Can You Say Catastrophe?

Gr 5–8—Life is hard when you're 13, and no one knows this better than April Sinclair. Humiliated by her younger sisters in front of a hot new guy, unclear about the status of her friendship with best buds Billy and Brynn, and devastated that she has to take a road trip with her family in lieu of attending summer camp, she feels like things couldn't get much worse. Her story is told in the same tradition as Friedman's popular "Mallory" series (Carolrhoda) and Anne Mazer's "Amazing Days of Abby Hayes" books (Scholastic). The author succeeds in creating a believable portrayal of an overly dramatic young teen with the expected afflictions and embarrassments that accompany this difficult age, such as first boyfriends and younger sisters. However, the narration sometimes comes off as tedious. And, while middle graders will certainly identify with April, most of the characters in her life are one-dimensional. Billy and Brynn are never fleshed out and readers are left wishing they knew more about their personalities and lives. Friedman's casual, light prose and journaling narrative style will appeal to some readers, but the protagonist's dramatic flair might irritate others.—Anne Barreca, New York Public Library