ARMSTRONG & CHARLIE, by Steven B. Frank

The story: Armstrong is getting bused to a different school in LA in the fall of 1973. Charlie's always been there, and he doesn't know what to think of the black kids who are volunteering to come all the way across town. He also doesn't know what to think about Armstrong, who's kind of a Rebel while Charlie's more of a Rules Boy. Even so, as the kids get to know each other, they find out they're more alike than they could ever have guessed.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; Violence PG; Sexual content PG; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (racial segregation, death of a sibling/child) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: I liked the story a lot, and you could tell that the author actually went to this school and lived some of these experiences, because he gets them exactly right. It did seem, however, that the characters were a little older than sixth grade--Armstrong's advice to Charlie about getting a kiss with some tongue seems to me to belong more to 8th graders, and the frequent appearance of words like "dumbass" renders this better for MS readers than ES kids. Still, I really did like it, and there's a lot here that's still relevant 40 years later.