In Still Sal by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books, October 2024), we read about Sal Miller’s difficulties in coming to terms with her own challenging start to the first grade. The Year of Billy Miller captured her brother Billy’s perspective in first grade, and here we have Sal’s own set of circumstances in dealing with a teacher she doesn’t really like, learning to share a room with her young sister, being separated from her best friend for the first time, and in general dealing with the disappointment that comes from growing up as a middle sister. Worst of all, her teacher has written “Sally” on her name tag.
Still Sal continues the story about the children in the Miller family that began with The Year of Billy Miller, Billy Miller Makes a Wish, and Oh, Sal! (Of course that last book and this one is told from the perspective of Billy’s younger sister, Sal, rather than Billy’s perspective.) Just like the Ramona and Henry Huggins books so perfectly captured the unique experiences of the Quimby family (and others on Klickitat Street), the Miller family books seem to seamlessly capture the difficult and yet seemingly tiny experiences that define childhood.
Once again, Kevin Henkes has done an amazing job of capturing the thought processes and the real feelings that a young child has. Sal is no longer a young girl looking for her favorite underpants, as in Oh, Sal! but she still has the same innocent personality and characteristics of the younger girl. Afterall, the message of this book is that, despite the fact that Sal is growing up, she is “still Sal,” herself, just older.
The Billy Miller series is an absolutely beautiful series.It is destined to be as classic and well loved as are the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. I can’t wait to continue the journey of the Miller kids in Henkes’ future books.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.