School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-Readers of the Amber Brown and Rosy Cole series will love Lucy Rose, an eight-year-old whose has moved to Washington, DC, with her mother after her parents' separation. Her maternal grandparents are a huge factor in her life, especially since her grandmother, also named Lucy Rose, is an advice columnist who is an expert on children. The younger Lucy Rose writes this book about herself because she is an "original thinker," according to Pop. Lucy Rose copes with all the usual issues of being the new kid in school. The school year continues in a series of little vignettes where Lucy Rose writes about incidents such as wanting to take the class guinea pig home for vacation, writing anonymous letters to her grandmother asking for advice, and the incessant teasing by Andrew "Melonhead" Melon. Although she misses her dad, they speak often. Mom, Madam (Grandma), and Pop gently help Lucy Rose through the anxieties caused by her parents' separation. Written by Katy Kelly (Delacorte, 2004) and told in diary format, Tara Sands sounds absolutely convincing as Lucy Rose. She also does the voices of family members and friends the way a child would, such as sounding absurdly deep voiced when quoting Pop. By the end of the story, Lucy Rose realizes that she likes being a city girl an dhas learned many lessons. Hopefully there will be further adventures of the indomitable third grader.-B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.