Henry and the Clubhouse picks up where Henry and the Paper Route left off, with Henry just beginning to deliver Journals
now that he has finally convinced Mr. Capper, the district manager,
that he can handle a route. Henry loves having a paper route – most of
the time, anyway – but he still has a lot of extra time he has to figure
out what to do with. He and his friends Robert and Murph soon decide
that building a clubhouse would be the best use of their time. With a
load of leftover boards and other building materials, the boys set to
work, and Henry must balance his paper boy duties with the task of
putting together a sturdy clubhouse. And, as always, he has to put up
with his friend Beezus’ exasperating little sister, Ramona, who has a
habit of tagging along wherever Henry goes and making trouble for him on
his paper route. It is mainly because of Ramona that the boys feel
their clubhouse requires a boys-only policy, even though Beezus’
feelings might be hurt.
As is often the case with Henry, he
finds himself getting into all sorts of trouble without meaning to. When
his neighbor, Mr. Grumbie, offers him the chance to ride to the dump
with him in an old bathtub, Henry is thrilled… until he finds himself
halfway across town and realizes he’s supposed to start his paper route
any minute. One thing Henry does not love about his job is selling
subscriptions, and his first attempt to sell the paper to his nice new
neighbor, Mrs. Peabody, ends disastrously when her intimidating dog and
Ribsy wind up in a fight. On another occasion, Henry’s subscription
money collection goes horribly awry when Ramona, who is visiting the
customer’s daughter, opens the lid on the washing machine while it is
running.
Ramona has a large role in this book, and she is the
source of many of Henry’s problems. At her best, she is still a
nuisance, repeating all the commercials she hears while watching her
favorite television show, featuring her hero Sheriff Bud and wearing
costumes imitating his various disguises. Even when she isn’t saying
anything at all, she annoys Henry by following him everywhere and
earning the title of “Henry’s little shadow.” Only Beezus seems to truly
appreciate how irritating Ramona can be, and Beezus isn’t feeling very
kindly toward Henry since he declared that she would not be allowed in
his clubhouse.
Henry and the Clubhouse is written in
Cleary’s consistently simple style that shows how attuned she is to
young children. Henry’s struggles with maintaining his paper route,
building his clubhouse, and keeping the little girl who drives him crazy
in check make for entertaining reading and lead up to a satisfying
conclusion of the books starring Cleary’s first major character. And
while Henry’s time in the spotlight is up, Ramona’s is just about to
begin…
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