I know, I know, *more* Meg Cabot? But I'm still in a chick lit slump (so much so that I'm rereading one of my old faves, Lisa Jewell's Thirtynothing) and I read the second in the Allie Finkle series on the way down to London to meet Ms Cabot!
I actually thought I'd picked up the first, which I haven't yet read, and was a bit disappointed when I realised I actually had the second - I do hate to read books out of order, but I needn't have worried, it was an utterly lovely read and I didn't feel lost at all.
In fact, before I tell you about the book, I just want to say that that is something I think Meg Cabot does extremely well: she writes a lot of series and you can almost always pick them up part way through and know just what's going on, but, at the same time, if you *have* read the previous books, you don't feel beaten over the head with exposition. It's a very difficult balance.
Anyway, so the Allie Finkle series is Meg's first for "middle-grade" readers, who, I think, would be categorised as 9-12 in the UK and I can't imagine any girls of that age not liking this book. One of the other things Meg is great at (I'm sorry, it's such a Meg-appreciation society here today, but, you know, it's deserved!) is not talking down to her readers.
It's Allie's first day in her new school and worries about fitting in, finding friends and bullying are all addressed (along with the responsibility of a new kitten!), but it's never heavy-handed and Allie's voice is very sweet and funny. I really enjoyed it and I'm way out of the suggested age-range (I did get some funny looks on the train, I must admit).
Rating: 5/5
Like this? Try ... well, we haven't reviewed anything for this age group before, so check this out instead!