A really sweet little book. Loved it when I was 9, got it for my 9-year-old, she loved it, too. Just reread it.

Had this book since like the 7th or 8th grade, & even then, just got it because the cover seemed appealing. But I'd never bothered to actually read it.
It's now been several years since then. & I just decided spur-of-the-moment to give it a try as I was clearing out some old & unwanted children's chapter books randomly gifted by elementary school teachers or the like. This book was gonna be donated to a local Little Library, too, but not before I saw what it was all about.

It took me more than halfway through the book to figure out whether I even wanted to continue with the story; can't say it particularly captured my attention or significantly held my interest anywhere throughout, & I was mostly reading it on & off for a couple weeks rather half-heartedly. But after the halfway mark, I finally grew curious enough to finish it.

Overall, I'd say the story is unremarkable. It's somewhat trivial & meaningless, but not necessarily in an appealing kind of way. Sort of childish in essence, although I doubt that many 5th graders possess the same kind of thinking capacity, life awareness, & overall maturity of either Jennifer or Elizabeth. But like, you just have to wonder what the point of writing it even was--especially with the way it turned out by the end.

...Speaking of which, the ending was very anticlimactic and didn't adequately align with the rest of the plot line.
All throughout, it was building up Jennifer to be this authentically knowledgeable, cryptic, profound, almost expert kind of an individual/witch. Why give her all of this depth & background & expertise in the matter only to cancel it all out in the end?
Actually, I didn't really get why the ending turned out to be the way it did--like a sudden 180 of the character development. If anything, I was sort of let down by it.

What happened to the witch character of Jennifer that was maintained all throughout the story until the last few pages? Which was the real character, then?

Does this mean that all this time, Jennifer was being just as fake, just as pretentious & unauthentic, as Cynthia? As though her "witchcraft" was nothing more than a mere mask or disguise to cover up her "loneliness?"

But then that doesn't really make complete sense, either, because Jennifer seemed to know a mighty good bit on the subject of witchcraft--far beyond the basic level of a "poser" or witch-wannabe. She seemed to be far too invested in the matter for her to just suddenly change her mind, do a complete volte-face, drop her disguise & become a totally different "good" & happy person by the end.

This book isn't even worth this much analysis, but what's the point of having it build up into cliched nothingness? The ending was too abrupt & didn't line up with the rest of the story, which was already pretty trivial.

Didn't care for it. The characters were flat and their 'friendship' disturbed me. I didn't like the way one of the girls subtly bullied the other.

Yes, I sometimes read my kids' books as they are a nice "in between". This is a great story about the development of a friendship between two characters who aren't quite comfortable in their own skin. A good read for the "awkward" age girl.

This was probably my favorite childhood book. I was thrilled to find a copy a few years ago at the thrift store. I remember giggling as I repeated the whole long name of the story to friends, telling them they HAD to read this book. Somehow the title seemed longer back then...

I was gonna lend this to Theresa but on the way in on the train I started re-reading and couldn't stop. I remember reading this while waiting to go in for my piano lesson, the chilly weather, the orange cloth binding, my dinosaur stamp. Mmm.

Although slightly dated, this clever book still rings true when it comes to the meaning of friendship. My third re-read and I enjoyed it as much as the first time I read it over 50 years ago.

Read for Popsugar: A book about or set on Halloween (and it's a Newbery!)

It starts on Halloween and that's enough for me! I've enjoyed other Konisburg books and probably should have read this one sooner. I imagine younger Sara liking it a lot. I think it captures the weirdness and intensity of childhood friendships really well.

An all-time favorite of mine as a kid and today as well. Quirky kids, witchcraft, the perils of elementary school, flying potion, and an adorable frog. A wonderful and unique friendship story. When I was teaching I used to read it aloud to my fourth and fifth grade classes in the fall. It usually got mixed reviews from the class, but I kept it in the rotation because there were always a few kids who absolutely loved it.

Have you ever read The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? Yeah, me neither. I had it READ TO ME, in the third grade, probably in 20 minutes increments once a week. It was the favorite part of the week for me. I was new in that school, and I couldn't believe a teacher would do that. Mrs. Kirschbaum. That is the best thing she ever did.
And that story has stayed with me. I heard about this book from a list of books related to Shakespeare, and I thought sure. I thought I recognized the author's name but couldn't think from where. Turns out, yeah, there is not a whole lot of Shakespeare in here. But what there is, is very delicate and requires a close read.
I loved this. Just like Mixed-Up Files, the MC has a strong voice. Elizabeth is all in her own head. As any 12 year old would be. And the world is a very confusing place. All those old people! (Like The Greats. Loved that!) But she meets a friend. Or does she?
It is a very clever, and ultimately sweet story about two girls. And the ending was very satisfying. I loved it. Highly recommend to any MG readers!

I'm disappointed to find that my review of this book was lost by the Goodreads filing system; it wasn't my most impassioned work, but I feel I made a decent showing. Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth (wow, what a title!) is as thoughtful and wise as E.L. Konigsburg's other fine literature, a sweet, simple gift to the children who read it. Never does Ms. Konigsburg's wisdom fail to halt me in my tracks on multiple occasions when I'm reading her novels, and that's here in this book like all her others, as smart and effervescent as ever. I'm pleased to recommend Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth to all my friends (and enemies, too; who needs the wisdom more than they?).

Filled with interesting pre-Harry Potter details, this book is an original, just like Jennifer, one of the main characters. However, she's also slightly annoying in her bossiness and manipulation of Elizabeth. Still, a good book.