This may seem like a strange book to be reviewing as it is written for young readers (about 10 I'd say), but it is on the Big Read, so that is why it is appearing in this blog. It is obviously a quick easy read. I zipped through it in one evening.
It tells the story of Mandy White, a young girl who is being teased and picked on at school by a group of three girls, one of whom used to be her best friend. She is small for her age, shy, and has older parents, so she is a somewhat easy target. An older foster girl moves in across the street and becomes her best ever friend and helps her learn to be braver and assert herself more. In the end of the story, she has a new friend and a new teacher has fixed the bullying problem.
Some of the subject matter is a little mature, like a brief discussion of a mother committing suicide, so it may be a bit much for a particularly young reader or someone who is very sensitive.
I did find this book interesting and entertaining in spite of its being written for a younger audience. It is well done and the characters are sympathetic. As a parent, I'm not crazy over one aspect of the end, which is that the main bully no longer has any friends and has been isolated even in the classroom. I'm sure that would feel like justice to many kids who read the book, but it isn't a solution I'm comfortable with, since she obviously needs friends, too!
This book is easily worth the time and is a great book for younger readers as well.
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