In this beautifully illustrated early reader chapter book about navigating change, young gardener Gertie Green struggles to adjust to new class rules and new personalities in the first weeks of second grade. Second grade is off to a stinkin' start. There are classroom jobs. Gertie has to sit beside Scarlett, who does NOT think it is neat that she has the same name as a bean, and most of the kids invited to Gertie's 7th birthday party apparently aren't coming. Her big sister Liza says that weird kids do and say things other kids can't relate to, and she tells Gertie she does NOT want to be weird. But what if it's too late, and she already is?It helps that her friends from first grade are standing by her. But when Clark plays a practical joke on Scarlett to get her back for hurting Gertie's feelings, it doesn't make Gertie feel as good as she thought it would. And when she discovers her friend Zoey is worried that she is the weird kid this year, Gertie begins to see that being the only one who is doing something doesn't make you "weird."This is the fourth book in this beautifully illustrated, early reader chapter book series about friendship, gardening, and the power and importance of being yourself. Each book features a different vegetable as a key part of the story and includes how-to-grow information for young gardeners. The Gertie in the Garden series is so engaging . . . growing vegetables and even playing with them will encourage kids to view healthy foods as helping them negotiate their way in the world. Kids will love these books (and parents will too). Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, New York University
