Gloria's Way

by Ann Cameron, Lis Toft

Gloria is best friends with Julian and his little brother Huey, and she has as much to say as they do. There's the parrot that ruins the Valentine for her mother; Huey's dog, who needs to be cured of his squirrel obsession; and what happens when classmate Latisha tricks Gloria, Julian, and Huey-but they don't know until it's too late! Fans of Ann Cameron's best-selling chapter books about Julian and Huey will love Gloria, too.

"This is where peace begins-in an ordinary neighborhood where children learn to address their problems with the help of wise adults who offer them good counsel while respecting the children enough to let them work out their own solutions . . . . Sparkles with humor." ( The Horn Book )

Genres: Short Stories, Chapter Books, African American, Cultural

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 9, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Ann Cameron grew up in Wisconsin. Today, she and her husband live in Guatemala. From her house she can see a waterfall and three volcanoes. Ann Cameron has been a teacher and an editor as well as a writer.

She says that writing is hardest for her at the beginning of a book. To get started, she follows this important rule for writing: "Apply seat of pants to bottom of chair."

Reviews

[shalea :)]

3.5**

[Stephenie Barnes]

While this story is a transitional book for young readers, it also teaches them everyday struggle that them as students/children face. I enjoyed this story because it showed how Gloria had a lot of issues going on and how she handled them. Such as helping dogs, learning fractions, realizing the the truth about promises, and more important things. The words in the story are a large font making it easy for children to see and read the words. There are a few pictures in the book that add to the story and help transition children from picture books to chapter books. Overall this is a fun and happy story for children to read and the lessons the characters learn are lessons that a lot of children deal with.

[Alysa EvansSaintClaire]

This book is great for young readers as they will relate to the character Gloria. She deals with helping dogs while learning fractions and learning about how people break promises. It's a positive story for young readers to hold onto. As an activity for this book, I would have my students write a paragraph on how they relate to Gloria and why. I'd give this book a high rating, as it is very relatable for students.

[Maughn Gregory]

One of the best of Ann Cameron's series about African-American children facing and learning through many, many kinds of problematic situations -- with the help and wisdom of other young people and very, very wise, non-preachy adults. Cameron isn't Black herself but her years in South Africa and her long experience as an educator make her a reliable author of these stories.

[Andrew]

As suggested in Excellent Books for Early and Eager Readers

[Jackie]

4.5. Loved experiencing a black community in such an intimate setting. Gloria's role models are pretty great and can teach us all something about being a person. The strifes explored through childhood friendships are so real. And the dog is really cute.

[Jessica]

I wanted this to be a better companion to the Julian books. Disappointing in that respect, but good for young readers.

[Bodhi K.]

I recently read Ann Cameron's Gloria's Way. The book is about a ten year old girl, Gloria, and her friends Huey, Julian, and Latisha. I would rate this book five stars because it has lot of drama. For example, one day when Latisha makes Huey, Julian, and Gloria promise that if she showed them her new room then they could eat her pie. After Latisha showed her friends her new room she gave them the pie to eat. What Gloria, Julian, and Huey did not know was that the pie looked bad. After Latisha's friends refused to eat the pie, she locked them inside her room. Why would Gloria not eat the pie her friend made even if it did look bad? I would eat the pie because if she was my friend and if I said no to eating her pie that she made, I would hurt her feelings. They got out of the room and smashed the pie on her door step and ran. I can relate to that when my friends on April Fool's Day last year, did a prank on me by putting a cup of water on top of the bathroom door when I was in the bathroom and when I opened the door the cup of water spilled all over me and I felt super cold like ice. I got even with them by doing the same trick back to my fiends. I really like this book because of the story, dialogue, and drama.

[Valerie Jenkins]

I like this book about Gloria and i like the way how she valued her friendship with Julian. But i was wondering is she was too young to worry about a friendship with a boy. I am glad Julian didn't choose which girl he liked the best. The story about the Valentine and the Parrot was nice and how she overcame the damaged of her first Valentine made you happy. Mr. Bates seems like a cool dad and a friend that seems to step in when you are in trouble. Everyone know a friend like Latisha, she is the one you have to handle with a glove. I like the soft illustration in black and white, it makes the stories seem delicate, but to a point and illustration of the children makes one feels that you are already know them in real life. I am glad that there were a story between Gloria and her dad at the end, after all a little girl's best friend is really her dad.

[Sarah Hutchinson]

This book is a wonderful book of different stories from Gloria’s life. The book goes through different events in Gloria’s from the Valentine she made her mom got stuck in a to the time her friend’s dog was obsessed with squirrels. Another story from the book comes from a time Gloria and her friends befriended a new girl in town and promised to eat her pie, what they didn’t know is that the pie wouldn’t be cooked and made without important ingredients or even baked. Each story has a great moral to it and teaches the reader many different lessons. The illustrations throughout the book really add to the story being told.

This story would probably be best for a silent reading rather than a read aloud. I would recommend this book for advanced 1st grade through lower 3rd grade.

[Brandi]

It's Gloria's turn for a set of short stories from Ann Cameron. Gloria appeared in the books about Julian, her best friend, and his little brother Huey (The Stories Julian Tells and The Stories Huey Tells). Gloria is spirited and takes on a parrot, fractions, the friendship-testing addition of a new friend, and more, all in her own way, in these six stories great for transitional readers.

[Ashley P.]

I'm changing my rating from two stars to four because even though I didn't enjoy this book very much I didn't read it for myself and my opinion doesn't matter. My seven year old absolutely loved this book and thought every chapter was hilarious. Even when I asked her if mommy could stop reading and she could finish the book on her own she refused because she wanted to share the funny stories in it with me.

[Allison]

This is a very cute book that has a few different stories that Gloria, the main character, goes through. Each thing that Gloria goes through is different from each other and she learns something in each adventure/story.

[Cya]

Book about making new friends and solving problems. Good for 2nd-3rd grade students.

[Tobreth Hansen]

this was a cute little read aloud. strong family values. issues all kids are dealing with. each chapter is kind of its own story which makes it easy to read aloud and not as much of an incentive to read daily.