Mallory’s Super Sleepover

Children's Literature - Claudia Mills

Mallory is turning ten, so no ordinary birthday celebration is in order. Instead, she and her best friend, Mary Ann, join forces to convince Mallory's parents to let her host the "biggest, bestest, superest" sleepover ever. Mallory's parents agree, on the condition that she keep the gathering small and "promise the party will not get out of control." But party crashers arrive, the cupcake-decorating contest turns into a chaos-generating contest, the water-balloon fight becomes a water-balloon flood all over the living room floor, and the first girl to fall asleep finds herself the victim of an unkind prank; Mallory's "super sleepover" has turned into "a super mess." In this sixteenth installment of the popular series, Friedman once again shows her ability to capture late-elementary-school social dynamics with spot-on acuity; Kalis's boldly drawn illustrations enhance the text's clear kid appeal. It does seem unfair, however, for Mallory's parents to leave the party for an extended period of time, relinquishing supervisory authority to a teenage babysitter who is herself busy talking on her cell phone to her boyfriend, and then heap blame on poor Mallory for betraying their trust. Mallory's lengthy wallow in self-abasement hardly seems warranted. To the closing tips for a successful sleepover could be added a parallel list for parents, starting with: Stay on the premises and don't expect a just-turned-ten-year-old to become a grownup overnight. Reviewer: Claudia Mills, Ph.D.