This book is about a young girl who goes on a spring trip with her class to Plimoth Plantation on a field trip. The challenges she faces are not only academic on this school field trip, but understanding the social rules as well.

The third and fourth grade classes are going to Plimouth Plantation for their school trip; Margaret makes Clementine nervous telling her about the fourth graders' "silent eating" rules, and all the students dread Bus Seven with its stink cloud (which ends up having to do with prankster Baxter). At Plimouth, Clementine realizes that chicken is chicken and becomes a vegetarian on the spot.

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Re-read January 2020 ( )

Clementine and the Spring Trip by Sara Pennypacker is the sixth of the Clementine books. Clementine is excited about an upcoming field trip to Plimoth Plantation. She and her best friend have everything planned but those plans are messed up when a new girl arrives at school.

Clementine, while somewhat goofy, is a good and responsible child. Her teachers clearly trust her and that's why she's given the ever important job of being the new girl's partner on the field trip.

But you can imagine the heart break Clementine is feeling at having her plans dashed. If this were a Junie B. story, most of the book would be tied up with the protagonist wining, throwing tantrums, and being bizarre, all to avoid the change in plans.

Clementine, though, does her best to come to terms with her new situation. She's worried about her best friend, who hates dirt. The plan had been for Clementine to do all the dirty, hands on exhibits, and now she can't. There's also the weirdness of trying to make friends with the new kid during a field trip. Clementine, though, steps up and does her best.

Now that all by itself, would have been a heartwarming book about a field trip and making friends. But there's a B plot involving the school bus that ties all the sillier loose ends of the story into one, tight and hilarious, satisfying end. ( )

Even realizing that I had read this one last year - it was still great to read again. The Clementine books are funny, the characters are endearing, and the illustrations are as lively as Clementine and her family. ( )

In this installment of the cute and funny Clementine series, Clementine takes a field trip with her class and learns that it's more important to help out a friend than to be afraid of what others might think about you. She also decides to be a vegetarian! ( )