Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth

My mother bought me this book for my 8th Christmas and it remains a favorite to this day. In it I found a sympathetic character in Elizabeth, the protagonist of this story. I could well sympathize with her inability to make friends easily (I had that same challenge) and agonizing over her small stature. I had the opposite problem -- I always thought I was abnormally tall until I reached my maximum height at 12 and am NOT tall for any adult! It was an interesting coming together of these two loners, Elizabeth and Jennifer. I think the whole "witchcraft" thing was to a large extent, childhood wishful thinking and playacting and the natural wish to distinguish oneself among one's peers. I loved this book and delighted in the antics of the two girls. Elizabeth's nemesis, the phony, duplicitous Cynthia is easily recognizable. I had to endure my share of "Cynthias" growing up and I can remember thinking how laughably clueless adults were to the phony, smarmy charm such creeps like Cynthia oozed. I thought it was mean of Elizabeth's mother to make her attend Cynthia's birthday party and to constantly sing Cynthia's praises to her. People who praise Other People's Children to their own make me tired. That certainly did not help Elizabeth's esteem. I could relate to that because my mother used to sing the praises of Other People's Children to me. I can remember telling her time and again, "She's/They're just pretending to be nice because YOU'RE here. I can't just walk up to kids and make friends." It was only after I had become an adult myself that I realized that my mother and her peers were not as susceptible to the smarmy Cynthias as I had been led to believe. It was in recent years that she has told me that she knew all along what sneaky, miserable little wretches those "Cynthias" were and that she was "friendly to them in the hopes they'd be nicer to me" whether she was present or not. How wonderful it would have been to have told me that in the first place! I would have known she was an ally then instead of easily misled by Other People's Children! This book is an eye opener for all ages. I still laugh uproariously over the way Elizabeth ate a raw onion per Jennifer's direction for a week. Her bizarre eating habits paid off -- I loved it when her onion breath scared nasty Cynthia who ran off the stage during a school play. I also loved the way she fixed Cynthia's wagon at Cynthia's birthday party by challenging her phony charm. Each time Cynthia oohed and aahed over a gift and asked who it was from, Elizabeth would call out the name of the giver, thus spoiling Cynthia's fun. I cheered when Elizabeth stepped on nasty Cynthia's foot when the latter stuck her tongue out at her when she left the party. I remember at 8 thinking, "Elizabeth, you don't need Cynthia. One of these days she'll get it." Many years later, I wanted to say, "Just remember, there is life after elementary/middle school. Creeps like Cynthia may have won a battle or two, but th

I first read this book when I was in third grade (27 years ago!). Then, I was proud of just learning the name of the title by heart! It is definitely one of my favorite books from childhood. I can't wait to share it with my daughter (who is only 2 years old now). I recommend it for all young girls.

I recommend this book. Elizabeth was lonely. She has no friends. All the kids go out the back door to school. Some kids go over the hill to school, and some go through the forest to school. Elizabeth goes through the woods. She looked up and saw a girl named Jennifer. Jennifer jumped out of a tree and ran so fast it didn`t look like she touched the ground. Jennifer took a book from the library. It was a spell book. It had ointments that make you fly, and that change you into an animal and that kill people. I liked the part when they told me that one of the girls was a witch. A couple of magical things happen.

My mother bought me this book for my 8th Christmas and it remains a favorite to this day. In it I found a sympathetic character in Elizabeth, the protagonist of this story. I could well sympathize with her inability to make friends easily (I had that same challenge) and agonizing over her small stature. I had the opposite problem -- I always thought I was abnormally tall until I reached my maximum height at 12 and am NOT tall for any adult! It was an interesting coming together of these two loners, Elizabeth and Jennifer. I think the whole "witchcraft" thing was to a large extent, childhood wishful thinking and playacting and the natural wish to distinguish oneself among one's peers. I loved this book and delighted in the antics of the two girls. Elizabeth's nemesis, the phony, duplicitous Cynthia is easily recognizable. I had to endure my share of "Cynthias" growing up and I can remember thinking how laughably clueless adults were to the phony, smarmy charm such creeps like Cynthia oozed. I thought it was mean of Elizabeth's mother to make her attend Cynthia's birthday party and to constantly sing Cynthia's praises to her. People who praise Other People's Children to their own make me tired. That certainly did not help Elizabeth's esteem. I could relate to that because my mother used to sing the praises of other people's children to me. I can remember telling her time and again, "She's/They're just pretending to be nice because YOU'RE here. I can't just walk up to kids and make friends." It was only after I had become an adult myself that I realized that my mother and her peers were not as susceptible to the smarmy Cynthias as I had been led to believe. It was in recent years that she has told me that she knew all along what sneaky, miserable little wretches those "Cynthias" were and that she was "friendly to them in the hopes they'd be nicer to me" whether she was present or not. How wonderful it would have been to have told me that in the first place! I would have known she was an ally then instead of easily misled by other people's children! This book is an eye opener for all ages. I still laugh uproariously over the way Elizabeth ate a raw onion per Jennifer's direction for a week. Her bizarre eating habits paid off -- I loved it when her onion breath scared nasty Cynthia who ran off the stage during a school play. I also loved the way she fixed Cynthia's wagon at Cynthia's birthday party by challenging her phony charm. Each time Cynthia oohed and aahed over a gift and asked who it was from, Elizabeth would call out the name of the giver, thus spoiling Cynthia's fun. I cheered when Elizabeth stepped on nasty Cynthia's foot when the latter stuck her tongue out at her when she left the party. I remember at 8 thinking, "Elizabeth, you don't need Cynthia. One of these days she'll get it." Many years later, I wanted to say, "Just remember, there is life after elementary/middle school. Creeps like Cynthia may have won a battle or two, but the

This is a great book, about two fifth-grade girls who have the same need. The need for a friend. Elizabeth, the narrator of the story (I, me, myself) doesn't have any friends until Jennifer comes along. Well, actually, Jennifer and Elizabeth aren't really friends---but Elizabeth carries on the job of a witch's apprentice. That's what Jennifer is-a witch! They meet on Halloween, but they only see each other again on Saturdays, when they go to the library and the park to read books on witchcraft. Their goal is to make a flying ointment, but it is here that trouble starts. This book is great, and at the end, there is a great surprise that Elizabeth realizes. This book was a 1968 Newbery Honor Book, a runner-up to From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, also by E.L. Konigsburg