Ten-year-old Camille McPhee relates the ups and downs of her fourth-grade year at her Idaho elementary school as she tries to adjust to the absence of her best friend, maintain control of her low-blood sugar, cope with the intensifying conflict between her parents, and understand the importance of honesty and fairness.

Reviewed by Cat for TeensReadToo.com

Camille McPhee has a lot to deal with - the constant threat of low blood sugar, her health freak, home/self-improvement obsessed mom's mid-life crisis, best friend Sally Zook's relocation to Japan, science classes that are too advanced for fifth grade, and a pair of bullies responsible for her recent fall under the school bus.

Thank goodness she has "great, thick, caramel brown, movie star hair" and a plan to fly under the radar like the brilliant dingo she saw at the zoo, 'cause Camille's life is about to get more hectic than she ever imagined.

Kristen Tracy's CAMILLE MCPHEE FELL UNDER THE BUS... is a charming story featuring a sarcastic, spunky heroine dealing with the trials and tribulations facing many children today. While not specifically "issue oriented," the book addresses topics like the possibility of divorce, debt, the indifference of a self-centered teacher, alienation from one's peers, bullying, and death.

Ms. Tracy shows Camille facing her problems head on with her own unique brand of grit, intelligence, and determination, making this book one for the keeper shelf. ( )