Franklin P. Shuckles and Molly Pepper are next-door neighbours, and in the summertime, when nobody else is around, they are friends. But when the school year begins, Franklin’s skinny legs, funny glasses, and clumsiness on the baseball field make him the laughingstock of the playground. Afraid that she, too, will be rejected at school, Molly tries to get rid of Franklin with a series of unfriendly gestures culminating in a blunt and nasty note. When Franklin finally gets the message and leaves her alone, Molly realizes the extent of her loss and resolves to make amends. The success of her ameliorative efforts will be at least somewhat consoling for young readers, even for those who realize that such reconciliations aren’t guaranteed. Here, at least, forgiveness makes for an enduring friendship, and a happy ending softens the impact of the unforgettable heart-rending scenes in which Franklin is ostracized.

This book is both emotionally evocative and gently humorous because of the complementary text and illustrations. Stylized and highly expressive watercolour paintings surround the text on each page, faithfully representing the narrative action and elaborating on it with a number of clever motifs. For example, tiny insects adorn the periphery of almost every scene, emphasizing Molly’s feeling that Franklin is bugging her. An elephant appears in several pictures as Franklin’s imaginary companion, and then reappears in a different form on Molly’s backpack as a hint that the connection between the two friends may not be severed after all. The expressive faces and postures of the children in the illustrations work well with the colloquial style of Molly’s first-person account. Considering the age of the narrator, the simplicity of the language in this book is understandable – at least in part. The repetition of basic word patterns unifies the narrative and helps maintain some levity in the tone, but the repetition of basic vocabulary will not challenge the book’s intended audience of five- to seven-year-olds.

One of the challenges this book offers young readers lies in the identification of the subtle interplay between its text and illustrations. There is also, of course, the more difficult challenge implied in the outcome of the story, where nonconformity triumphs over peer pressure.