Pine Heights Elementary School has a new student, and nobody is happier than Allie Finkle. In her mind, the arrival of Cheyenne from Canada means that she will no longer be the fourth-grade class dolt. That bright prospect fades, however, when Cheyenne suddenly becomes the dismissive standard setter for Allie's closest friend. What is a girl to do? A solid series about real-world problems.
School Library Journal
Gr 3–5—Allie Finkle is anxious to return to school after a rather boring winter break. Her spirits perk up when she hears about a new girl from Canada who will be joining their fourth grade class. However, Cheyenne is not what Allie and her best friends expected: she's a bully and thinks all the girls are immature. Cheyenne forms a new clique and institutes a new game which involves chasing boys on the playground and kissing them when caught. She orders all girls to "go with" a boy, even though most of Allie's classmates don't have a clue what they means. In this third book (Scholastic, 2009) in Meg Cabot's series, Allie decides she's not quite ready to be a grown-up and wants to enjoy life as a kid, no matter what Cheyenne tells her. Narrator Tara Sands perfectly voices the naïve but charming nine-year-old, expressing Allie's rollercoaster of emotions. She easily transitions from incredulous Allie and strong willed Cheyenne to sweet but authoritative Miss Hunter. The pacing is faultless and the production quality is first-rate. An excellent choice for individual or classroom listening.—Wendy Woodfill, Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, MN
Kirkus Reviews
Friendship and loyalty carry the day in this spirited third title of Cabot's Rules-for-Girls series (The New Girl, 2008, etc.). Nine-year-old Allie Finkle and her troupe of four best friends (all with nicely distinctive personalities) at Pine Heights Elementary are appalled by the bossiness of a new girl from Toronto, Canada, who arrives after the winter break in much-coveted high-heeled suede boots and a T-shirt that declares "TNT: Talent Not Talk." Cheyenne O'Malley doesn't have time for the recess games that Allie and her pals delight in playing, but instead engineers a class-wide kissing game that demonstrates her superior maturity and throws Allie for a loop. Why would anyone want to kiss the back-of-the-class boys they all know are creepy, or even "go" with them somewhere? The irony is hilarious and touching, and the author addresses preteen agony by rendering boys and girls alike in a three-dimensional light, even Allie's pesky younger brothers and her quirky young Uncle Jay, who suffers from a broken heart. A pleaser. (Fiction. 8-12)
