campbell — and author Vikki VanSickle exquisitely depicts the mother-daughter relationship that is at the heart of this story. Beautiful is another word that starts with B… and beautifully-written is a perfect word to describe this book!
Reviewed by Lisa Doucet in Canadian Children's Book News (Winter 2011, Vol. 34, No. 1)
Grade 7 holds other absurdities as well — Michael Greenblatt’s mystifying behaviour, for instance, and annoying Mattie Cohen’s persistent attempts to act like they are friends. Then there is tough guy Terry DiCarlo who seems to have it in for Benji. As hard as Benji tries to avoid him, Terry goes out of his way to harass him, and his menacing behaviour becomes increasingly cruel. But when Clarissa’s mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, this bombshell overshadows all the other traumas in her life.
Feisty, forthright and so very true-to-life, Clarissa is a delightful and heartwarming protagonist who perfectly embodies the typical 13-year-old girl. Her bouts of sullenness punctuated by bursts of melodrama, her conviction that even her own mother doesn’t understand her and doesn’t care, and her touching inability to keep up with her own ever-changing emotions… all of these things brilliantly capture the awkwardness and uncertainty of this tumultuous time in a young girl’s life. The supporting characters are equally winsome — even the contemptible Mr. Campbell — and author Vikki VanSickle exquisitely depicts the mother-daughter relationship that is at the heart of this story. Beautiful is another word that starts with B… and beautifully-written is a perfect word to describe this book!
Reviewed by Lisa Doucet in Canadian Children's Book News (Winter 2011, Vol. 34, No. 1)
June 8, 2012
I won this book through www.10storiesup.blogspot.com as part of a feature on TD Book Week. The book jacket does not mention that one of the B words is breast cancer but I found Clarissa's mother's diagnosis to be the most compelling part of the story. Clarissa's reaction to it is emotionally authentic and her mother's treatment is realistic. The rest of the B words, including bully and best friend are also handled well. The writing is excellent, the characters are unique, and the story moves at a perfect pace. I'm looking forward to reading the next Clarissa book.
August 29, 2011
Another book dealing with a parent`s illness (I was basically crying all weekend). I really liked the narrative voice in this one, definitely nailed grade 7 girl. I also felt that the various storylines - bullying, friendship, parental illness, and a pre-romance, all worked together really well and didn`t feel smushed in. They just felt like a slice of life in grade 7. Another character-driven novel that I would recommend to middle school girls.
June 16, 2014
Very emotional journey for Clarissa,she grows as the year progresses and it's very interesting to read. It's also intriguing of how young she is, and how I, two years older, wouldn't have handled many of these situations as good as she did. I recommend to anyone who enjoys some emotion, lots of humor and likes to imagine putting themselves in other people's shoes.
December 15, 2010
This book was written by an old friend of mine and I really enjoyed it. She made the main character credible & likeable with great development throughout the book. A great read for young adults! I was happy to see some influences from our hometown and growing up experiences.
January 31, 2012
The chapters all start with "b"! I love it. The voice of the main character sounds quite real. There are a lot of twists in the story. Although the intended audience is teens, as an adult I found it quite a good read. It deals with many themes -- all important in today's world.
April 18, 2013
well written and very funny, something that you can relate to, most of the time. I recommend this book for anybody, especially those who know of somebody with breast cancer, or any type of cancer. Be BRAVE!
October 28, 2012
finished the book really fast!
January 2, 2013
This is a hard to put down read. This will be an easy sell in the classroom. Everyone yearns for a friend like Benji.
November 29, 2015
From a scale of 1 to 5, I'd like to give 4.5 stars. Light reading for me who is spending such a long holiday before SPM (urgh) .
July 28, 2012
AMAZING SERIES!! Definitely 5 stars!! Loved it.
March 28, 2015
Of all three Clarissa Louise Delaney novels, Words that Start with B is the one that cements Clarissa as one of the best narrators on my MG shelves. She is thoughtful and thought provoking, a typical seventh-grader, though with a clear foot in the door of adulthood. Clarissa has to tackle some monumental problems in this novel—from having a long-awaited dream dashed on the first day of school, to defending her best friend from bullies, to that B word that looms over Clarissa’s head for most of the year. But she overcomes her obstacles … not with the grace and aplomb that some other characters do, but with bumps, bruises, setbacks, and tears—all of which make her so real and admirable a character. You can’t help but feel every bit of emotion that Clarissa feels, which means you’ll have no trouble rooting for her as the climax of the novel approaches. She handles Terry, the school bully, with a finesse that’s all her own, and the fact that she doesn’t think to do anything less to avenge Terry’s victims makes me just a little jealous of Clarissa. I don’t know if I would have the courage to do what she does, though I’d like to think that I’d defend my friends with the same ferocity.
There is one scene, in particular, that I really enjoyed, which doesn’t have anything to do with Clarissa and the bully at all. It’s a moment when Clarissa’s teacher, Mr. Campbell, talks to her after school because of some less-than-admirable behaviour. Rather than telling her mom about what she did, Mr. Campbell does two things: He tries to understand the real reason for Clarissa’s actions, possibly even enlightening Clarissa in the process, and he judges her behaviour in context of her entire character, doling out his punishment accordingly. Too often, teachers punish students without giving much thought to the circumstances around their dishonourable behaviour, but it was great that VanSickle highlights an alternative to that ubiquitous and ominous phone call home through Mr. Campbell’s reaction. Sometimes, the self-induced embarrassment of knowing that your teacher has forgiven you for that really senseless thing you did out of anger is more than enough to prevent future delinquencies. This scene really stuck with me, and I’m so thankful to VanSickle for having written it.
For those of you who haven’t read Words that Start with B, I highly recommend it. You’ll fall in love with Clarissa as much as our class did, and you’ll wish you had a friend just like her.
The original version of this review can be found at http://squinklebooks.wordpress.com.
There is one scene, in particular, that I really enjoyed, which doesn’t have anything to do with Clarissa and the bully at all. It’s a moment when Clarissa’s teacher, Mr. Campbell, talks to her after school because of some less-than-admirable behaviour. Rather than telling her mom about what she did, Mr. Campbell does two things: He tries to understand the real reason for Clarissa’s actions, possibly even enlightening Clarissa in the process, and he judges her behaviour in context of her entire character, doling out his punishment accordingly. Too often, teachers punish students without giving much thought to the circumstances around their dishonourable behaviour, but it was great that VanSickle highlights an alternative to that ubiquitous and ominous phone call home through Mr. Campbell’s reaction. Sometimes, the self-induced embarrassment of knowing that your teacher has forgiven you for that really senseless thing you did out of anger is more than enough to prevent future delinquencies. This scene really stuck with me, and I’m so thankful to VanSickle for having written it.
For those of you who haven’t read Words that Start with B, I highly recommend it. You’ll fall in love with Clarissa as much as our class did, and you’ll wish you had a friend just like her.
The original version of this review can be found at http://squinklebooks.wordpress.com.
February 21, 2012
Clarissa is a 7th grader, and nothing is going right. She didn't get the teacher she hoped for, and she found out her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Most people in her school finds out and then Mattie Cohen, the goodie-two-shoes, starts talking to her, and Micheal is giving gifts to Clarissa, and she starts developing feelings for him. Also, Benji, Clarissa's best friend, is having bullying problems. Clarissa is going through challenges, changes and surprises through grade 7.
I picked up this book because I thought it was the second book to 'A is for Angst,' but it wasn't... Also, I liked the colour of the front and back cover of the book.
I finished this book because I wanted to know if her mother overcomes breast cancer.
I recommend this book to girls who are going through hard things and changes through middle school.
I picked up this book because I thought it was the second book to 'A is for Angst,' but it wasn't... Also, I liked the colour of the front and back cover of the book.
I finished this book because I wanted to know if her mother overcomes breast cancer.
I recommend this book to girls who are going through hard things and changes through middle school.
December 27, 2012
Many things I liked about this book . . . let's see if I can start them all with B
Best friends that make one smile just to know that friends like that matter
Bullies and some bystanders that in the end, don't stand by
Bumps of the health and growing up kind that are so well handled
Believable characters that could just as well live down the road or around the corner
Looking now for other books by this author!
Best friends that make one smile just to know that friends like that matter
Bullies and some bystanders that in the end, don't stand by
Bumps of the health and growing up kind that are so well handled
Believable characters that could just as well live down the road or around the corner
Looking now for other books by this author!
August 17, 2016
I thought this book was quite amazing! Lots of girls can relate to Clarissa especially if their mother had breast cancer (that's the B word!).
It was very emotional at some parts, but overall I really liked it! The book was so vivid, it made me feel like I was actually experiencing her situation!
It was very emotional at some parts, but overall I really liked it! The book was so vivid, it made me feel like I was actually experiencing her situation!
Read
June 27, 2011FIC VAN; Reality Fiction; jUNE 2011
April 19, 2016
Now this is some quality middle school fiction.
August 16, 2017
So good!!!!!!
April 16, 2017
I wasn't expecting to cry as much as I did over this book.
Vikki VanSickle has perfectly captured what it means to be a preteen girl. From the agony of puberty (surpassed only by the agony of having to DISCUSS puberty with adults), to the prevalence of bullying, to parental illness, to teacher trouble... Words That Start with B is a funny and often heartbreaking book, with a pitch-perfect depiction of grade seven.
I so much appreciate Benji's character and the discussions surrounding homophobic bullying. This is something that I've found gets skipped over a lot in kidlit. Some kids are gay -- and they're gay in middle school. And some of them face horrific treatment from their peers -- and that happens in middle school, too. I think that Vikki VanSickle has done an excellent job in her portrayal of Benji, and I hope that these books can be like a message of solidarity to LGBT readers.
And finally, my favourite part of the book was Clarissa's narration itself. She's opinionated, and her narration is blunt and honest. She views everything as a huge deal (which I absolutely did when I was that age. Heck, I probably still do). She has funny little interjections and descriptions that I adore. And I cannot wait to get my hands on book two in the series!
Vikki VanSickle has perfectly captured what it means to be a preteen girl. From the agony of puberty (surpassed only by the agony of having to DISCUSS puberty with adults), to the prevalence of bullying, to parental illness, to teacher trouble... Words That Start with B is a funny and often heartbreaking book, with a pitch-perfect depiction of grade seven.
I so much appreciate Benji's character and the discussions surrounding homophobic bullying. This is something that I've found gets skipped over a lot in kidlit. Some kids are gay -- and they're gay in middle school. And some of them face horrific treatment from their peers -- and that happens in middle school, too. I think that Vikki VanSickle has done an excellent job in her portrayal of Benji, and I hope that these books can be like a message of solidarity to LGBT readers.
And finally, my favourite part of the book was Clarissa's narration itself. She's opinionated, and her narration is blunt and honest. She views everything as a huge deal (which I absolutely did when I was that age. Heck, I probably still do). She has funny little interjections and descriptions that I adore. And I cannot wait to get my hands on book two in the series!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews