My parents gave me this book for Christmas when I was about nine or ten. I can't remember much about it except there was an impovished little girl about Beaver's age (for some reason I clearly remember her name was Aggie Moss) and her equally impovished little brother, who lived in a shack where they subsisted on little more than potato scraps salvaged from garbage cans. Beaver was indeed very fortunate to have such a good family to provide for him, and as I recall they intervened to help the Moss children. I don't know what I'd think of this book if I read it today at the age of 65, but I loved it then, and so I give it four stars. If I can find an old copy cheap somewhere, I'll read it again.
It was like watching a very dramatic episode of Leave it to Beaver. So how could I not give it 5 stars, it being one of my favorite shows even as an adult? I like the different story lines and how they tied together, and I like the coming-of-age life lessons in the book that you find in the show.