Not as heavy/ serious as I expected (def. ok to be shelved as Juv rather than YA). ?áEllie's parents are sometimes amazingly insightful, and other times implausibly dense. ?áFor example, they keep leaving Ellie home alone, when she just turned twelve, with nothing to do... *of course* she's going to get into mischief. ?áThe ending is simple, too. ?áEverybody wins. ?áFine.

Some good writing. ?áFor example, we can tell Ellie is coming into puberty, because even though she has a reputation as a cheerful person, she's been sad lately: Nothing bad happens to me but the sadness comes creeping over my shoulder like an insect. ?áSometimes it just floats away, and other times it hangs out driving me crazy until I do something. ?áGo on a bike ride... or call up my friend...."

And for some reason I realized something from this book that I never had before, at least not fully. ?áThe popular girls in school, in their clique, are to be pitied not only because they have to play the mean games to try to stay 'on the inside' but they also have to totally subsume their own identity: "The popular girls in the sixth grade dress alike in tight jeans and little T-shirts with flowers in full bloom painted on the back and clunky shoes." ?áIt's not (in any school, in any era) necessarily an outfit they'd choose for themselves, but a uniform saying 'I'm imprisoned by my desire to be a member of this clique."" ( )

This was a nice story and very much suited for the middle school student. I read it first before passing it along to my 11-year-old daughter because it is designated a Youth Romance and...I....just...wasn't...sure, you got me? Turns out it is fine for the preteen because it is more about two kids who bond over a summer and become best friends. It has the youthful twinges of romance and if they were a couple years older the story would turn out differently, but as it is, it is very innocent. I actually enjoyed this very much and was intrigued by the boy's story. Even though he was dubbed the troublemaker, I actually liked him better than the female protagonist. Hmm. Go figure. ( )

this is a great junior love novel. ( )

This book was recommended to me by one of my students. So, I read it.
Elle, 12 yrs old, sort of looks forward to summer camp, until the "bad boy" moves in next door. He changes everything.
Cute kids book. Ok, a young adults book. ( )