I really love reading books about normal kids whose lives are anything but normal. I find it really reminds me that not every child comes from homes where everything runs smoothly and sometimes the attitude and behaviours we see at school are a result of things out of the child's control.
In this story, Cassie is really struggling to hold it together. Her father is now "out of the picture", but nobody can explain what that means. Her mother has gone back to work full-time and often is getting home until after everyone is asleep. Cassie's older sister is suppose to be looking after 6 year old Jackson and doing the shopping, but she keeps forgetting. Now Cassie finds herself trying to hold everything together for her brother and sister. Then there is her English teacher Mr. Mullaney who is the strangest, hardest teacher in the world, a cute boy who is sending out strange signals, and her former best friends who have totally ditched her.
Cassie survives with the help of her witty humour and she finds a great deal of solace in her writing. She is very hard not to like, cheer for and respect. This story reminds me a great deal of a Perfect Gentle Knight, with a bit more humour. I think this would make a great read aloud and there is a nice tie in with the writing component.
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