57 reviews for:

My Own Two Feet

Beverly Cleary

4.21 AVERAGE

howiereads's review against another edition

funny relaxing slow-paced

4.5

A funny, enjoyable read about Cleary's young adult life in the 1930s and 1940s

stheroux's review against another edition

Amazing memoir. A joy to read this part of Beverly Cleary's life from 1939-1949 when she submits her first novel. A great snapshot of history happens during these ten years. A really great book in a voice you already know and love.

loriraderday's review

4.0

Started this book, really enjoying it, then realized...why would a children's author start writing recounting her life from age 18? Right. There's another book out there somewhere about her childhood.

I liked reading this. It's very charming and well done. She's the reason I started writing at age 7. My only disappointment is that she doesn't spend very much time talking about writing. (One reason is that she didn't write until she was married, settled, etc.) The book ends just as she's cashing her first (lil) advance check. I wish there was another memoir *after* this one.

howifeelaboutbooks's review against another edition

5.0

This is the second installment of Cleary's autobiography, from college to the publication of Henry Huggins. Her life was so interesting. After working her way through junior college and college during the Depression, she puts herself through graduate school studying library science. Cleary works for a year as a children's librarian, then works for several years as an Army librarian during World War II. She wrote Henry Huggins when she was 33!

I would have loved a third installment all about her writing, fame, motherhood, and awards because she's so fascinating. Her writing style was always matter-of-fact and humorous, which gave great insight into her personality while making every book a joy to read. What a treasure.

arielzeit's review against another edition

4.0

I was surprised to discover that Beverly Cleary was not primarily a children's librarian and actually left Portland, Oregon, pretty much as soon as possible for California and other places as soon as possible. She worked for a year in Yakima, Washington, which is where the little boys and girls asked her "where are the books about children like us?" (the famous inspiration for her wonderful books). She grew up in the Depression and went through WWII and it shapes everything about her. She is so excited to go to community college in California. Then she switches to Berkeley, for which her parents grudged the $150/year fees. As Beverly tells it, her mother is odious; won't let Beverly get glasses because it might interfere with getting a husband, is hostile to her Catholic husband (Cleary), and generally guilt-trips her and cold-shoulders her by turns. It's not a dramatic story anymore than "Henry

kendallpenn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.5

mrs_w24's review against another edition

5.0

Loved this autobiography of Beverly Cleary. Simply written in a style true to herself, it told the story of her young and school years through the Depression and how she came to write after working as a librarian. Funny, sweet, great read.

cclawson77's review against another edition

5.0

I adored this autobiography. Cleary writes her own story of coming of age with the same humor, compassion, and simple wisdom that make her children's books so endearing. There is no pretense--you see Beverly as the real deal.

sonshinelibrarian's review

4.25

I'm so glad Cleary continued her memoir in this second volume. I loved getting to know more about her and her life and how she came to write as she did. As a librarian, I found her stories of time in different libraries and library settings to be so fascinating.

satsumabug's review against another edition

4.0

I adored Cleary's earlier memoir, A Girl from Yamhill, and was thrilled to find she'd written a sequel. In some ways I loved this book even more: as a native Californian who has lived in both the Bay Area and LA, and a Berkeley alum, I enjoyed her descriptions of these places. I also had fun reading about her relatively smooth path to published authorhood. It was a different age, I know, but it's still nice to know some people don't have to suffer years of writerly misery just to get books out in print!