Girls Acting Catty by Leslie Margolis Review

Book: Girls Acting Catty

Author: Leslie Margolis

Age: 8-12

Copy From: Publisher

Summary:

Annabelle is just starting to fit in at her new coed junior high school. She's made great friends, her teachers are nice, and she's learned a few tricks to taming those oh-so-annoying boys. But now she and her friends must confront a whole new brand of headache--the mean girl clique. Taylor and the Terrible T's are fake and annoying and out to get Annabelle and her friends. As if that weren't enough drama, Annabelle is about to encounter some of tweendom's most memorable "firsts," like buying her first bra! Each moment is perfectly rendered with Margolis's sensitivity and humor in a story that is both endearingly honest and deliciously entertaining.

Review: Girls Acting Catty is the sequel to Boys Are Dogs. Having not read the first novel, I was worried I would not understand anything, but Margolis catches the reader up to speed fairly easily and quickly.

Annabelle was a wonderful character, and I couldn't help but to laugh at her "Firsts" as I remembered mine. Margolis really captured those moments of how it feels to be a tween and she made it real. Everything Annabelle was going through felt legitimate. Her depiction of Annabelle was wonderful as well, and she was an easy character for me to relate to (despite the fact that I'm past my tween years).

The secondary characters were wonderful as well. Taylor had me wondering if she was "catty", or if she was a nice person underneath it all. Rachel is a totally awesome best friend, and the other girls and boys were entertaining.

I loved how Margolis really hit on something that everyone does in life: gossip. Let's be honest, girls can be vicious, and Margolis shows the tween side of it all. I loved the messages this novel presented in the end, and the message elementary/middle-schooler's can receive from this.

Highlights: I have to admit, I totally love the Annabelle's dog, Pepper. Jason (Annabelle's soon to be stepbrother), was a great character to add to the mix as well, and I found myself enjoying the novel more whenever he popped in (mostly because I found Annabelle's reactions to him amusing).

Lowlights: I just wanted a bit more drama. The things that happened did not seem like it was that big of a deal. At times, I also found myself rolling my eyes at Annabelle's actions sometimes, but she is a kid, after all.

Rating:    

-Lea