This is Me From Now On

Author: Barbara Dee
Publication Date: April 27, 2010
Genre: Middle Grade Realistic Fiction
Copy provided by: Author
Summary (via Amazon):

Sometimes your life just needs a little jolt.

This is what Evie's new friend Francesca tells her, and soon enough, Evie's life has had something more like an earthquake. Francesca thinks life is dull unless you go after everything you want and say everything on your mind all the time--and sometimes that includes giving other people a little behind the scenes help to give them what she thinks they want.

Evie can't always tell if she's horrified or fascinated by everything Francesca convinces her to do, but ultimately, she comes to see friendship--and life--in a whole new light.

Why I read this: It looked like a really cute story that would appeal to a lot of the girls in 4th and 5th grade at my school.

Plot: When Francesca moves in, Evie's life is turned upside down. Francesca is beautiful, weird, and has some issues with lying and deception. No matter what she does though, Evie can't avoid her new neighbor and finds herself becoming friends with Francesca. But their friendship is pulling Evie's life in a different direction than she's used to and she's not sure if that is good or bad. This book really delved into the issue of friendship and what it truly means.

Characters: Evie's your average middle school girl. She has a good life, two best friends, and a safe routine of how she runs her life. Her new neighbor disrupts it, but she starts to figure out that maybe that is what she needed all along.

Francesca is a big personality character. She wears a crazy combination of clothes that somehow ends up fashionable and she tells the most interesting stories. You can tell she's a good person, even if she can't quite express it in the right way.

Relatability: I think any girl can relate to this book, whether for the friendship, the boy crush, or just finding who you really are inside.

Cover Commentary: Definitely screams "girl book!" as some of my students may say. Can see a lot of my 4th and 5th grade girls picking this one up.

Rating: 5/5 Roses

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