The Luckiest Girl

This was a sweet 1950s high school romance, very G-rated and reminiscent of the Deep Valley books (but even slighter). It was fascinating to read following Cleary's memoirs, as one can see the experiences in her own life that she reworked - going to stay with another family to attend school in California, being unsure how to deal with a boy who pursued but bored her, difficulties in her relationship with her mother. However, Cleary's life was much darker and sadder than this cheerful, sunny book, in which difficulties are quickly overcome and the protagonist ends up feeling like “the luckiest girl” just for having had a chance to love and be loved. She is not a particularly deep or complex character, but her small trials and successes are very human and still relevant even though so much has changed. I think I would have enjoyed this book as a teenager and I'm sorry I never encountered it till now.