What James Said

Reviewed by: Shannon Schinagl - Maine State Library, Augusta, Central Maine Library District

Review Date: December 8, 2015

Review

"What James Said" is an excellent book on almost every level. Like a game of telephone, James told a friend something about the protagonist. By the time it got back to the protagonist, it was awful, and she became very angry with James. In the end, she realizes that what she heard was not what James said at all.

This story is realistic in so many ways. The spreading of rumors and talking about other people is utterly true to life in elementary school. In addition, the protagonist's resulting actions are very real. She becomes angry at James, stops talking to him or sitting by him, and even when James (who has no idea what is wrong) tries to talk to her, she completely ignores him. In her mind, she's also being very mean to James (she can't tell him out loud because she's not talking to him!). When they make up, the author has also set out a realistic early elementary school situation. The misunderstanding does not last long, and the protagonist's anger melts away quickly. This book does not try to sugarcoat a situation like this. She lets the misunderstanding play out and allows the characters to feel their emotions and behave accordingly.

The illustrations align perfectly with the text. The characters are painted exquisitely, and their expressions and feelings -- essential in this book -- are realistically rendered and clear to the reader. In addition, other means of communicating emotion really add to the illustrations. For example, the protagonist loves art, and when she draws or paints James, she then slops paint all over him or scratches him out.

The characters are diverse, but the diversity has no bearing on the book, which is still, unfortunately, a rare thing, so needs to be celebrated when it appears.

For a school librarian, this is a great book to give a child who is experiencing this situation or just wants a great story. Teachers will also like it to highlight emotions or deal with a class issue. In the public library, librarians can recommend this book to a parent or child who asks for such a book for bibliotherapy purposes or, again, kids who just want a great story.

I would recommend this book for every school and public library. It is superior to many of the "emotion books" out there.

Overall Book Score: very good