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Clarissa Delaney #3
Days That End in Y
Clarissa tries to find her happily-ever-after in this clever, heartfelt follow-up to Love Is a Four-Letter Word!
One summer. That's all the time it takes to set your world spinning — or so Clarissa learns. Feeling abandoned by Mattie (camp), Benji (drama school), and even Michael (babysitting), Clarissa feels even more alone when her mother tells her she's marrying Doug. This announcement gets Clarissa thinking about her father, and her search for answers leads to her stumbling upon information about the secret teenage life of her mother, and more importantly, about Bill, her absentee father.
Will Clarissa be able to move beyond the past and take part in Annie's vision of the future? Happily ever after has never seemed so impossible.
One summer. That's all the time it takes to set your world spinning — or so Clarissa learns. Feeling abandoned by Mattie (camp), Benji (drama school), and even Michael (babysitting), Clarissa feels even more alone when her mother tells her she's marrying Doug. This announcement gets Clarissa thinking about her father, and her search for answers leads to her stumbling upon information about the secret teenage life of her mother, and more importantly, about Bill, her absentee father.
Will Clarissa be able to move beyond the past and take part in Annie's vision of the future? Happily ever after has never seemed so impossible.
- GenresMiddle Grade
240 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2013
1 person is currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Vikki VanSickle
18 books236 followersEverything I need to know in life I learned from children's literature. My work ranges from contemporary middle grade fiction to magical, storytime-ready picture books.
I am currently living in Toronto where I work in children's publishing in addition to writing. All kids' books, all the time!
I am currently living in Toronto where I work in children's publishing in addition to writing. All kids' books, all the time!
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 18, 2013
Every stressful week should end with a Clarissa book.
June 24, 2013
This review originally posted at More Than Just Magic
Days that End in Y is technically the third book in a series, chronicling the experiences of one girl, Clarissa. I haven’t read the other two books in the series. It’s not necessary to understand what’s going on in this book. BUT if you’re anything like me, you’re going to love these characters so much. And you will want to read the whole series in order to have more time with them.
More than anything I loved the way this novel explored the relationship between Clarissa and her parents. For most of her life it has just been Clarissa and her mom. They are quite close and it was nice to see a fictional parent so actively involved in the life of their child. But I also liked that they didn’t have a perfect wonderful relationship the whole time (because let’s face it – that’s not realistic either and perfect can be boring to read about). There is some very real strain put on their home life, when her mother’s fiance moves in with them. I think that Vikki VanSickle did a great job showing how that transition would be difficult, even if you like the person moving in with you.
Clarissa also faces an interesting situation when she decides to seek out her father for the first time in her life. I think this is where I related to Clarissa the most. And I think a lot of kids will too. An absentee parent – or a parent that isn’t around quite as often – is sadly a pretty common situation these days. And it leaves kids with a lot of questions. I think Clarissa’s mother should have been more upfront about the situation but again Vikki did a great job showing how a family would handle this kind of problem. The whole thing felt very realistic.
Since this is YA Pride, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Benji. Benji isn’t present “on page” for a lot of this book, but never the less you can tell how important he is to Clarissa. Clarissa and Benji are both at an age where they’re starting to figure things out about themselves. And for Benji that means coming out. His fear and apprehension about finally saying it out loud was touching and made me want to find him and sit with him and tell him everything was going to be fine.
Recommendation: Days That End in Y deals with a lot of sensitive topics but it does so honestly. It treats these topics seriously, but it’s also a funny book and a really enjoyable read. Clarissa and Benji are fabulous characters, the setting is relatable. All around a highly recommended middle grade story!
Days that End in Y is technically the third book in a series, chronicling the experiences of one girl, Clarissa. I haven’t read the other two books in the series. It’s not necessary to understand what’s going on in this book. BUT if you’re anything like me, you’re going to love these characters so much. And you will want to read the whole series in order to have more time with them.
More than anything I loved the way this novel explored the relationship between Clarissa and her parents. For most of her life it has just been Clarissa and her mom. They are quite close and it was nice to see a fictional parent so actively involved in the life of their child. But I also liked that they didn’t have a perfect wonderful relationship the whole time (because let’s face it – that’s not realistic either and perfect can be boring to read about). There is some very real strain put on their home life, when her mother’s fiance moves in with them. I think that Vikki VanSickle did a great job showing how that transition would be difficult, even if you like the person moving in with you.
Clarissa also faces an interesting situation when she decides to seek out her father for the first time in her life. I think this is where I related to Clarissa the most. And I think a lot of kids will too. An absentee parent – or a parent that isn’t around quite as often – is sadly a pretty common situation these days. And it leaves kids with a lot of questions. I think Clarissa’s mother should have been more upfront about the situation but again Vikki did a great job showing how a family would handle this kind of problem. The whole thing felt very realistic.
Since this is YA Pride, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Benji. Benji isn’t present “on page” for a lot of this book, but never the less you can tell how important he is to Clarissa. Clarissa and Benji are both at an age where they’re starting to figure things out about themselves. And for Benji that means coming out. His fear and apprehension about finally saying it out loud was touching and made me want to find him and sit with him and tell him everything was going to be fine.
Recommendation: Days That End in Y deals with a lot of sensitive topics but it does so honestly. It treats these topics seriously, but it’s also a funny book and a really enjoyable read. Clarissa and Benji are fabulous characters, the setting is relatable. All around a highly recommended middle grade story!
March 3, 2013
The Good Stuff
Confession time: I have both of the other books in the series and I have never read them. I was just too nervous. I know Vikki and I was worried that if they sucked I wouldn't be able to look her in the eye. However, Scholastic sent me the latest in the series and I had to review it. Thanks Scholastics -- I loved, loved, loved the book & know I got two more books to review
Clarissa is delightfully raw, honest, strong, imperfect and just so very real
Reminds me of Judy Blume - and yes that is a good thing because Blume is kick ass
Wryly funny
Canadian! Laughed because my husband went to John A. MacDonald & I made out with a guy named Bill Davies once
Really understands what its like to be young girl growing up
Supporting characters are just as well developed as Clarissa
Love the friendships
The relationship between Clarissa and her mom is marvelous
Enjoyed the fact that nothing was tied up sweetly or unrealistically
The Not So Good Stuff
I now have guilt issues about not reading the other 2 books
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"I don't see what's so great about it," I mutter. "It's like school except you have to sleep over. Outside.'
Mattie gasps. "Camp is not like school," she says. "There aren't any assignments or essays or teachers."
"But don't you have counselors that teach you stuff." (This conversation goes on from here and its hilarious - worth the price of the book alone)
"Smiles at the expense of Denise are rare. Mom is Denise's number one defender and rarely acknowledges her crazy factor, which is significant."
"(Does baby like his tummy tickled? Who's a silly boy?). No wonder it takes kids so long to learn to talk. No one ever asks them anything interesting."
Who Should/Shouldn't Read
Perfect for girls of any age. Both those in this age category and for anyone my age who can still remember what it was like to be that age
5 Dewey's
I received this from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review
Confession time: I have both of the other books in the series and I have never read them. I was just too nervous. I know Vikki and I was worried that if they sucked I wouldn't be able to look her in the eye. However, Scholastic sent me the latest in the series and I had to review it. Thanks Scholastics -- I loved, loved, loved the book & know I got two more books to review
Clarissa is delightfully raw, honest, strong, imperfect and just so very real
Reminds me of Judy Blume - and yes that is a good thing because Blume is kick ass
Wryly funny
Canadian! Laughed because my husband went to John A. MacDonald & I made out with a guy named Bill Davies once
Really understands what its like to be young girl growing up
Supporting characters are just as well developed as Clarissa
Love the friendships
The relationship between Clarissa and her mom is marvelous
Enjoyed the fact that nothing was tied up sweetly or unrealistically
The Not So Good Stuff
I now have guilt issues about not reading the other 2 books
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"I don't see what's so great about it," I mutter. "It's like school except you have to sleep over. Outside.'
Mattie gasps. "Camp is not like school," she says. "There aren't any assignments or essays or teachers."
"But don't you have counselors that teach you stuff." (This conversation goes on from here and its hilarious - worth the price of the book alone)
"Smiles at the expense of Denise are rare. Mom is Denise's number one defender and rarely acknowledges her crazy factor, which is significant."
"(Does baby like his tummy tickled? Who's a silly boy?). No wonder it takes kids so long to learn to talk. No one ever asks them anything interesting."
Who Should/Shouldn't Read
Perfect for girls of any age. Both those in this age category and for anyone my age who can still remember what it was like to be that age
5 Dewey's
I received this from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review
June 13, 2021
A sweet story about a difficult time in any young girls life - the possibility of meeting her father for the first time.
A very Canadian celebration of love, forgiveness, acceptance and more, Clarissa navigates the summer after middle school that will change her life forever. Learning more about her mother, herself and her best friends has her navigating what it means to accept and move on. She also learns what it's like to live with a dog and, after many years, a man.
A family friendly story with a family dynamic that teaches what it means to love all the days that end in y.
Sarah
A very Canadian celebration of love, forgiveness, acceptance and more, Clarissa navigates the summer after middle school that will change her life forever. Learning more about her mother, herself and her best friends has her navigating what it means to accept and move on. She also learns what it's like to live with a dog and, after many years, a man.
A family friendly story with a family dynamic that teaches what it means to love all the days that end in y.
Sarah
February 13, 2013
From Words That Start With B, the first Clarissa Delaney book, I have been a big fan of VanSickle's writing. Reminiscent of Judy Blume, Susin Nielsen, Sarah N. Harvey, Megan McCafferty and similar writers who portray bold, imperfect, young female narrators, VanSickle approaches and discusses young adult life without kid gloves. And I think that is just one of the many reasons I have loved reading about Clarissa's life over the course of three novels.
In Days That End in Y, Clarissa is just as unfussy, sharply observant, and protective of her mom and friends. She has a maybe-something going on with Michael, the genuinely sweet boy she went out with in Love Is a Four-Letter Word. But even bigger than Michael, Mattie being away at camp, and Benji drifting toward his group of drama friends? Doug surprises everyone- but mostly Clarissa!- by proposing to Annie during Canada Day fireworks. When Annie accepts, Clarissa just knows that everything that she has loved about her life with her mom is going to change. And not only is Doug going to be moving in, but also his yippy, demanding dog Suzy...and Clarissa is not a dog person (or a cat person for that matter). With everyone around her busy with their own plans and problems, Clarissa starts thinking about her father- a man she has never met and a man her mom never talks about. While digging around without Annie's knowledge or permission, she uncovers some major bombshells about her birth father and about her mom.
Without taking easy turns, or accepting simple, happily-ever-after solutions, Clarissa muddles, fights, and breaks her way through some life-altering times in her life; growing up a little bit in the process and becoming a lot wiser. The last few pages of Days That End in Y are especially so touching and all-around fantastic, highlighting just how awesome of a young woman Clarissa has become. I adore Clarissa's story and VanSickle's writing; I would would highly recommend this series of books to readers of Canadian literature and/or contemporary, coming-of-age middle-grade and young adult fiction.
August 11, 2013
The last YA book I read was a year ago. It was Judy Blume’s Blubber and I was curious to see if Blume’s novel had held up over the years. It does.
I picked up Vikki VanSickle’s book, Days That End in Y, to bring myself up to speed with current YA books. Alas, the world has changed since Blubber. There were references to Google and Frappucinos. But the interior lives of teenagers remains as conflicted as ever. The book tells the story of a fourteen-year-old girl in search of many answers (who isn’t at that age?), chiefly about her long lost father. Along the way, she comes to see the adults around her in a new and more mature way. And maybe, for most of us, that’s really the starting point of adulthood.
Current YA readers are in good hands if VanSickle is any indication of the quality of books available to them. Days That End in Y is perfect for any teenager – or adult – looking to make sense of their world.
I picked up Vikki VanSickle’s book, Days That End in Y, to bring myself up to speed with current YA books. Alas, the world has changed since Blubber. There were references to Google and Frappucinos. But the interior lives of teenagers remains as conflicted as ever. The book tells the story of a fourteen-year-old girl in search of many answers (who isn’t at that age?), chiefly about her long lost father. Along the way, she comes to see the adults around her in a new and more mature way. And maybe, for most of us, that’s really the starting point of adulthood.
Current YA readers are in good hands if VanSickle is any indication of the quality of books available to them. Days That End in Y is perfect for any teenager – or adult – looking to make sense of their world.
April 10, 2013
"Days That End in Y" deserves more attention than the unprepossessing cover suggests. This is the third book in a trilogy featuring the coming of age of Clarissa Louise Delaney, a very appealing contemporary heroine for our times. In this outing, Clarissa discovers the truth about her ever absent father, while coping with the reality of her mother's impending back yard wedding. There's a well rounded set of supporting characters and Van Sickle has an exceptionally keen ear for dialogue. There's a comic honesty in Clarissa's take on life that is quite endearing and authentic.
February 10, 2013
I can't believe Clarissa got drunk... and I knew about Benji all along. It's a good ending, this book. Yup.
January 9, 2013
A lovely and satisfying conclusion to the trilogy - review pending.
November 8, 2014
My absolute favourite of the Clarissa Delaney books, and I am so HAPPY she got such a bittersweet ending. <3 Love this series and I am sad it is over.
August 4, 2021
Found the main character un interesting. Not my sort of book,very slow paced.
November 7, 2017
If her Clarissa Delaney stories hadn’t already become some of my favourites, Vikki VanSickle would’ve sealed the deal for me with this one. Of all three books, Days that End in Y is the one that we read in the least amount of time (three days) because my Summer Squinks and I really devoured it. Even I was truly surprised at how quickly we flew through the chapters – I couldn’t assign them enough pages to read, and we had to be really careful (à la River Song) not to reveal spoilers just in case someone had not quite reached a particular scene.
What I really enjoyed about Days that End in Y was that although the wedding (Which wedding? You’ll have to read to find out!) seemingly took centre stage, the relationship between Clarissa and Benji was much more intriguing and compelling. And the ending really left me breathless. I couldn’t believe VanSickle’s audacity and brilliance in leaving me all emotionally spent, and (still) not knowing if she would tell me what happens next. Evil and completely brilliant, I tell you. I asked some of my Squinks from the summer what it was that made them read Days so quickly, but they couldn’t really put a finger on it … All they knew was that they wanted to know more. This, my Squinks, is part of the magic of storytelling and part of the reason why VanSickle is truly on the same level as the likes of Judy Blume and Rick Riordan. You just want to read more. Even now, months later, I still wonder how the rest of Clarissa and Benji’s summer is going. Have they begun high school yet? If so, what outfits did Clarissa and Mattie wear?
I am so glad that what turned out to be a Vikki VanSickle summer worked out so well. It wasn’t planned (beyond the first book anyway), but some of the best things in life come by happenstance, as you know. My kids and I really loved Clarissa Louise Delaney, for her adventures made summer school not as horrendous as it might've been.
The original version of this review can be found at http://squinklebooks.wordpress.com.
What I really enjoyed about Days that End in Y was that although the wedding (Which wedding? You’ll have to read to find out!) seemingly took centre stage, the relationship between Clarissa and Benji was much more intriguing and compelling. And the ending really left me breathless. I couldn’t believe VanSickle’s audacity and brilliance in leaving me all emotionally spent, and (still) not knowing if she would tell me what happens next. Evil and completely brilliant, I tell you. I asked some of my Squinks from the summer what it was that made them read Days so quickly, but they couldn’t really put a finger on it … All they knew was that they wanted to know more. This, my Squinks, is part of the magic of storytelling and part of the reason why VanSickle is truly on the same level as the likes of Judy Blume and Rick Riordan. You just want to read more. Even now, months later, I still wonder how the rest of Clarissa and Benji’s summer is going. Have they begun high school yet? If so, what outfits did Clarissa and Mattie wear?
I am so glad that what turned out to be a Vikki VanSickle summer worked out so well. It wasn’t planned (beyond the first book anyway), but some of the best things in life come by happenstance, as you know. My kids and I really loved Clarissa Louise Delaney, for her adventures made summer school not as horrendous as it might've been.
The original version of this review can be found at http://squinklebooks.wordpress.com.
July 4, 2014
Really good book! :)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews