Friendship Over

For her tenth birthday, Celie receives a journal, in which she relates her friendship and family woes (best friend Lula has suddenly become mean; Granny starts acting strangely) through authentic-sounding entries, drawings, and a variety of notes and letters. Celie navigates her troubles in a manner both satisfying and believable; readers can look forward to more of Celie's heartfelt, funny diaries.

For her tenth birthday, Celie receives from her dad both a punching bag and a journal; he hopes she'll use them to help work through her strong feelings (and perhaps "inflict significantly less violence" on her older sister, Jo). The punching bag gathers dust, but Celie makes good use of the diary, in which she relates her friendship and family woes through authentic-sounding entries, humorous drawings, and a variety of notes and letters. Her best friend Lula has suddenly become mean, declaring she has other plans and can't come over for Celie's birthday. Sixth-grader Jo, too, starts kicking Celie out of their shared bedroom to hang out with a new friend, the very unlikable Trina, and there are new, grown-up items in Jo's dresser (Celie, snooping around: "I closed the drawer and got very quiet. Bras and deodorant scare me"). Then Granny starts acting strangely (e.g., putting her trash in the freezer), and Mom has to fly to Granny's to see what's going on -- leaving weird Cousin Carla to take care of the girls while Dad's at work. Sternberg (Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, rev. 5/11) has Celie navigate through her troubles in a manner both satisfying and believable; readers can look forward to more of Celie's heartfelt, funny, and engaging diaries. jennifer m. brabander