I read the book Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself. The author is Judy Blume. The book takes place in the year 1947 in Miami, Florida. It is about a girl named Sally and her life after World War 2. Sally is in 5th grade. She is nine years old. Sally has many ups and downs in her new life in Miami. A down is that her father cannot stay in Miami with them, because of his job he has to stay in New Jersey. An up is that Sally has many new friends in Miami.

Her father visits every once in awhile, so Sally’s only communication in between visits, is to write to him. Sally tells her father all about Miami, and recent activities, and things that have happened. I love Sally’s letters to her father. They are very descriptive and interesting. I especially like how her letters to him start with, Dear Doey-Bird. That is Sally’s nickname for her father. I think that nickname is pretty funny!

Sally and her family moved to Miami because her brother Douglas got a kidney infection. I will not tell you why Douglas got a kidney infection because I don’t want to spoil an important part in the book. I can relate to this part of the story because my brother has many food allergies and eczema. Eczema is when your skin starts to bleed and gets very itchy and uncomfortable. Every year my family goes to Hawaii for the summer. The weather helps my brother’s eczema. This is similar to how Douglas feels better in Miami because it is not cold. Another connection is that I live in New York and they live in New Jersey. New York and New Jersey are right next to each other.  

Sally is a very interesting character. She is cautious, smart and sometimes brave. For example, on page 102 and 103 it says “After years and years of her mother’s warnings it was finally happening. A strange man was offering her candy!”… “He shook the bag of candy at Sally. “Go … on … take …” “No!” Sally said and rode off, almost knocking the man over.” She likes and thinks some things that you might think are odd for a nine year old girl. Sally likes to call herself a detective because that is her favorite game to play. On page 27 Sally says, “I’ve got this really great detective story ready. We’re after this murderer who cuts people up and stuffs the pieces into brown lunch bags…he leaves the bags all over town and the people are really scared…this is no ordinary murderer…this guy is dangerous.” This gave me the idea that Sally enjoyed different types of games than other kids.

A case that Sally worked on was the case of old scary Mr. Zavodsky, the man who offered her candy. Sally thinks that Mr. Zavodsky is Adolf Hitler(A.H.). She thinks he looks like A.H. because he has slick, dark hair and a small black moustache. There are no pictures in the book but you know what the characters look like because Sally is very good at explaining them.

If I were Sally I would write another note to Mr. Zavodsky. I would say to him, I know who you are, and you can’t hide forever! So admit who you are now or I will tell everyone your real identity. I will not ever call you Mr. Zavodsky again because that is your fake identity. Don’t try to trick people that you’re good by trying to give them candy that probably has poison in it! You can trick my friend Andrea but you can’t trick me! From Detective Sally, your worst nightmare.

I enjoyed this book so much! I liked it because it is funny, exciting, sad, well written and the characters are like a never ending maze! When I read this book I couldn’t stop! I personally think that it is an amazing book. Out of all the Judy Blume books I have read, I think that this one is my favorite. Judy Blume really captures the moments and describes the scenes. It is such an amazing book I didn’t want to stop reading it! I want you to have that feeling too, so that is why you should read this book!

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself is a great book for 4th graders and higher. If you like mysterious, funny, interesting, breathtaking books, then you should definitely read Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself.

I rate this book FIVE STARS!