Saturday, February 2, 2008

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day

Meg Cabot has written a lot of books (The Princess Diaries are her most famous, but there are many more). You'd think eventually she'd run out of funny things to say, and her books would go downhill, but for now she seems to be going strong.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day is her first book for middle-grade readers. The protagonist is a nine-year-old girl who likes rules, because, as she explains, "Rules help make our lives easier. For instance, the rule about not killing people. Obviously, this is a good rule." What she doesn't like so much is the fact that her family is moving. Having to move to a different place makes everything seem unstable, so she makes a list of rules to compensate. Rules make the world seem sturdier--even rules as simple as "Rule #1: Don't stick a spatula down your best friend's throat."

I know there are plenty of books out there for the grades 4-6 reading level about moving, but I especially liked this one because I found Allie so easy to relate to. I remember being nine. I also remember moving when I was seven. It all felt pretty much like Meg Cabot describes it through Allie Finkle's eyes.

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