From Booklist
Gr. 2-4. Marvin's not sure whether he's turning into a girl, whether he's just imagining what it's like to be a girl, or whether he's having a nightmare. Is he weird to want to play hopscotch and to wish he could wear sparkles on his clothes? As in the other easy chapter books about Marvin, Sachar writes for beginning readers with a comic simplicity that is never banal. Here he gets a lot of fun out of the identity confusion, and kids will love the frankness about grade-school gender wars and social taboos. There are no neat answers, but a lot of droll questions, including "What's normal?" The cover, with Marvin staring at a girl's reflection in the bathroom mirror, will draw kids right into the farce of the story. Hazel Rochman


Review
"Kids will love the frankness about grade school gender wars and social taboos."--Booklist.  


Review
"Kids will love the frankness about grade school gender wars and social taboos."--Booklist.  


Book Description
Will kissing his elbow really turn Marvin into a girl? Casey Happleton claims it's so, and Marvin starts to believe her after his lips "accidentally" brush his elbow. "Kids will love the frankness about grade school gender wars and social taboos."--Booklist.



Card catalog description
After Casey Happleton tells him that if he kisses his elbow he will turn into a girl, nine-year-old Marvin experiments and finds himself very confused about his identity.


From the Inside Flap
Will kissing his elbow really turn Marvin into a girl? Casey Happleton claims it's so, and Marvin starts to believe her after his lips "accidentally" brush his elbow.


From the Back Cover
"Kids will love the frankness about grade school gender wars and social taboos."--Booklist.


About the Author
Louis Sachar was born in East Meadow, New York, moved to Southern California when he was nine, and now lives in Austin, Texas.  Louis's first book for children, Sideways Stories from Wayside School was accepted for publication during his first week of law school.  Although Louis graduated and passed the bar exam, he opted to be a full-time writer for children rather than a lawyer.

Louis met his wife, Carla, when he was a visiting author at a school in Texas.  She was a counselor at the same school.  They have a daughter, Sherre.  Louis likes to play chess, cards, ski, play the guitar (and sing loudly), but mostly he likes spending time with Carla and Sherre.  

ANNOTATION

After Casey Happleton tells him that if he kisses his elbow he will turn into a girl, nine-year-old Marvin experiments and finds himself very confused about his identity.

FROM THE PUBLISHER