ALA Booklist

The author of The Stories Julian Tells (1981) and its companions brings the same warm humor and deep understanding of human nature to a more extended tale. Living in prosperous isolation outside a small Wisconsin town, Amanda has only her pony, Skipper, for company after her best friend, Lyle, moves away. As she explores ways to ease her loneliness, including writing to a French pen pal and following the hilariously clinical advice of her prickly but savvy older sister, Margaret, to make friends at school, she finds herself splitting into two people: Amanda, average but sweet, as her domineering mother crushingly puts it, and Amanda K., who stubbornly works on math homework until it is perfect and isn't afraid to speak her mind, even to her withdrawn, taciturn father. Fifth grade becomes a year of new thoughts for her. If the story's general tone is light, Amanda's experiences are anything but bland--particularly at home, where she overhears her mother browbeat Margaret into breaking off a romance with a young man deemed unsuitable, then listens as her parents argue bitterly about her own future. Even the minor characters display intriguing depths in this perceptive, emotionally engaging novel. (Reviewed April 15, 1998)

Horn Book

In 1950s Wisconsin, Amanda thinks she'll never be happy again after her best friend moves away. With a controlling and snobby mother, a perfect older sister, and a remote father, Amanda feels lonely and isolated. A series of events, including making a new friend, help Amanda realize that she doesn't have to let others' expectations of her define her life. Smooth writing filled with thoughtful observations on the nature of relationships characterize this quiet story of maturation.

Kirkus Reviews

Amanda K. Woods, 12, is a girl to like'she just doesn't know it yet. She's quirky, serious, impulsive, imaginative, perceptive, smart, and now, sharp, thanks to the addition of the K that stands like a sword flashing confidently in the middle of her name. In an opening scene, Amanda says good-bye to Lyle Leveridge, former neighbor and friend who leaves behind, at her suggestion, the legacy of his right hand, which she "exchanges" with her own in a tingling, did-it-really-happen episode. That hand seems to give her special powers when it comes to baking muffins to her mother's specifications, writing letters to a French pen pal, seeking the advice of a yogi, and more, in Rome, Wisconsin, circa 1950. Casting aside her mother's meticulous criterion, older sister Margaret's Dale Carnegie—inspired thoughts, and the dubious punditry of women's magazines, Amanda learns to see through her own eyes, speak "her own real thoughts." Cameron (More Stories Huey Tells, 1997, etc.) avoids grand revelations in favor of singular insights that affirm girlhood without self-consciousness. As Amanda moves from alone to alive, she becomes strong, but not impossibly so, realizing that her special powers are those inside her, not borrowed from the Lone Ranger or a boy's hand. Amanda is the story, and she's as funny as she is wise. (Fiction. 10-12)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

This National Book Award finalist, set in 1950s Wisconsin, centers on an 11-year-old girl's coming of age. PW called her transformation """"less dramatic than a butterfly's metamorphosis, but just about as impressive."""" Ages 10-14. (Oct.)

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6--When her best friend, Lyle Leveridge, moves away, Amanda is convinced that she will never be happy again. Growing up during the 1950s in rural Wisconsin, she feels isolated and lonely. Her older sister Margaret is far too pretty and smart to be an ally, her mother holds herself aloof from the community, and her father is distant. Gradually, Amanda's luck changes-she makes a new friend, gains a French pen pal, does better at school, and forges a closer bond with her father. Despite some lovely moments, the slow-moving plot and lack of drama in Amanda's situation will discourage most readers. The writing sometimes sparkles but mostly drags. Many of the events strain credibility (the pen pal comes to visit despite Amanda's explicit plea not to; her father suddenly finds courage to disagree with his snobbish and controlling wife). Also, the cultural references (Pat Boone, Patti Page, Come Back, Little Sheba) will be meaningless to most young people. Cameron has written many excellent books for children, but this one has neither the voice nor the verve needed to succeed.--Cyrisse Jaffee, formerly at Newton Public Schools, MA