Description: The Pain and the Great One are on the go--the Pain needs a trip to the emergency room; the family goes to the mall and not everyone stays together; the kids visit a county fair and want to ride the Super Slide; and a beach outing includes a boogie board. Illustrations.

Children's Literature Review: "The Pain" is what third-grader Abigail calls her younger brother; "The Great One" is what first-grader Jake calls his older sister. Each thinks regarding the other one: "I don't get why Mom and Dad think she's [he's] so special. Sometimes I think they love her [him] more than me." In this third title of Judy Blume's chapter book series based on her earlier classic The Pain and the Great One, Blume once again shows her deep and abiding understanding of sibling dynamics. In alternating chapters narrated by the Pain and the Great One, the kids squabble during a beach outing, brave the Gravitron ride at the county fair, deal with a "furry booger" of a pussy willow lodged in the Pain's nose, get lost and found at the food court at the mall, and fly to visit Grandpa Pete in Florida. It is all simple stuff but Blume shows that the carefully observed relationship between two quarreling, jealous, mutually irritating--and loving--siblings can still make for a series of utterly satisfying storie...

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