Dear Mr. Henshaw

 In a way, "Dear Mr. Henshaw" is a companion novel to the Ramona Quimby series. Leigh Botts doesn't meet Ramona, but Leigh's issues remind me of Ramona's issues. When Ramona's father loses his job, he struggles with depression and begins smoking. When Leigh's father has his own existential crisis, there is a related string of bad decisions. Beverly Cleary doesn't mince words. Adults make errors all the time. Children have to cope with the messy behavior of loved ones.

Bill Botts is so lost--so inadequate--that Leigh Botts needs to invent his own surrogate parents. He is like the bear in a Henshaw novel--when the bear's mother dies, the bear begins eating only sugar, so much sugar that he cannot hibernate properly. It's a friendly ranger who intervenes and teaches the orphaned bear to feed himself properly. One of Leigh's surrogate dads is Mr. Fridley, the observant janitor, who drums up tasks for Leigh and sings the praises of a well-developed sense of humor. Fridley is a fully realized character.

Leigh begins to grow up. We see this in his changing attitude toward Mr. Henshaw. Initially, Leigh can't bear the thought of writing "for fun." He is enraged at Henshaw for having made the suggestion. But he slowly becomes reflective. It's actually useful to wrestle one's thoughts into words. It makes life more interesting. Additionally, it's possible to reconsider one's relationships. Leigh gradually becomes more respectful and thoughtful in Mr. Henshaw's (epistolary) company.

In a world of Harry Potters, it's nice to see Beverly Cleary violating certain rules. Leigh is defiantly ordinary--he is "the most average boy in California." At the same time, Leigh's story is worth telling. It's a classic.