Calliope loves second grade, especially math. Then her teacher announces the school will be having a Grandparents Day. But Calliope’s grandparents are all dead. Mrs. Fennessy tells the students they can bring a special friend if they can’t bring a grandparent. She also suggests they share grandparents, and Calliope’s two best friends, Howie and Pa Lia, are both willing to share. But Calliope wants her own grandparent. When she’s looking at the family photo album and thinking about her grandmother Flory Sopha, who died before she was born, Calliope comes up with a way to participate fully in the special day. Wearing the soft shawl Flory Sopha once knitted, she tells the class what she knows about this woman, who was a lot like Calliope herself. Michelle Edwards’s sparkling transitional reader is the second entry in her Jackson Street Friends series about three young girls who are best friends. The first story, Pa Lia’s First Day (Harcourt, 1999), features Pa Lia, who is Hmong, as its protagonist. A forthcoming book, The Talent Show, will be about African American Howie. (Ages 5–8)

Mrs. Fennessey's second-grade class is planning a big celebration for Grandparents Day, and everyone's really excited about it- everyone except for Calliope James. Her best friends, Howie and Pa Lia, are bringing their grandmas. Even Stinky Stern's grandpa is coming. But Calliope's grandparents are no longer alive. How can she celebrate Grandparents Day without a grandparent?

In the second book of the Jackson Friends series, Michelle Edwards offers an ingenious solution to this emotional dilemma and provides an honest and insightful look at the challenges faced by children every day.