Plot: Amber's best friend Sam is moving away and she's distraught...but he is showing no interest in talking about it. What will she do once he's gone?

This is a short and sweet read. It's funny, relatable, and deep. The characters and dialogue are believable. The setting gave me a heavy dose of 90s childhood nostalgia. I am impressed by this author.

As a grownup, it's easy to forget the difficulties of childhood, which are captured here: transitions as a third-grader.

Read by Alicia Witt.

When I went to the Salvation Army to look around, my mom and I saw these books. One of the books I got today was this book. The main reason I wanted this book was because I remember being in elementary school and my teachers reading these books. Also, it's because it has my name in the title! (added benefit! =] ). I sat here tonight and read this book, and it was a great book and it reminded me of when I moved from Alabama to Georgia in the 3rd grade. In the book, Amber Brown has to deal with her best friend, Justin, moving away to Alabama. She does not want Justin to move away with his family and they tried to make deals, but the job was just too good for his dad to pass up. When Justin was packing up, he "threw away" Justin and Amber's gum ball ( sort of like a rubber band ball) and Amber stops talking to him. I remember the TY beanie baby my best friend gave to me when I moved away. After I moved to Georgia, the talking to my best friend became a WHOLE lot harder. So from it all, I understand Amber Brown's concern with her and Justin losing touch and moving ALL the way to Alabama!
This is a great book for the child who is losing a best friend to a move!

What makes the Amber Brown books stand out is Amber herself. She has such a funny, adorable personality. Paula Danziger (RIP) had the books address the issue of friends moving in such an appropriate, realistic manner. It never felt like the book was talking down to the age demographic. I appreciate how she wrote the books to be timeless as well. I only read a few Amber Brown books as a kid, but I still found this to be a fun, nostalgic read. I can definitely recommend it to the kids at work.

Bought this for my niece. I forgot how formative this whole series was for me. Hoping my niece can take something from this book, too.

Absolutely adorable book. I met Paula Danzinger when this book first came out and she actually signed it backwards. What an amazing human, gone too soon.

"There's no such thing as free brownie mix."

I have to read the second book in this series for work later this week. Last year, I had to read the third book. My school has this one, too, so I figured, "Why not?" Why not spend 30 minutes to make my knowledge of Amber Brown more complete?

Amber Brown is Not a Crayon is about a third grade girl whose best friend is moving away. It's one of those kids books that's teaching you a lesson about a big truth in a very direct way. As opposed to a book like How to Train Your Dragon or Diary of a Wimpy Kid that isn't really teaching you anything.

Don't get me wrong, not all children's books need to teach you something, I'm just saying, is all. For kids, the book just needs to be either 1.) Short and easy to read or 2.) Entertaining. This is definitely short. For kids, it might be entertaining. Not that many funny things happen in it, but Amber is very easy to understand, and so is her friend, Justin.

Personally, I didn't find anything interesting in it. (Apart from maybe stealing some of Mr. Cohen's classroom activities.) But, I'm not a 3rd grade girl. I teach them though; and now I'm up-to-date on my Amber Brown lore. (lol)

I like Amber Brown

Fun book about friends.

I'd forgotten how much I'd loved these books when I was a kid. Amber Brown is funny, snarky, and incredibly relatable. This first installment in the Amber Brown books packs a lot of "real life" - best friend moving away, dealing with elementary school drama, etc. - into this short little book. Not to be missed!!

Let me tell you something Amber...

People do leave
wether for their own will, or just because they have to.

and for so many reasons, we stil can not accept that.
we deny that.
no matter which shoes we stand for.
the one who leave, or the one who being left.

So, Amber Brown, who is not a crayon,
Cherish the moments with your loved ones.
Look to their eyes, smile a lot.
For you don't know when the time would come.

Be thankful for the friendship that you and justin had.
For some people, me as the nearest example, friendship is a cheap thing when ego collides.
And suddenly, it's gone.
The friendship.
The friend is gone.
The ship is sank.

and there's nothing i can do