The Kid in the Red Jacket

If you thought Junie B. Jones was FUNNY—catch more laughs from New York Times bestselling author Barbara Park with her hilarious middle-grade novels—just right for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and I Funny!
 
Can Howard SURVIVE life without friends?
Howard Jeeter’s parents have ruined his life. They’ve moved him across the country, and all the kids in his new town act like he’s totally invisible. At least, all of them except for his six-year-old neighbor, Molly Vera Thompson. Howard could use a friend. But a little girl who talks nonstop? Not what he had in mind. Still, when you’re really lonely, you’ll be friends with anyone…right?
 
An IRA-CBC Children’s Choice
A Library of Congress Children’s Book of the Year
A Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
 
* “Park writes in a witty and bittersweet style about the awkward, supersensitive age of early adolescence. Another first-rate addition to the middle-grade popular reading shelf.” —School Library Journal, Starred
 
“[A] witty middle-grade novel.” —Publishers Weekly

© PamelaTidswell
Barbara Park was best-known as the creator and author of the New York Times bestselling Junie B. Jones series, the stories of an outrageously funny kindergartener that have kept kids (and their grownups) laughing—and reading—for over two decades. The series was consistently a #1 New York Times bestseller, spending over 180 weeks on the list, and Barbara and her books were profiled in such national outlets as Time, Newsweek, USA Today, the New York Times, and Today. Barbara Park arrived at the writing profession through an indirect route. Before becoming a bestselling and beloved children’s author, she originally intended to teach high school history and political science. She got her secondary education degree but quickly realized that her calling was to be a writer.  After several rejections, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers acquired her first manuscript, Operation: Dump the Chump and two others. Don’t Make Me Smile was published first in 1981, followed by Operation: Dump the Chump (1982) and Skinnybones (1982).    She went on to write over 50 books, from the picture book Ma! There’s Nothing to Do Here!, a love letter to her grandson, to middle grade novels such as Skinnybones, The Kid in the Red Jacket, Mick Harte Was Here, and The Graduation of Jake Moon. Barbara won more than 40 children’s book awards, including several Children’s Choice Awards.  Barbara Park was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey, on April 21, 1947, and spent most of her adult life in Arizona. There she, with her husband, Richard, raised her two sons and spent time with her two young grandsons. Park died on November 15, 2013 after fighting ovarian cancer heroically for seven and a half years. View titles by Barbara Park
  • WINNER | 1989
    Kentucky Bluegrass Master List
  • WINNER | 1987
    Library of Congress Children's Books of the Year
  • WINNER | 1987
    Parents' Choice Award
  • WINNER | 1987
    School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
  • NOMINEE | 1990
    Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award

About

If you thought Junie B. Jones was FUNNY—catch more laughs from New York Times bestselling author Barbara Park with her hilarious middle-grade novels—just right for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and I Funny!
 
Can Howard SURVIVE life without friends?
Howard Jeeter’s parents have ruined his life. They’ve moved him across the country, and all the kids in his new town act like he’s totally invisible. At least, all of them except for his six-year-old neighbor, Molly Vera Thompson. Howard could use a friend. But a little girl who talks nonstop? Not what he had in mind. Still, when you’re really lonely, you’ll be friends with anyone…right?
 
An IRA-CBC Children’s Choice
A Library of Congress Children’s Book of the Year
A Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
 
* “Park writes in a witty and bittersweet style about the awkward, supersensitive age of early adolescence. Another first-rate addition to the middle-grade popular reading shelf.” —School Library Journal, Starred
 
“[A] witty middle-grade novel.” —Publishers Weekly

Author

© PamelaTidswell
Barbara Park was best-known as the creator and author of the New York Times bestselling Junie B. Jones series, the stories of an outrageously funny kindergartener that have kept kids (and their grownups) laughing—and reading—for over two decades. The series was consistently a #1 New York Times bestseller, spending over 180 weeks on the list, and Barbara and her books were profiled in such national outlets as Time, Newsweek, USA Today, the New York Times, and Today. Barbara Park arrived at the writing profession through an indirect route. Before becoming a bestselling and beloved children’s author, she originally intended to teach high school history and political science. She got her secondary education degree but quickly realized that her calling was to be a writer.  After several rejections, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers acquired her first manuscript, Operation: Dump the Chump and two others. Don’t Make Me Smile was published first in 1981, followed by Operation: Dump the Chump (1982) and Skinnybones (1982).    She went on to write over 50 books, from the picture book Ma! There’s Nothing to Do Here!, a love letter to her grandson, to middle grade novels such as Skinnybones, The Kid in the Red Jacket, Mick Harte Was Here, and The Graduation of Jake Moon. Barbara won more than 40 children’s book awards, including several Children’s Choice Awards.  Barbara Park was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey, on April 21, 1947, and spent most of her adult life in Arizona. There she, with her husband, Richard, raised her two sons and spent time with her two young grandsons. Park died on November 15, 2013 after fighting ovarian cancer heroically for seven and a half years. View titles by Barbara Park

Awards

  • WINNER | 1989
    Kentucky Bluegrass Master List
  • WINNER | 1987
    Library of Congress Children's Books of the Year
  • WINNER | 1987
    Parents' Choice Award
  • WINNER | 1987
    School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
  • NOMINEE | 1990
    Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award

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