School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-A year in the life of spirited seventh-grader Ginny is chronicled through reports, instant messages, postcards, bank statements, fridge magnets, and other stuff presented in fresh color collages. Readers piece together the information to create the story as Ginny negotiates her mother's remarriage, friendship troubles, a hair-coloring disaster, and school grades. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Two-time Newbery Honor author Holm (Our Only May Amelia) and Castaldi (Miss Polly Has a Dolly) gather an eclectic assemblage of "stuff" to chronicle the intermittently bumpy year of a smart, sassy seventh grader. As the months pass, Ginny tackles an impressive to-do list. Among the entries: "Get a dad" (she does, when her widowed mother remarries); "Get the role of the Sugarplum Fairy" (she doesn't; worse, her former best friend-who never returned the sweater she borrowed-does); and "Convince mom to let me go see Grampa Joe over Easter break" (he lives in Florida). Ginny also writes poems and IMs friends, and her older brother, Henry, draws a series of comics. The collages that make up the pages here look perky: appealing mixes of objects like bottle-cap linings and candy wrappers, or spreads that combine hair dye boxes, drugstore receipts, salon bills for "color reversal" and a bank check to tell a story. But the inviting format disguises a darker side. Ginny worries, with cause, about Henry, who drinks and drives; resents her new stepfather's ways; and her normally excellent grades take an abrupt nosedive. The everyday tensions of seventh grade show up, too, via the ex-best friend and a pesky little brother. The punchy visuals and the sharp, funny details reel in the audience and don't let go. Ages 8-12. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
To-do lists, instant messages, Post-it notes, report cards, newspaper clippings, school assignments, letters and notes-to-self graphically tell the story of Ginny's seventh-grade year. Family issues, including her mother's remarriage and her brother's increasingly disturbing delinquent acts, share equal billing with friendship problems, changing interests and a first kiss in this convincing account of a middle-schooler's life. Ginny's efforts to follow uplifting magazine advice consistently result in disaster. Adjusting to a new dad turns out to be more difficult than she expected. Her former best friend gets the starring role in The Nutcracker. And her monthly bank statement consistently shows a balance of $5 no matter how many deposits are made. But the boy whose negative attention was the bane of her existence in the beginning of the year is her date for Spring Fling, and new interests replace her former passion for ballet. Humor balances the serious issues. Middle-school readers will recognize Ginny's world and enjoy piecing together the plot through the bits and pieces of "stuff" depicted in Castaldi's collages. A delightful collaboration. (Graphic fiction. 10-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The title pulls readers right in as does the equally arresting cover, featuring a school lunch on a limp paper plate. So do the glossy, full-color collages of notes, report cards, receipts, and paraphernalia inside. Readers piece together the story of Ginny's seventh-grade year through the clues in her stuff. An announcement of school photos precedes a magazine clipping 5 Ways to Look Pretty Now and a drugstore receipt. The next page reveals a $477 plumber's bill to replace parts damaged by bubble bath in the Jacuzzi jets and $143.10 for a haircut and color to change Ginny's hair back to blonde and remove the burned ends. Hidden among the detritus of a life lies a touching, funny story of Ginny's tumultuous year as her mother remarries, her brother's pranks escalate, and she struggles to find a new best friend. While none of the themes are explored deeply, the book makes a fun, appealing read. Think Kate Klise's Regarding the Fountain (1998) for middle-schoolers.--Harold, Suzanne Copyright 2007 Booklist
