Nicole Helmers

Dear Jerry Spinelli,

I'm glad I read your book Who Put that Hair in my Toothbrush? because I didn't think there was another boy on earth who could possibly be as irritating, annoying, aggravating, bothersome, and intolerable as my brother. I learned that Greg is definitely an even bigger nuisance to his sister than my brother, Ryan, is to me!

One example of Greg's evilness to his sister, Megan, was when he paid their little brother to flush the toilet while Megan was in the shower. My brother runs water on purpose while I'm in the shower, too. I think I've figured out that he knows it bugs me so he wants to do it more.

When Greg was mad at Megan, he threw her hockey stick into the thin ice. Then when Megan disappeared, Greg felt that he might be responsible. He tried to get her beloved hockey stick and fell through the ice. Megan heard her brother screaming for help. This is what made me realize how important my brother really is to me. Crying at this point in the book, I raced to read the last pages to be sure Greg was OK. No other book has touched me this way.

I feel I need to tell my brother how much he means to me. This will be very hard for me to do, because we have always fought and put one another down¬-like most 12 and 14 year old kids do! Just because we do that, I know that doesn't make it right.

I have to think of a way to let Ryan know how much I really do love and care for him. I can't give him your book to read, because he doesn't share my interest in reading. I'm thinking about telling him over Christmas because I've noticed that people show more emotions over the holidays. I don't think I would have figured out my true feelings toward my brother at age 12 if I .hadn't read this book. Learning this now could change how we get along in the future. My parents have always told us that if we got along, we might actually have fun. Boy, would that be great!

I am glad I read Who put that Hair in my Toothbrush!

Sincerely,
Nicole Helmers