Double or Nothing with the Two and Only Kelly Twins

Two and Only Kelly twins #2

by Johanna Hurwitz, Tuesday Mourning (Illustrator)

What’s the same about identical twins — and what’s different? Sleepovers, poetry projects, and new haircuts are in play as seven-year-old Arlene and Ilene start coming into their own.

Arlene and Ilene love so many things about being identical twins. They like sharing a room, sharing friends, and wearing matching outfits. But they’re in different classes at school, and one twin has a scar that the other one doesn’t. One morning, their friends Monty and Joey point out a new difference that takes the sisters by surprise and gets them thinking: if they are identical twins, why are there differences between them at all? Their tongues must be the same, so why do they like different kinds of ice cream? Why does Arlene wear pink nail polish while Ilene thinks it’s silly? Why is Ilene sleeping soundly when Arlene is awake, wondering how she can be sure that she is Arlene, not Ilene? Revisit the funny, lovable characters from The Two and Only Kelly Twins and take a peek at the wonders — and puzzles — of being an identical twin.

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, School Stories, Realistic Fiction

80 pages, Hardcover

Published April 25, 2017

About the author

Johanna Hurwitz is an American author of more than sixty children's books. She has sold millions of books in many different languages.

Reviews

[Jennifer Maloney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewing early chapter books for my niece!

Another cute book in this series. I wish there were more of these but it seems there were ever only two books in this series. In this book, the twins deal with losing a tooth, having a sleepover, and getting head lice!

I like how these books show the girls having opinions and ideas of their own but they’re not rude or disrespectful. They enjoy their friends, family, and pets. They try to do good in school. They’re not perfect kids but they try to do the right thing, which I appreciate.

I would recommend this series for young readers. 👍🏻

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this addition to the Kelly Twins series, Arlene and Ilene discover that while they are identical twins, there are differences between them. They have different tastes in nail polish, foods, and socks. But they still enjoy doing things together and so it's a shock with their friends Claudia and Roberta (part of a set of triplets) propose a sleepover with Ilene going over to Roberta's house and Arlene and Claudia staying at their house. Poetry lesson reveal further differences. But a sudden outbreak of lice in the girls' classrooms means that the possibility of different hairstyles arises. Arlene and Ilene make for fun, easy to relate to characters that early chapter book readers can certainly get behind. And the challenges the girls face are ones that many young readers will recognize. Yet the twin experience is new for many children so it's kind of eye-opening in that regard as well. A fun series for young readers who like realistic, contemporary books.

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bookaday #22. Beginning/early chapter book about identical twin girls, kinda blah. Wonder if it would be better if I had read the first book?

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arlene and Ilene Kelly are identical twins, and they do EVERYTHING together. People who meet them have trouble telling them apart. They like the same food (although Ilene likes her chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks in it and Arlene likes hers smooth), and they like to do the same activities.

One day Claudia and Roberta Best (who are triplets with their brother Simon) suggest having a sleepover with Arlene and Ilene. But trouble begins when the Kelly twins discover that the Bests don’t always like to be together!

This is a fun little story for young readers jumping into the chapter book world. It is easy to read and includes many illustrations. I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

[Anna Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two twin girls in the second grade are as close as can be, but as they grow older they learn it is harder and harder to stay together as they used to. They begin to notice subtle differences between themselves and different preferences for things which leads them to wonder if they should always try to do everything together, or if they should try to be more independent of each other. If they are identical twins, why are they different?

I thought it was such a cute book about twins. I have never seen twins that inseparable. I thought it was cool they start to find the balance between being a sister and being independent.

I think this is a great starter chapter book for second graders. It is fairly short, and still has soom pictures throughout it.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arlene and Ilene enjoy the idea of being alike, and doing things together, but not everything about them is identical. Arlene has a scar, and Ilene doesn't, and they both have different tastes in certain foods, but not French toast. Although in different classrooms, they both are learning poetry, and its different styles. When the school has epidemic of head lice, the twins decide to get their hair cut, and notices that several other classmates and teachers have done the same. All the new and different looks gives the twins the idea that maybe they don't have to be mirror images of each other all the time.

[Cori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book for my students at school. A few of the girls have really enjoyed them quickly after I added them to my library. Its a great early chapter book with bigger font and pictures for the students that don't quite have the stamina to read without pictures just yet. I won this through the BookingMama blog giveaway. Thank you to Johanna Hurwitz and Candlestick press for the opportunity to share these books with students.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story about two identical twins, Arlene and Ilene. Not only are they identical, they like almost exactly the same things as the other one. Readers may find it difficult to keep track of who's who. Perhaps, that was the point of this book for beginning chapter readers. I am curious what twins might think of this book.

[Debra Sabah Press · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute.

[Mandy Robek · Rating 4 out of 5]

So excited to see Johanna Hurwitz with a new title and looks like a new series. Stand alone chapters making it a great book for early readers.

[Rachelzana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Alyx Campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it fell a little flat, but will be appealing to young readers who love Ramona, Just Grace, Junie B Jones

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story and my little one loved reading it herself (well with help from me) great story for kids. I did receive this book from goodreads.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gave this to my eight year old to read and read through it quickly- it’s absolutely adorable

[Dena McMurdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both of my kids wanted to write a review for this adorable book.

Miss A (6-year-old):

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! It was a surprise for the twins that they didn’t sleep in the same house. They did different things.

I thought the sleepover was crazy because the four girls weren’t all in the same house. Two were in one house and the others were in the other house.

The part where they got head lice was funny. I think they had a fun time when they went to school and their teacher talked about head lice to the class. I think they liked their new pixie hair cuts A LOT. I think they looked good in the pixie hair cuts.

I thought if they had lice then maybe the rest of the students in the class would get the head lice too. And they did. Even the teacher got head lice.



Miss K (8-year-old):

So, they wanted to have a sleepover. The Best girls came over. They said that Ilene should go over to the Best house and Arlene should stay at her house. But the Kelly twins thought they were all going to stay in their house, so there was a lot of confusion. Finally, they decided that Ilene should go to the Best house and Arlene should stay home with one of the Best sisters.

I thought it was kind of crazy because I had head lice once too. I did not like head lice. Yuck. Bugs on your head.

I think their haircuts probably looked good. I think it was good that they cut their hair so they could find the lice easier. If I got lice again I would probably want to cut my hair too.

I liked the book. I hope there is a third Kelly Twins book because I want to read it. I hope that the twins actually do their idea to be different from each other.


Verdict: A cute chapter book with age-appropriate vocabulary for kids ages 6-9. Perfect for kids that are ready to move up from easy readers.

[Andretta Schellinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 Year Old Review:

I liked this book, this one didn't have pictures but the final one does. I liked the twins and the writing was easy to read. I would recommend this as a quick read for fellow 5th graders, but I think it is more suited for 3rd or 4th graders.

My Review:

I think this is a cute little story that is perfect for a beginning reader. Obviously this is not a deep book, but the story does have enough of a story to actively keep my attention.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five short chapters tell a slice-of-life story about second grade identical twins Arlene and Ilene. They have friends who are twins and like doing things the same. A sleepover where the twins are separated prompts the sisters to realize that they can have fun apart.

Not much happens that isn't seen through the lens of twinhood, but this could be appealing to kids who like stories about siblings.

Definitely fun for twins to read, especially those who enjoyed the early reader series Ling and Ting by Grace Lin. Also for fans of Ivy and Bean and Clementine.

Who should buy this book? Elementary school and public libraries

[Jaina Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.

Well, this is a very short book.

I don't usually review little-kid books, but I've always had a thing for identical twins. When Candlewick Press offered me a short book that was all about twin sisters wondering about what made each of them unique, I knew I had to say yes.

And I'm glad I did, because I got a short and sweet read out of the book. It took me about half an hour to read since it has only five chapters (80 pages) of really big text with lots of spaces for pictures. I have no idea what the illustrations look like since my ARC didn't include them, but there's an average of one picture every two or three pages.

The nit-picky part of me has to say that this isn't exactly a deep look into the issues of nature vs. nurture, that the girls seem unrealistically excited to constantly be lumped together, and that the odds of them having best friends who were also identical sisters (but who also had a fraternal male triplet) seem really, really low. Also, there's a scene early on describing how the sisters wanted to be in the same classroom in school, and how they were perfectly willing to wear nametags all year long so their teacher could tell them apart. I thought this was kind of funny, because I just watched a YouTube video the other day (here if you're interested, starting around 2:20) about the worst things about being identical twins, and the sisters in that video described feeling really singled out and embarrassed when their teacher did make them wear nametags all year long in fourth grade. I suppose every sibling pair is different, so it's certainly possible that some twins would actively seek out the nametags, but I just thought there was an interesting contrast there.

Anyway, this was a very quick and fairly shallow book that could be good for kids who are interested in identical twins. If you have one who reads it, please let us know in the comments section how they like it!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early reader book from a series, focusing on the twin girls who look alike, have favorites alike, and find there might be something different. Twins might especially enjoy this.