Tag: fiction

Book Review: The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill

The Toothpaste Millionaire

Jean Merrill (J Fiction)

This is the story of my friend Rufus Mayflower and how he got to be a millionaire. With a little help from me. With a lot of help from me, as a matter of fact. But the idea was Rufus’s.

Who would pay $.79 for a tube of toothpaste? Why, it was so outrageous that 12-year-old Rufus Mayflower takes matters into his own hands and sets out to make his own toothpaste for less…much, MUCH less. Drawing from his days at his grandmother’s house, Rufus concocts a toothpaste recipe and proves that he can, in fact, make a whole gallon of toothpaste for the same cost as a single tube. Excited to pass on this cost savings to consumers, he partners with his friend Kate and soon earns the attention of a local TV personality. Rufus’s toothpaste not only gets noticed by the public, but also by some of toothpaste’s biggest manufacturers. However, what Rufus learns about business and competition is nothing to smile about.

Set in the 1960s, Jean Merrill’s The Toothpaste Millionaire is a testament to ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and integrity. Fans of her classic David-versus-Goliath book The Pushcart War will once again be cheering for the underdog who takes on the establishment and proves that when the good guys win, they win big!

The heart of the story is the interracial friendship between Rufus and our narrator Kate. This relationship may not bat any eyes today, but during the story’s setting, it was considered uncommon and unconventional. But as fate would have it, a single and simple act of kindness opened the door to a friendship built on mutual trust, respect, and admiration. Merrill gives the story a nice twist by making Kate—who is white—the outsider, having moved into a predominantly black, middle-class neighborhood. As she also serves as the story’s narrator, she describes first-hand what it feels like to be excluded and viewed suspiciously. However, racial lines are soon blurred as everyone comes together behind Rufus’s lucrative and ambitious venture.

The Toothpaste Millionaire is an ode to the self-starters who feel that something could be made cheaper, faster, better, or smaller. Merrill somehow makes learning economics, math, and marketing fun through a cast of likeable characters, a fast-paced story, and the idea that treating people with fairness, kindness, and respect bears its own riches and rewards.

Rating: 5/5

Book Review: Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary

Runaway Ralph

Beverly Cleary (J Fiction)

Ralph wants a life of speed, danger, and excitement. Ralph wants to be free from his cousins and the rules imposed by his mother and uncle. But most of all, Ralph just wants a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Determined not to be just another crumb-scrounging rodent, he decides to run away from his home at the Mountain View Inn and heads to a place filled with the promise of those wonderful sandwiches…Happy Acres Camp. With a little effort, and some luck from a downhill journey, Ralph is on his way. It’s not long after that he gets more than he bargained for when he meets the camp guard dog, a sneaky tom cat, and a philosophical neighbor in the form of a hamster. Soon, Ralph realizes that perhaps home isn’t so bad after all.

Cleary delights audiences once again with this charming follow-up to her popular The Mouse and the Motorcycle. In the first book, Ralph meets an extroverted boy confined to his hotel room due to illness. This time around, he meets an introverted boy confined by his own self-doubts, shyness, and desire to be alone. It’s a nice twist for Ralph to meet such an opposite ally named Garf (short for Garfield). The reader also gets to watch Garf come out of his shell as he’s given the responsibility of caring for Ralph and begins to develop a friendship with the mouse. Ralph also begins a transformation of his own. Once feeling “trapped” by his mother’s silly rules, Ralph literally becomes trapped in a cage and begins to appreciate the freedom he once had at the inn. He also understands that the rules he once viewed as restrictive were actually imposed to keep him safe.

Readers shouldn’t be worried that this book will fall short of its predecessor! On the contrary, there’s plenty of action and nail-biting situations to keep young audiences engaged and ready for more. The book’s ending also introduces Ralph’s next adventure nicely and enticingly lures readers to complete their journey with Cleary’s third and final installment of her Ralph Mouse series: Ralph S. Mouse.

There’s a great quote that says, “Remember, being happy doesn’t mean you have it all. It simply means that you’re thankful for all you have.” After several near-catastrophic events, Ralph slowly began to appreciate the life he had and even started to value those pesky, nuisance rules. He missed home because he realized that home—rules, cousins, and all—was enough…even though a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every now and then would be good, too.

Rating: 4/5

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Beverly Cleary (J Fiction)

Ramona has a LOT going on! She’s starting the third grade at a school where NO ONE knows that she’s Beatrice Quimby’s little sister (yay!), she gets to ride the school bus ALL by herself, and she has THE most important responsibility of the family—be nice to Willa Jean at Howie’s grandmother’s house. Sound like a lot to handle? It might be for anybody, but this is Ramona Quimby and if anyone can tackle a challenge and new situations head on, it’s this girl…even though she’s just eight. But between a school bully, an ever-tightening family budget, an unfortunate egg incident at school, and a teacher who thinks she’s a show-off, even Ramona is starting to feel the pressure. Can she find a way to toughen up and pull it together? She has to because her family is depending on her!

Beverly Cleary’s endearing Ramona series continues as our feisty heroine returns and is as lovable, surprising, and formidable as ever. She’s opinionated, clever, resilient, and demands accuracy. She’s a girl who’s fair, loyal, and loves her family. Most importantly, she’s human and serves as an example of what to do (and what not to do) when things don’t go your way. With her unflappable charm, spunk, and candor, she turns an adversary into an unlikely ally, accepts a punishment as a challenge, tackles a boring school assignment with creative flair, and realizes that she’s part of a nice sticking-together family, although they might not be nice all of the time.

What makes Ramona Quimby, Age 8 such a great story is the relatability of its main character. Whether she’s dealing with the humiliation of getting sick at school in front of her classmates, standing up to playground injustice, dealing with the shame of falling out of favor with a teacher, or dealing with overly stressed parents who might be on the verge of falling out of love, Ramona deals with life’s ups and downs as best she can. She takes her responsibility within her family seriously, is hurt when treated unfairly by her parents, and is pragmatic in whose side she takes in a family squabble. She pouts, whines, and agitates, but she’s also curious, kind, and helpful. Ramona is allowed to be a lot of things because she knows that she has a family who loves and supports her unconditionally and this allows her the freedom to explore, challenge, and fail without suffering long-lasting repercussions. And through some tough lessons, our heroine vows to try harder, promises to be dependable, and strives to be more patient in the future. As for today, she’s just Ramona Quimby, age 8, and that’s good enough…for now anyway.

Rating: 5/5

Share Ramona with your class with our study guide: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Study-Guide-Ramona-Quimby-Age-8-by-Beverly-Cleary-12745834