All-around family cookbook.

Eleven-year-old Libby struggles to fit in with her accelerated eighth grade program, placed there by her bizarre and creative family.

Basically just a problem novel.  No resonating insights, no real exploration of the eccentric relatives, just workmanlike.  Too bad, as I know Snyder can do so much better. ( )

ISBN 0385299796 – One of the first things about this book to catch my attention was that it’s a full-sized book for young adults. Not a flimsy little 100 page medium sized paperback – this is 196 pages, a full sized hardcover! Since I find those so rarely, I was already ready to like it.

Libby’s the granddaughter of author Graham McCall, the daughter of unique parents of artistic temperaments. She has been homeschooled in what might possibly be the strangest set of circumstances, ever. But that’s all about to change, when her mother decides that Libby ought to be socialized. That means going to school and going to school, right off the bat, isn’t working for Libby. Still, when she wins a writing competition and becomes part of a writing workshop, Libby finds herself slowly drawn into the lives of other children her own age – and becoming socialized, purely accidentally. She brings home friends, opening her family situation to scrutiny and ridicule, and she finds that normal isn’t just over-rated, it might not even exist.

I really liked Libby’s family, even her almost totally absent mother. Mostly, I liked their support of Libby, in all things, at all times. Most kids, and even adults, benefit from finding out that they’re not the only ones – whatever it is. You’re not the only weird one, you’re not the only one with divorced parents… it’s comforting to find out that you’re not alone. Libby on Wednesday sends that message in a nice way, with all the realistic picking on each other that kids do to each other.

- AnnaLovesBooks ( )

The main character, Libby, lives in a large and eccentric house with her grandmother, father, and her father's gay partner.

From Amazon: Grade 5-7 --Self-assured Libby has always been adored and admired by her eccentric family. Educated at home, she has had no contact with her peers--until her actress mother decides that it's time for Libby to attend a public middle school. It's obvious (to her) that she's intellectually superior to her classmates, and just as obvious (to them) that she's socially inferior, an object of ridicule. Writing has always been Libby's refuge; through her journal entries and a third-person narrative, her story unfolds. The two styles mesh perfectly; from Libby's voice, readers gain insight into her thoughts and feelings, and from the narrative they see her in her broader surroundings. The classmates with whom Libby interacts, all members of a writers' club that meets on Wednesdays, have serious problems of their own, and yet the group seems neither contrived nor unlikely. Their writing, too, contributes greatly to the development of their characters. Libby's family members may not be the stuff of real life, but they add a touch of levity that keeps the story from becoming a clinical study of the effects of family expectations, child abuse, and physical disabilities. Vivid descriptions and clear portraits of the characters give an honest, forthright picture of these classmates-turned-friends who come to accept their difficulties and to care about each other. It's an absorbing story, filled with real young people and genuine concerns. --Trev Jones, School Library Journal.