Horrible Harry and the Green Slime by Suzy Kline

This novel is part of the "Horrible Harry" series, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The book is separated into four different stories all featuring Harry (Secret Pals, The Deadly Skit, Invasion of the Cobwebs, Demonstrations). All four stories are narrated from the perspective of Horrible Harry's friend Doug. Throughout the book Harry is portrayed as being mischievous at times, but still a good person and friend. There are some really good illustrations throughout the book that help to give the narrative life. For example, in the first story "Secret Pals" there are handwritten notes from Harry to his friend in child's handwriting. Interestingly, "The Deadly Skit" is about the dangers of cigarettes and smoking. This is a topic I haven't come across often in childrens books and I think it's great that Suzy Kline chose to write about it. Also, Harry is a well fleshed out character with real depth and emotion. For example, in "Invasion of the Cobwebs" Horrible Harry cries when his teacher reads aloud Charlotte's Web and Charlotte dies in the end. Harry's teacher then goes on to discuss death with her class and tells the class that "dying is a part of life." Overall, I throughly enjoyed this book and found it very engaging to read. Kline deals with some real life issues such as the dangers of smoking and death that make the book appllicable to teacher and student. I would certainly recommend this book to older readers.