Blast from the Past

Blast From The Past Meg Cabot

New Allie Finkle! New Allie Finkle! New Allie Finkle!

Allie's class is going on a field trip. She's excited because events have always consipired against her so she's never actually been on a field trip before. She's also never ridden on a school bus before and Rosemary, who rides the bus every day has promised her that "if you sat near the back, over the real wheels, and the bus went over a pothole or the train tracks too fast, you went sailing up into the air... it was the most amazing thing I'd ever heard."*

BUT! They're going to Honeypot Prairie, which is a living history museum AND because of budget issues, they have to share a bus and field trip with Allie's old fourth grade class. And when Cheyenne and Brittany Hauser team up, well... watch out. They're wonder twins of alpha-mean girls, creating snotty discord where ever they go.

Allie's in a pretty bad mood for most of this book and drags everyone else down with her, but only Allie can save the day in the end. Everything I've ever said about Allie still stands. I mean, how can you not like Allie? She's strong and smart and a good friend and good sister. Plus, she's just funny. Even though the funniest line in the book goes to Sophie, when they're complaining that their parents say they're not responsible enough for cell phones yet:

I know what you mean, Allie, about being responsible. It's not fair. My mom was so distracted over her PhD the other day that she left her laptop on the roof of the car and drove all around town with it like that until someone finally told her when she was stopped at a read light. But my dad didn't say she couldn't have a cell phone.*

Plus the part where Allie discovers George Washington's rules was just awesome.

*All quotations are from the ARC, so they might be different in the final version, but I hope they stay the same!

ARC Provided by... the author, at my request

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Glitter Girls and the Great Fake Out

Glitter Girls And The Great Fake Out Meg Cabot

This is why I love Meg Cabot (this is what happens when little brothers spill secrets):

It is really hard to sit on a kindergartner, because they're so squirmy and difficult to get a grip on. Kevin wouldn't keep still long enough for me to properly sit on. (p 70)*

How can you not laugh at that?

In the latest installment of Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls, Allie wants to go with Erica, Sophie, Caroline, and Rosemary to see Missy compete in the Seventh Annual Little Miss Majorette Baton Twirling Twirltacular, middle school division. But, then she finds out that her mom has already said Allie would go to Brittany Hauser's birthday party. Ugh. Who would want to hang out with Brittany and all of the other mean girls from Allie's old school?

Allie's given the choice to cancel on Brittany, but... Brittany's party will involve riding in a limo into the city, going to Glitterati, dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, and then spending the night in a hotel!

Allie decides to go to the party instead, but it's apparent pretty quickly that that was the worst decision ever.

Oh, you know how much I love Allie. Cabot strikes the perfect tone with this character-- she's strong and hilarious while still being real. Her problems are the daily dramas that come from being in 4th grade, and while many are self-created, they're not completely annoying in the way that self-created drama can be. You know how sometimes you just want to whack a character upside the head and tell them to snap out of it? I never want to do that with Allie. Usually because I'm laughing so hard. And usually because the situations Allie gets herself into are rather universal and getting out of them is tricky to do while still sounding like a real kid. As an adult I love Allie because she's a good "role model" character while still being believable. A good friend without being a doormat, she stands up for herself without being a jerk. She's a good big sister, but will still sit on you if you spill her secrets, etc.

As a reader, I love Allie because her voice is so awesome.

So yes, this is a most excellent addition to the series, and not just because Cabot uses the word "Twirltacular" on a regular basis.

*quoted from the ARC, so it might be different in the real book.

Book Provided by... the publisher at my request.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Quite Possibly Meg Cabot's Greatest Series to Date

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Stage Fright Meg Cabot

Short Version: Allie Finkle is totally awesome and this latest installment doesn't disappoint in any way. Go read it. NOW.

Long Version: For Parents Night, Allie's class is doing a play. Allie really wants to be Princess Penelope, the lead. Unfortunately, so does Sophie. How can Allie be a good friend and still be the star? Then, after all the casting drama, there is lots of wonderful diva-fighting. No one does diva better than a fifth grader (and that's a rule.)

Allie continues to be strong and hilarious while still being 100% real and staying away from ever turning into a completely comic figure. She remains my favorite Meg Cabot character (and regular readers know how much I love Meg Cabot.)

Allie learns many new rules about being an actor (May the best man--or woman--win, There are no small parts only small actors, Practice makes perfect) and about being friends (If you know the right thing to do you have to do it, Best friends rescue each other when someone's evil sister has them trapped, Treat people the way you yourself would like to be treated) all while never coming across as didactic or heavy-handed.

Allie remains a favorite who's still going strong!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

I will stalk Meg Cabot and make her my new BFF

I'm going on vacation next week. I will be OFFLINE. I'm trying to decide if I want to pre-blog some back reviews and then just set them to post or if I just want to leave it and see you when I get back. It will probably depend on what I have time to do. It won't be tonight because it's the first night of Passover! There's a strong chance that I will, once again, be the youngest person at Seder (Ok, I know I won't be the youngest, but the baby can't talk yet!) so I should probably brush up on the 4 questions...

Anyway, how much do you love Meg Cabot? Reading one of her books is like laughing with your best friend until your stomach hurts. Also, you should totally check out the advice videos that she is doing with Michele Jaffe? They're chock full of good advice. (Like, don't trip boys to get them to notice you) Also, hysterical.

I recently read Cabot's upcoming book, Being Nikki, the sequel to Airhead. I'll review it around the time it comes out (May 5th) but I'm telling you now, it's crazy good and I liked it a lot more than Airhead and that if you haven't read the first one yet, you should go do it now, so it's all nice and read by May 5th.

Also, if you've already read Being Nikki, email me, because I want to talk about it. Especially the ending. OMFG.

So, here are two other Meg Cabot books that I've read and haven't reviewed yet.

Forever Princess

It's the VERY LAST Princess Diaries book!

About 2 and half years have passed since we last saw Mia, and not much has changed. For some reason, she's still with icky JP. She's not friends with Lilly, and Michael's still in Japan. After her "wait, Genovia is a democracy" bombshell, her dad's running for Prime Minister, but Prince Rene might beat him!

Graduation is coming and Mia got into every one of the schools she applied for. She's certain that this has less to do with her merits and more to do with her royal status. None of her friends got into their top choice schools, so she's told EVERYONE that she didn't get in anywhere. She also told everyone that her senior project is a history of Genovian Olive Pressing. Which it's not. It's a romance novel. A lot of the story centers around Mia trying to publish her romance novel under a pen name, so she knows it will be published because the book is good, not because it was written by a princess.

OH! And then, to make matters even more complicated? Michael's back from Japan. And even hotter than ever. But Mia's still totally in love with JP, right?

Cabot's own publishing career started in romance. I have to wonder how much of Mia's tribulations mirror Cabot's experiences, especially the crap people give Mia once they find out she's written a romance. JP's a total jerk about it (SURPRISE) and tells her she shouldn't be wasting her talents writing such trash and she should be writing literary fiction that will change the world blah blah blah.

I spent most of the book wanting to put corn in JP's chili and then pushing him. And then wanting to smack Mia for being so totally clueless that she doesn't see that JP is evil and slimy and gross.

When I was reading the book, I had to stop and write the following:

Why do I love this series so much when I have such a love/hate relationship with Mia? When will she get a spine? Why JP? and why for 2 years? Ew... I just cannot forgive [Mia for dating] JP. To the point where Mia, for choosing him and STAYING WITH HIM [that was underlined 4 times] is no longer funny, if mildly annoying, but just DUMB [also heavily underlined.]

So why do I love this series? Because Mia, as annoying as she is, is funny:

When I go to college the first thing I'm going to do is pick out all new friends. Because the friends I currently have are psychotic.

Also, because of how it ended.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Best Friends And Drama Queens

See, where Mia annoys me, I love Allie. Because Allie has spunk and a spine is a lot less neurotic than Mia. I'm sure when Allie hits puberty, she'll get a little more neurotic, because that's what happens when you hit puberty--YOU GO INSANE but she'll keep her spine and kick a little more ass. Because that's what Allie is--KICK ASS.

But I shouldn't say that, because this is a Middle Grade book, and so I shouldn't use swear words when describing it. (Too bad, KICK ASS)

There's a new girl at school and she comes all the way from Canada! Too bad Cheyenne thinks that playing pretend is babyish. And she has high heel zip-up boots like Allie wanted, but her mom wouldn't let her have. But Cheyenne's also not that nice. She starts the kissing game, where packs of girls chase down unsuspecting boys on the playground and then kiss them. (Ok, so we totally played that in my elementary school, too. But if a pack of guys did that to a girl, it would be BAD NEWS. Why is it ok for girls to do to guys? I mean, they eventually get in trouble, but we never did.) She also starts "going with" boys and wants EVERY GIRL to go with a boy.

Allie doesn't want to go with a boy. And Caroline and Sophie aren't talking to each other to talk about. When Allie stands up to Cheyenne, she has to face her full wrath.

I love that Allie doesn't know how to handle situations but not in a "I'm so helpless!" type of way. I love that she knows some things--she doesn't want to "go with" anyone but doesn't know others--how to tell a boy that without being mean.

This is an excellent series for middle grade girls. It's funny and affirming without being cheesy or message-y. I think Allie might be my favorite Meg Cabot character.

Middle Grade Fun Series!

First off, this weekend I did a chapter-by-chapter analysis (with brief summary at top) of the 1949 and 1967 editions of Nancy Drew and The Clue of the Leaning Chimney over at Geek Buffet. Check it out!

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: New Girl Meg Cabot

There's nothing wrong with walking to school with your mom and dad on your first day. Except everything.

Allie's back! She's settling into her new house and her new school, but nothing, of course, goes to plan. The big problem is Rosemary, the bully, who wants to kill Allie. And then Lady Serena Archibald gets really sick and might have her kittens too soon and they might not live! AND THEN HOW WILL ALLIE GET A CAT?! And then Grandma comes. Grandma's good at presents, but she isn't very nice.

Hilarious. Allie is an excellent heroine with a strong voice and a strong sense of self. If you liked the first, you'll like this one. I'm very much looking forward to Best Friends And Drama Queens, which comes out in March. The plot sounds a lot like something Cabot describes happening to her in her contribution to Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume and how Blubber was really helpful. I hope see gives Judy Blume a shout-out in the book!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw Jeff Kinney

Greg's back! Huzzah! I managed to snag a copy of lunch, but it's been hard--the holds list on this is miles long, and it's ALL kids. Ever since this came out, I've had to deal with the crushed faces of children when I tell them where they are on the list.

Anyway, Greg's afraid his dad will send him (not Roderick, HIM) to Military School.

If you like Wimpy Kid, this books won't disappoint, I mean...

There was this book Dad used to read to me every night called 'The Giving Tree.' It was a really good book, but the back of it had a pictures of the author, this guy named Shel Silverstein.

But Shel Silverstein looks more like a burglar or a pirate than a guy who should be writing books for kids. Dad must have known that picture kind of freaked me out, because on night after I got out of bed, Dad said, 'IF YOU GET OUT OF BED AGAINST TONIGHT, YOU'LL PROBABLY RUN INTO SHEL SILVERSTEIN IN THE HALLWAY.'

That really did the trick. Ever since then, I STILL don't get out of bed at night, even if I really need to use the bathroom.

How can you NOT love it?!