Mary Marony and the Snake - Softcover

Kline, Suzy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440411327 ISBN 13: 9780440411321

Publisher: Yearling, 1995

Synopsis

Mary Maroney, a spirited girl with a love of snakes and a problem with stuttering, enters her new class, where, in spite of some initial teasing, she earns the respect of her classmates. Reprint.

About this title

About the Author

Suzy Kline, the author of nineteen previous Horrible Harry books and four books about Song Lee, lives in Willington Connecticut with her husband, Rufus. Suzy and Rufus have been married for thirty-eight years. They met in the state where they both grew up: California. Suzy grew up in Berkeley and Rufus in Sacramento. Suzy graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in European history. She met Rufus at the Davis campus while attending that campus for a year. They got married and lived in different places, including Canada, before settling into Connecticut, the state they now call home.

Suzy taught in 5th and 6th grades at Shannon Elementary School in Richmond, California for 3 years, and 2nd and 3rd grades at Southwest Elementary School in Torrington, Connecticut for 24 years before retiring this past June. She now enjoys writing full-time and visiting schools and libraries. The couple share their home with two cats, Teeter and Hoag. They have two daughters, Jennifer and Emily, and four grandchildren: Jake, Kenna, Gabby and Saylor. A fifth grandchild is due in September, 2006. Suzy's mother just turned 96. She dedicated her most recent book, Horrible Harry Takes the Cake to her.

Suzy and Rufus enjoy attending UConn football and basketball games, and Suzy uses the UConn library as a reference for her writing facts.

 

From Kirkus Reviews

Mary's heart pounds when the second-grade teacher in her new school says, ``I want each one of you to stand up, say your name, and tell us one thing about yourself.'' As Mary fears, someone giggles at her stuttered statement. It's Marvin, whose subsequent mocking continues to aggravate her problem. Still, some of the girls readily invite her to join them, and when Marvin steals their rubber-band jump rope they jail him in a garbage can, where he sticks. A discussion with her mother reveals that stuttering is an old family characteristic; with her encouragement, Mary agrees to work with a speech therapist, whom she likes immediately. When a garter snake that Marvin's father has brought in to school escapes, Marvin stands by terrified while Mary catches it and becomes the class hero. Ex-elementary-teacher Kline gives an entertaining glimpse of the challenges and successes of school life while offering a positive, sympathetic look at a common problem. A chapter book that transitional readers will enjoy. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 7-9) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yearling
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0440411327
• ISBN 13: 9780440411321
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 64