As Ginny begins the seventh grade things look promising. She has a a big To-Do list full of things she'd like to accomplish (ranging from looking good in her school photo to getting a dad to ignoring horoscopes). She has plans to baby-sit her way into the money she needs to buy a coveted yellow sweater (as long as it isn't Tiffany Kurtz). And she really wants to win the role of the Sugarplum Fairy in her upcoming ballet recital. Unfortunately, nothing goes quite as planned. Ginny gets her new dad when her mom remarries, but doesn't like it when her family's dynamics change. Her school photo is ruined when she botches an attempt to dye her hair. It seems that Mrs. Kurtz is the only one who ever needs a baby-sitter. And Ginny looses the role of the Sugarplum Fairy to her ex-best friend Mary Catherine Kelly. How can things possibly get worse? They can when her delinquent brother takes things one step too far.Middle school really is a difficult time for a lot of kids (myself included) and this book really does a great job of capturing the changes and the different emotions that kids of this age experience. From the mundane to the extreme, Ginny seems to experience an awful lot during this trying year but really does come out stronger in the end despite the challenges she faces. The story is told not in regular prose or even in diary entries, but in everyday items such as report cards, notes, receipts, and school papers. This unique format still manages to be emotionally moving and really shows how the everyday and seemingly unimportant really can be everything in the world to someone else.
Overall Grade: A
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