Dreams of Victory

I love collecting older Scholastic books because occasionally, you hit a gem. This is one of those.

Victory is one of those characters—somewhat like Anne of Green Gables or The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry—whose main coping technique when things aren’t going their way is to imagine themselves in a different situation. In this case, Victory has dreams of being someone grand—if it’s an election for class president, she envisions herself as the president of the United States. If it’s the evening after an awkward birthday party, she imagines she’s the winner of a beauty pageant. Along the way, Victory has the most hilarious side comments or observations about different people in her life.

This is a fast, enjoyable read. It’s show more nothing outstanding, in my opinion, but it’s a lot of fun, and I can see my younger sisters enjoying it eventually. show less

Victory Benneker is a sixth grade girl with typical social experiences and problems, and a vivid imagination. Each chapter captures an experience (losing the class president election, being afraid of the ferris wheel, playing a small part in the class play), and Victory's conversion of the experience in her imagination (winning the US Presidential election, becoming an astronaut, winning an Oscar). In the final chapter Victory writes an essay on Imagination for a school assignment. Her essay stands out among her classmates and is read aloud by her teacher. The essay sparks discussion in the class and admiration from her classmates.

This book was a childhood favorite of mine. I didn't own a copy but checked it out repeatedly at the show more library. After filling out my list of childhood favorites here at librarything I decided to revisit it. Would it stand the test of time? I have not read this book in almost 40 years.

Well, I still really like the book and a lot of things about the book. Classic literature it's not, but it is a fun and quick read. I remembered quite a bit about the book (the rye pie, and of course the ending). Victory eventually figures out what she is good at, and that is a task that every middle schooler faces. (Ha, we face it through out our lives!)

That said, I really noticed a number of things that place it in the 70's: the emphasis on being the first woman president, first woman astronaut, etc., the class play about pollution, the girls calling each other on the phone (no internet, email or call waiting), Victory's red, white and blue dress. It feels dated to me. . . or is just because it was part of my childhood, a long time ago? I will ask my teenage daughter to read it and see what she thinks. show less

Simple, sweet, the kind of book I grew up with.  And yes, it was published when I was Victory's age.  I like these stories.  Probably three stars, but I love Rockwell's illustrations: the children are so alive, so real... child me would have wanted to be friends with them, adult me wants to hug them.