Book Description Editorial Review By Shelley Townsend-Hudson Della Splatnuk is the weirdest girl in class, with her strange clothes and funny hair. She has invited her whole class to her birthday party. Carrie is definitely not going, since no one else is planning to, but Carrie's mother makes her go anyway. There's cake and fixings for 28 children, but Carrie, the first to arrive, waits with Della for other kids to show. No one does. Carrie sees how hurt Della is and talks to her, soon realizing she had been too quick to judge her. They end up having a ball--Della, Carrie, even their moms, dancing, making party hats, and playing games. Obviously, this story presents a finger-wagging lesson, but like other books in the series, it doesn't pretend to do otherwise. The cheery watercolor illustrations serve to carry the message, too, though Della, with her retro sixties look and her funky house, might seem to some children to be more typical then weird. But then again, that's the point.

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