Pardon Me

In Pardon Me, Stella needs to find a new best friend after her friend, Willa, moves away. But finding a new best friend is not easy. Things are looking up when she meets Evie, the new girl in town. She is going to be in Stella's class at school and she needs a new best friend too. Stella can't wait to introduce her to the other third graders. Except when they get to school, things don't exactly go the way Stella planned.

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$11.99 $11.99
$7.99 $7.99
$23.99 $23.99
Interest Level Grade 1 - Grade 3
Reading Level Grade 3
Dewey FIC
Lexile 540L
ATOS Reading Level 3.6
Guided Reading Level N
Language English
Publisher Sleeping Bear Press
Available Formats Hardcover (9781585361939), Paperback (9781585361946), PDF (9781627530989), Hosted ebook (9781627535113)
Copyright 2012, 2014
Number of Pages 160
Dimensions 5.5 x 7.5
Graphics

A Review of "Pardon Me" in Kirkus Reviews

Back for her third outing, Stella reports, “If you write at least three books that are all connected then you have a series.”

All is not well for Stella: Her BFF has moved far away, leaving a serious sense of loneliness and loss, which is made all the worse when she calls Willa and her friend won’t talk to her. Dispirited, Stella sets her heart on a Maltese puppy at the pet shop near her father’s candy store, even though her mother doesn’t want a dog. Then she’s forced to befriend a new girl in town, Evie, but once she gets comfortable with that idea, the girl inexplicably seems to reject her after they become classmates. Stella faces problems that lots of girls newly transitioning to chapter books will recognize. Her humor-tinged first-person voice and usually upbeat attitude seem just right for her age, capturing the pain of growing up but also affirming the optimistic competence of young grade-schoolers as they encounter conflicts and learn to resolve them. Supportive, wise parents complete the calmly predictable picture of Stella’s middle-class life.

Not much happens to Stella, but she’s fun to spend some time with, and now that she’s successfully authored her own whole series, that’ll be possible. (Fiction. 5-9)

Author: Courtney Sheinmel

Courtney Sheinmel is a recovering attorney, chocolate-lover, mac and cheese expert, and the author of over a dozen highly celebrated books for kids and teens, including the young readers’ Stella Batts series, the middle grade Kindness Club series, and the young adult novel, Edgewater. In addition to writing, Courtney served as a judge on the national level for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and she received a National Scholastic Outstanding Educator Award for her work as a writing instructor at Writopia Lab, a non-profit organization serving kids ages 8 to 18. Courtney lives in New York City. You can find her on Twitter at @courtneywrites, on Instagram at courtneysheinmel, or on her website at www.courtneysheinmel.com.

Illustrator: Jennifer A. Bell

Jennifer A. Bell is a children's book and greeting card illustrator, and studied at the Columbus College of Art and Design. After several years of living in Minneapolis, she recently relocated to Toronto.

  • Carpool
  • We'll See
  • Raining Cats & Dogs
  • The Surprise
  • Good Things Come in Small Packages
  • Pardon Me
  • Coming Clean
  • The Candy Circus
  • Biscuits & Other Things
  • Best Friends