Synopsis
When her eccentric parents suddenly move their family to a new home, an insecure girl discovers the downside of changing herself to fit in.
I suppose they're all saying I messed up. Yes, well, I'd like to see you cope any better if you had a family like mine . . .straight out of Crazyville.
Getting plucked out of school, uprooted from your city home, separated from a loyal friend, and plunked into the boonies to be homeschooled is hard enough. Add to that a seriously weird family — Dad, the convention-flouting writer; Mom, the scatter-brained inventor; and gross younger twin brothers — and eleven-year-old Becca is sure she will never find another friend, especially if she reveals that she has diabetes. Just when it seems her pet chickens are destined to be her only confidants, Becca meets up with a cool, super-trendy pair of girls who not only want to be friends but also invite their whole gang to Becca's twelfth birthday party, which her parents are letting her have in the empty barn (no grownups allowed). Life is finally looking up — so why does Becca have the nagging feeling that things are about to spin out of control?
Sheilah Egan - Children's Literature
Keeping the middle grade reading audience in mind makes it easier to accept this first person reflection on the desperation of an eleven year old girl to make "cool" friends and fit in with the "right" set. Ms Morgan's portrayal of a British pre-teen's anguish rings true and the dialogue reads well. More sophisticated readers may find the plot to be somewhat thin. Many other readers will find this story fascinating fuel for their own angst. Attitudes toward embarrassing parents and siblings seem to be universal for this age and Becca has good cause to be anxious about her parent's interactions with people in general. Her writer father has pulled the children out of school and moved to the country because of " . . . flaming rules. Flaming rules made by flaming idiots with clipboards." Becca's mother is a scatterbrained inventor with three degrees in robotics who lacks the mothering skills Becca longs for. Her parents are almost stereo-typed and her twin brothers are straight out of the slap-stick comedy tradition. When the birthday party Becca has planned for herself (mainly to impress the "cool" girls and their friends) goes predictably astray the parents do behave with responsibility and compassion. Oh, yes, the chicken connection . . . Becca finds a companion and excellent listener in one of the family's chickens, Stella. After the disastrous party (the boys arrive with booze and accidentally start a fire in the barn) Becca flees to the chicken coop to regroup and tell her troubles to the only one who will listen without judgment—Stella. Other aspects of the storyline include Becca's reluctance to tell people that she has diabetes and that her best friend from her old school is ina wheel chair (a detail added in the last chapter almost as an aside). Some readers may think that the messages are a little heavy handed but they come across with authenticity in Becca's voice. Middle grade readers will benefit from being exposed to the messages of real friendship, the importance of family, and of being true to one's own self as they begin to find their own way in the world. 2005, Candlewick, Ages 10 to 12.