thestarlesscasea 's review for:

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

4.0

---

The theme for one of my book clubs this month is "childhood favorites," so I gathered an assortment of some of the books I remember loving as a wee bean. This book resonated with me then and now. My name is not nearly as long or uncommon as Chrysanthemum, but in the '90s there were not nearly as many Caseys around. I was mocked for having "a boy's name" and called Cassie, a name I truly detest, constantly. This book shows the unfortunate power kids have to destroy other kids' self-esteem, even with relatively tame bullying. Fortunately it also shows the power of a cool teacher to turn things around. One little detail that tickled me so much was Chrysanthemum's father reading self-helpy parenting books in the background whenever Chrysanthemum came home beaten down by her peers' teasing. An involved dad who is educating himself on how best to support his child?! We love to see it.