Fifth grader Ava is extroverted and loves to write. Her older sister, Pip, is in seventh grade so shy people think she is stuck up and often make fun of her. When a new seventh grade girl Bea hosts a party on the same evening of Pip's birthday party (no one comes to Pip's birthday party), Ava decides to use this awful situation as an inspiration for a story which she enters in a contest. She wins the contest but Bea figures out she is the villain in the story . . . through a series of interesting and humorous events, new friendships are formed, lessons are learned and characters are transformed.
Ava is an admirable character.
The entire story is told via journal entries so perfect for older reluctant readers.
The Wren family loves words-especially palindromes. Other word play is sprinkled throughout the book.
Points to discuss/warnings: The "d" word is used twice in the book-one time as part of a palindrome and another time as part of a punch line of a joke -referring to the ones the beavers make but the punch line had double meaning. Why do authors include swearing? If these references would not be in the story, I would have highly recommended the book. The slang for the word chest was mentioned a couple of times.
A second book featuring Ava was just published-Ava and Taco but the libraries where I live have not purchased it yet.
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